The Ultimate List of End of Year Packing Tips to Simplify Your Life

The end of the year is such a busy time. Your to do list is long and it’s easy to forget things! Use this list of tips when you’re packing up your classroom to save your sanity! I’ve broken these tasks into groups based on when they can be done. Start with the earliest end of year packing tasks and finish with the latest!

Are you looking to keep your students engaged and busy while you are working through your end of year packing list? Check out these early finisher pages!

Make a box for the first week of school

Your August self will thank you! Before you start any end of year packing, make a box of things you’ll need for the first week of school. I have a list of all the things I include in my first week box in this blog post!

This is a step that you can do weeks before the year is over! In May, you likely won’t need any of the things you use during the first week of school, so pack them up and cross it off your to do list!

End of year packing 1 month+ to go

• Take pictures! If you like how things are set up right now, take pictures for later.
• Begin collecting boxes. Even if I’m not moving classrooms, I end up needing to clear off my bookshelves, pack up manipulatives, or pack something else that I wasn’t planning for. Having a few boxes on hand for unplanned items will help! Sometimes our custodians will collect boxes throughout the year and let teachers use what we need.
• Print out your end of year packing checklist or post the one given to you by the school. I’ve always been given a specific list of tasks by my admin and each task needs to be signed off before I can leave for the summer. If this is the case for you, post it near your desk so you don’t lose it!
• Begin to purge. Take a few planning periods a week or a few afternoons after school and begin to gather things you no longer need. You can either give these away to your students, offer them to other teachers, or donate them.

End of year packing 3-4 weeks to go

• Start organizing your technology. Clean out your email inbox, inventory any classroom technology (iPads, Chromebooks, etc.) and report any issues, and write down any computer passwords you may need.
• Compile and turn in your supply list or supply order forms for next fall.
• Organize your classroom library – put books into the correct bins and identify books that need to be repaired. We all know how disorderly a library can become when students are in charge of pulling books and putting them away. While you re-organize, you can also purge any books you no longer need!
• Finish grades, report cards, or placement forms.
• Shred any student paperwork that you no longer need.
• Prep and copy any summer school packets or summer review work that you’ll give to your students.

End of year packing 1-2 weeks to go

• Begin cleaning out student desks. Send home any workbooks you no longer need, collect textbooks, and ask students to clean out their folders.
• Sort and clean center materials. I reuse the same baskets and bins each week for centers, so I’ll clean out those bins, sort out the ones I’ll keep, and store them away.
• Gather student supplies that can be used again next year and collect broken crayons, colored pencils, etc.
• I always end up with piles of random scrap papers. I ask my early finisher students to sort those scraps into what can be used and what cannot. Whatever can’t be used we recycle.
• Ask students to sort crayons, colored pencils, and markers by color. Do the same with colored paper.
• Return borrowed items to the library, front office, other teachers, etc.
• Make a list of supply items that are low in inventory.
• Clean out and wipe down your desk. Keep only items you will need for the final week.

The final week

• Test out markers and throw out any that have dried up. I usually give this job to a student that finishes their work early. Do the same with glue sticks, dry erase markers,
• Take home any of your personal items.
• Clean out student desks. Students can put items they will take home in their backpack and wipe out the inside and outside of their desk and chair.
• Write thank you notes to any staff, students or parents.
• Report maintenance needed in your classroom.
• Wipe down tables, chairs, and other furniture.
• Clean and store student whiteboards. Put away the dry erase markers so that students can’t get them dirty again!
• Label boxes, furniture, desks, etc. with your name and room number.
• Sharpen pencils and colored pencils for next year.
• Cover bulletin boards for next year or remove them if necessary.

These are great tasks for students. If you have early finishers, give them these jobs and take them off of your end of year packing list!

The last day

• Stack furniture, desks, and chairs on one side of the room
• Shake out any rugs and vacuum the classroom
• Do a final wipe down because you know sticky fingers have touch surfaces since you did it last!
• Enjoy the final day with your class!

I hope this list helps you plan and organize your end of year packing! Good luck and enjoy these last few weeks with your students!