The school year is ending. Or it already has.
And before we all move on to summer schedules and whatever comes next, I want to stop and say something I don’t think gets said enough:
Thank you.
Not the obligatory, end-of-year thank you. The real one.
Teaching is hard. It has always been hard. But teaching kids with ADHD – kids whose brains make it genuinely difficult to sit still, stay focused, remember instructions, manage frustration, or keep track of anything – that is a particular kind of hard.
You were asked to differentiate instruction, manage behavior, track individual progress, communicate with parents, meet compliance requirements, and somehow also just… teach. All at once. In a room full of kids with wildly different needs, on a budget that probably didn’t cover half of what you needed, for a salary that most people would not accept for what you actually do.
And some of you – many of you – went further. You noticed the kid who was struggling before anyone else did. You shifted your approach without being asked. You called home not to report a problem, but to say something was going well. You gave a child a reason to come back the next day.
That matters more than you may ever know.
For kids with ADHD, school can feel like a place where they are always behind, always in trouble, always the problem. One teacher who sees them differently can change that story. Sometimes permanently.
So from a parent, a professional, and someone who has spent decades working alongside you – thank you. For what you do, and for what it costs you to do it.
Enjoy your summer. You earned it.
