First Day of School Signs- Weave some Catholic identity into those back-to-school photos!

Can you believe that Back-to-School season is upon us?!? I know in some places, kiddos are back the first week of August. I've still got a few weeks until I'll have students in my classroom, but my mind is definitely spinning with all the things that need to get done between now and then. 

So many parents and teachers take photos of their kids on the first day of school- so I was thinking, why not infuse some Catholic identity into that tradition? We could use posters filled with symbols of our faith as a visible sign of prayer and blessing for the coming school year. Those images represent the importance of incorporating our faith in education, whether happening at home with parents as the primary catechist, at a Catholic school, or parish Religious Education. 

And these Back-to-School Signs were the fruit of that inspiration! Bold letters marking the "First Day of School" and lots of Catholic symbols in the background will hopefully make for great photo props for both parents and teachers. I made 20 different variations, hopefully hitting all the grade levels you might be looking for. They're black and white and sized at 8.5x11, making them easy to print at home or to make multiple copies of for a classroom.

I think these will look great in your Back-to-School photos, and would also make fun coloring pages for that first day! On the back the kiddos could write a prayer for the year, or you could ask them fun questions like their current favorite things, plans for the future, etc. Then tuck this in a folder and compare on the last day of school! (After typing that out, I was inspired to make you a template- so that's included below too!)

Know of my prayers for the coming school year for all of you- kids, parents, teachers, and catechists!

Click here for the printable with all 20 signs, then just print the grades you need:

Click here for the First Day of School Favorites page:

Update, here are a variety of First Day Favorites pages for various parish programs. Click on the page you want to open it up in a new tab as a pdf: