Guest Post: Organizing School Paperwork

As we all know, managing paperwork can get out of hand. With the right system in place however, it can be very simple.

Today I am thrilled to have Jen from one of my favorite home organizing blogs, I heart organizing here today to show us how she keeps the school paperwork from her three boys in order… and stylishly I might add. I will be downloading the darling {and free} file labels for sure! Thanks Jen!!!

Each and every day when my little ones hop off of the bus and come running in through the front door, they take off all their gear and give their mama some major hugs!  That's my favorite part.  And then they take out piles and piles of paperwork.  Piles.  And more piles.  It's like crazy amounts of papers each and every day.

Tackling these piles can quickly get overwhelming, since it seems never ending.  And if they don't get dealt with, the piles can create mass chaos.... I know, I have been there!

We typically go through all of their work, and file all the necessities in their personal bins.

This is always our "go to" place for all things related to the kid's schooling and activities.  However, to ensure the bin doesn't overflow with all the papers I can't part with, I had created this binder system to house all my favs.

I actually pre-made three binders that matched for all of my boys, even though Parker hadn't even started school yet.  Because I wanted them all to match.  And this crazy girl thought that she could get ALL of their elementary paperwork into one binder.... 

 
I tend to hold on to all their important tests, report cards, paperwork showing milestones being made, etc... and it ended up being more than I originally planned for.  And that's ok.  It is always one of my favorite ways to go down memory lane with the little ones... they really get a kick out of looking at their older papers as well.  So instead of pairing down even more, which tends to be my first reaction, I decided I needed a new storage approach.  One that will be manageable as they continue to learn and grow, yet is easy to maintain.

So I snagged three file boxes.  You can get them anywhere, office supply stores, Target and Walmart, Amazon...  They come in so many shapes and sizes and colors!

The goal was to place thirteen hanging files into each file box.  One file for each grade, Kindergarten through Twelfth.

Enter these labels {notice they look slightly different from my photos due to a recent formatting update to accommodate more users}:

{click here to download your FREE copy - Avery Address Labels 5160}

{click here to download your FREE PDF copy - Avery File Labels 5366}
{click here to download your FREE Microsoft WORD copy - Avery File Labels 5366}

You can download them for free!  I just printed the labels out on standard address labels and popped them on each of the fourteen {times three boys} file folders.

The next goal was to add a little coversheet to each folder, giving a quick explanation of the contents and showcasing a fantastic school portrait of my little guy, for each current year.

{Click Here to Download this School Paperwork Coversheet}

You can download your own copy of these also!  Do you feel the love?

I just printed out a copy onto cardstock for each folder, for each year and popped them inside.  Doing this ahead of time will ensure a consistent look for all years down the line, and make it easier to keep up as the years come and go.

Then, just using a glue stick, I glued the year's school photo to each sheet, and filled out all the year's information in the blanks, which ended up making a perfect coversheet for each folder!

And although the file box looks like it is all filled up....



There is definitely plenty of room to grow!  Which is exactly what this proud mama needed!



I just pop the cover on and stow away on a nearby shelf.  Making this a really easy system to maintain.  Oh imagine the giddiness!!

School paperwork is always a hot topic that I have gotten oodles of emails about, so if there are any other storage ideas or solutions that are working well for you, we would all heart to know!