Playbook 03 · Slide 01 of 10 · Foundation · What It Is · Why It Works

The School Run Concept

Tom Hougaard's School Run brackets the high and low of the first 30 minutes at RTH open. How price interacts with this bracket tells you what kind of day it is — before most traders have a clue.

Opening Range

30 min

09:30 – 10:00 ET

Breakout Above

Trend Long

Buy pullbacks

Breakdown Below

Trend Short

Sell rallies

Stays Inside

Range Day

Fade extremes

What Is the School Run?

At 09:30 ET (RTH open), start tracking the highest high and lowest low of the first 30 minutes

At 10:00 ET, two horizontal bracket lines are set — these define the opening range

Breakout above the bracket = buyers are in control, expect a trend day

Breakdown below the bracket = sellers are active, expect a trend day to the short side

Price stays inside the bracket = range day, trade the edges

Why It Works

Institutional activity — large players establish positions in the first 30 minutes. The range they create reveals intent.

Liquidity zone — the opening range is where stops cluster. Breakouts trigger stops, fueling the move.

Day classification — by 10:00 AM, you know whether to trade with trend, fade range edges, or sit out.

Simplicity — no indicators, no curve fitting. Pure price action at the most important time of day.

⚠ Key Principle: The School Run doesn't predict direction — it classifies the day. Once you know the day type, you apply the correct strategy. A trend day strategy on a range day will destroy you.

Best Instruments

ES / MES — S&P 500 futures, most liquid

NQ / MNQ — Nasdaq 100 futures, more volatile

YM / MYM — Dow futures, less popular but clean

RTY / M2K — Russell 2000, choppy but tradable

Best Timeframes

15-minute — recommended. The bracket uses the first two 15-min bars.

5-minute — works but noisier. Use for precision entries only.

1-minute — too noisy. Avoid for School Run bracketing.

30-minute — too slow. Bracket is already set by bar 1.

Session Required

RTH only — 09:30 to 16:00 ET

Pre-market — irrelevant. The bracket starts at RTH open.

Extended hours — irrelevant. The bracket is meaningless outside RTH.

Forex / Crypto — not applicable. Designed for NY cash session.