20+ years full time 200+ schools every year
School Assemblies & Library Shows
Middle School Assemblies
NY · PA · OH · CT · MA · NJ $500 guarantee, never claimed
20+ years full time 200+ schools every year
School Assemblies & Library Shows
Middle School Assemblies
NY · PA · OH · CT · MA · NJ $500 guarantee, never claimed
How to Choose a School Assembly Presenter
Ten things worth checking before you hire any assembly presenter — and exactly how I answer each one. Use it as a checklist even if you end up booking somebody else.
Start Here
Booking an assembly is an unusual purchase. You are buying something you cannot sample, for an audience of several hundred children, on a date that cannot move, and everyone in the building will have an opinion about it by lunchtime. Most of the people making that decision have never done it before.
After more than twenty years and better than 200 shows a year, I can tell you the ten things that genuinely determine whether an assembly works. Every one of them is checkable before you sign anything. Ask these of any presenter you are considering — and here is how I answer them.
The number I quote you is the number your treasurer pays. Travel, my sound system, my equipment, my setup — all included. There is no mileage line added afterward, no equipment surcharge, and no lodging clause buried in the contract. Ask any presenter what is not included in their quote; the answer is revealing.
An assembly on its own is a great forty minutes. An assembly plus follow-up is a change in behavior. Teacher support materials and student take-home pieces are available so the vocabulary keeps circulating after I have packed the cart — which is where the lasting effect actually comes from.
Children are the most honest audience there is. They cannot fake engagement and they will not pretend for your benefit. Age-appropriate humor is woven through every program because a laughing child is a listening child — and because a room full of laughter is the clearest signal a principal can get that the money was well spent.
This is the one that separates professionals from hobbyists, and the one teachers care about most. I can hold several hundred elementary students for the length of a program without your staff working the aisles. More importantly, my closing brings the energy of the room all the way back down before dismissal, so students walk out settled rather than wound up. An assembly that returns several hundred over-stimulated children to their classrooms has cost your building far more than the time it took.
I have built genuinely different versions of each program for different grade bands — different magic, different humor, different framing of the concept. Not one show with the jokes adjusted. Most presenters will tell you a single show serves everybody; a fifth grader disagrees within ninety seconds. If your building can split by grade band, ask me about running two sessions. It is the single biggest upgrade you can make to what your students actually walk out with.
Students come on stage, hold things, make choices and become part of the program — and I choose volunteers so that participation is spread across the room rather than concentrated on the confident front row. The children who need the message most are rarely the ones waving hardest.
I answer my own phone. I bring my own state-of-the-art Bose PA system, microphone and cart, so nothing is borrowed from your school and nobody has to hunt for a working speaker before the bell. Setup takes about 30 minutes and breakdown about the same — which matters in the many buildings where the gym is also the cafeteria and the auditorium.
Every review on this site carries a name, a role, a school and a town. Principals, teachers, PTO presidents and librarians across New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecticut, New Jersey and beyond. Anonymous praise is worth nothing; named praise from a colleague two districts over is worth quite a lot. Read them here.
Fully insured, and a certificate of insurance can go directly to your district office the moment it is needed for the file. This one stops a booking cold when the answer is no, so it is worth asking early.
If my program does not deliver what I have described, you do not pay me. That is the entire guarantee and it has never needed small print. It exists because you are making a decision on behalf of several hundred children with money that was not easy to raise, and the risk should not be yours.
The Full Range
Named, Checkable, and From People in Your Job
Cris really understands young children and their humor. He has a nice rapport and all of his material was age appropriate. This is the Best I’ve seen! Excellent!
David LivingstonPrincipal · Lewiston-Porter School · Lewiston, NYThis is a fast paced, lively production perfect for the elementary audiences. Cris went out of his way to involve all of the audience. His message was clear and he modeled good character through his use of humor and politeness. Outstanding!
Scott WrightPrincipal · Kendal Elementary School · Kendal, NYOur school was fortunate enough to have Cris Johnson inform and entertain our whole school last week. I can assure you that you will not be disappointed in this presentation. Any school would be lucky to have Cris come and present his Assembly!
Bonnie MontanaSecond Grade Teacher · E.R. Hughes School · New Hartford, NYThis program was well worth the investment. Everyone loved it and the message was OUTSTANDING!
Joette CartagneaPTO President · Stetson Elementary · Colorado Springs, COOne of our sixth grade teachers said it was the BEST assembly presented at this school in 20 years!
Amy MckentySchool Librarian · St. John of Rochester School · Fairport, NYThank you for your dynamic, funny, and entertaining program through the magician’s lens. Our students came away with your powerful message and were thoroughly entertained in the process.
Maureen AlaimoPrincipal · Merritt Memorial School · Cresskill, NJNo Risk to You
You are booking on behalf of several hundred children, with money that was not easy to raise, for a date that cannot move. The risk of that decision should sit with me, not with you — so it does.
The Practical Details
About 45 minutes, which fits a standard elementary assembly block. Setup is roughly 30 minutes and breakdown the same — a little longer for the Seuss-themed reading program.
A space and an electrical outlet. I bring my own Bose PA system, microphone and equipment cart, so no school equipment is required.
If you can split by grade band, two. A single session covering kindergarten through fifth grade tends to serve neither end of that range well. Send me your enrollment and grade structure and I will give you a straight recommendation either way.
It depends on your location, your date and the program, with travel distance the biggest variable — so any single number on a web page would be misleading. Call or send your details and you will get a straight quote.
More routes exist than most schools check — Title funds, character education budgets, wellness grants, PTA partnerships and local sponsorship. The free Fund Finder will show you which apply to your school.
Based in Niagara Falls, New York, presenting regularly across New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey — including Buffalo and Syracuse.
My performing schedule lists upcoming public dates, and there is demo video on the home page including on-camera comments from clients.
Let’s Check Your Date
Send me your building, your grade levels and the date you are considering. You will get availability, a recommended program and a straight quote — from me personally.
Cris Johnson’s Amazing School Assemblies · Niagara Falls, NY · (716) 940-8963
Serving New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecticut, Massachusetts & New Jersey
Cris Johnson's Amazing School Assemblies · Niagara Falls, NY ·
(716) 940-8963
Serving New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecticut, Massachusetts & New Jersey