It’s that time of year. Summer break is coming to a close, and we welcome the start of the school year. Parents meet teachers, students get their schedules, and the back-to-school hustle begins. With school back in session, and it being a taxing time for teachers, this is a key time for your church to come alongside your local schools. Below we’ve offered seven simple ways your church can help foster new relationships with a school in your area.

1. Administrative Gift Baskets

One way to connect with your local schools and build relationships is to create a gift basket filled with snacks, office supplies, and encouraging notes. These hand-delivered gift baskets can be a great way to show your local administrators how much you love and appreciate their hard work.

2. Host a Teacher Luncheon

Many teachers are only allowed a short break during the day. What better way to show your teachers love than to set aside a day and host a luncheon for your local educators? A simple way is to gather your church staff, cater from your favorite restaurant, and serve your teachers a delicious hot meal at school.

3. Pray Over Students and Teachers

Another great way to support students and teachers is to pray for their upcoming year. There are many ways you could do this. Your church could host a prayer night, set aside time in the worship service to pray for teachers and students, or match members with teachers for whom they could pray. Another idea is to create bookmarks with teacher/student names or schools and pray over them weekly. Showing love to your teachers in your church goes a long way.

4. Adopt a School

If you do not have a lot of teachers in your church, another option is to adopt a school in your area and commit to supporting them throughout the year. Does your church have a life group or connect group that could commit to praying over the school weekly or can drop off goodie baskets during significant upcoming events? Staying involved with a school is a great way to build relationships.

5. Backpack Drive

Another popular way to support a school is hosting a backpack drive. Reach out to your local school and determine their needs for the upcoming year. After preparing a supply list, ask your congregation to donate these items. These donated school supplies will help students in need, from pencils and markers to binders and calculators.

6. Back-to-School Bash

Hosting a back-to-school bash provides an excellent opportunity to ask all the students and parents in your church to a huge block party. A party like this is a perfect occasion to invite neighbors and friends who don’t regularly attend. A fun way to add to your event is to involve the schools! Invite sports teams and other clubs to help you kick off the school year right! You could even donate or give a prize to the school with the most representatives at the event.

7. Open Your Doors

Another great opportunity to connect with your school is by opening your doors! You could offer your worship area to the local musical and theater groups or provide space for a sports banquet or club meetings. Offering your facilities can help foster new relationships with those not attending a church.

While there are many possible ways to connect with students and teachers, these seven simple examples will help you connect with a school in your area. These back-to-school outreaches can be easily modified to fit the needs of your ministry and volunteers.

Let’s come together and do what we can to help put a smile on the students’ and teachers’ faces this year!