Beginnings and endings are hard. All too often, the end of the school year can be a time of mixed emotions. Sadness about the ending year is coupled with excitement for the approaching summer vacation. And for many parents and kids, it also stirs up anxiety about the next school year.

Here are a few ideas and tips you can act on now to reduce this anxiety and to help ensure that next year begins with a good start.

• If appropriate, provide input now for next year's placement.
  For a small number of children, it's absolutely imperative that they work with specific classroom and teaching styles. The success of the school year truly depends on a good pupil-teacher "match" for them. If your child fits that description, it is very appropriate to communicate educational needs to the school before placement is done for the following year-chances are, the school already recognizes your child's needs.

  May and June are very hectic times in any school office, so a letter is more effective than a face-to-face meeting. Communicating in writing also provides you with written documentation of the information you've provided the school. At the elementary level, copies of the letter should be sent to both the principal and this year's teacher. At a middle or high school level, communicate through the guidance office.

• Avoid requesting a specific teacher.
  As tempting as it is, especially when your child is in elementary school, try to avoid requesting a particular teacher simply because you like that person or you heard via "the grapevine" that this is the teacher "everyone wants." First of all, a teacher who is wonderful for one child might not be great for your child. More important, a successful class is one that "gels" together as a group.

  Teachers and administrators work very hard creating heterogeneous, balanced classes. They discuss how the needs of individual children will be met while trying to create equal, workable groups at each grade level. It is a long and difficult process, one that is made more difficult if there is a stack of letters requesting specific teachers. If all requests are honored, it is very likely that the personality of a class could be overwhelming for both the teacher and the other students. If that happens, children will not have a successful year—regardless of the reputation of the teacher.

• Avoid requesting a class with your child's friends.
  Many parents realize that the new school year will begin smoothly if kids have a good friend in their class. For that reason, this type of request is greatly abused. Having a special friend in class when the year begins is really only necessary for a certain type of child, and for that particular child, the request is both appropriate and important. The majority of kids, however, make and change friends effortlessly and easily—and should have the opportunity to do so.

  In addition, having best friends in class together often is not a good thing. There is too much socializing, and they end up seated apart anyway. It is important for kids to spend time with their good friends—but not in the classroom. A class filled with too many "best friends" is difficult to manage and impossible to get working together as a group.

Many parents do not realize the painstaking process that schools go through to create classes that are balanced academically, socially, and behaviorally. Finding out how placement is done in your child's school is an excellent way to address anxieties about the coming year—and a way to become more comfortable and trusting of the school's ability to place your child in a successful setting.