Before the first meeting: the intake form
Send one form, not a string of emails. Ask for:
- Student and parent names, emails and phone numbers, and who should receive updates.
- School, grade, graduation year and time zone.
- Courses this year and next, and the latest grades or transcript.
- Testing so far and planned test dates, if any.
- Activities, work and summer plans, in the student’s own words.
- What the family hopes to get from counseling, and any schools already on their mind.
- Constraints worth knowing early: budget, distance from home, financial aid, and any learning differences the student wants you to know about.
Documents to request
- The latest transcript or report card.
- Score reports, if the student has tested.
- An activities list or résumé.
- Any essays or writing already started.
- The school profile, if the family can get it from the school counselor.
Set up the engagement
- 01A signed agreement: scope, meeting cadence, what is and is not included, and how you communicate.
- 02Billing: package or hourly rate, invoice schedule and payment method.
- 03Communication rules: which email to use, expected reply times, and whether the student is copied on parent emails.
- 04A student record with the parents, household and documents attached, so nothing lives only in your inbox.
- 05A shared folder for drafts and documents.
The first meeting
Spend the first meeting listening more than planning. A useful agenda:
- 01The student’s goals in their own words, with part of the meeting without parents if possible.
- 02A walk through the transcript, activities and testing.
- 03The calendar for the year: key deadlines and how often you will meet.
- 04Two or three first action items, each with an owner and a date.
Send the family a recap the same day. The parent recap guide has templates.
The first 30 days
- Week 1: intake reviewed, first meeting held, recap sent.
- Week 2: the year’s deadlines on the calendar, and the first assignments due.
- Week 3: a short check-in on the first action items.
- Week 4: a note to the parents on how the first month went and what the next one looks like.
Before the first meeting [ ] Agreement signed [ ] Intake form returned [ ] Transcript, scores, activities list received [ ] Billing set up [ ] Student record and shared folder created First meeting [ ] Goals, transcript, activities and testing reviewed [ ] Calendar for the year agreed [ ] First action items set, with owners and dates [ ] Recap sent the same day First 30 days [ ] Deadlines on the calendar [ ] Check-in on first action items [ ] One-month note to parents
In Instudi, new families fill in an intake form and their student record is ready before the first call. You can also bring an existing roster from Teachworks, CSV or Excel.