This morning I took a quick walking tour of the district and was thrilled to see all the classrooms full of smiling students and teachers. It was quite a change after a summer of quiet and empty hallways. While I enjoy the solitude of the summer, it gets a little lonely around here! You know, during the summertime I can usually sit down at my computer and work solid for two or three hours without interruption. Yesterday I didn't even get to my office until 4:00 p.m. I just love the change of pace!
So when I sat down to write this morning, I spent some time trying to come up with a catchy phrase to describe the opening of the school year. I just couldn't come up with anything that didn't sound too corny! I wanted something that captured the excitement and energy that is associated of the beginning of the school year, but it just wasn't there. So what has it been like this week?
We have had a spectacular start of the school year throughout the district, beginning Monday with our new teaching faculty orientation. The week that contains the opening of school is a whirlwind, with everyone returning and working hard to make sure that everything is ready to go when the students arrive. This includes making sure we have accurate class lists, classrooms decorated, enough desks in the rooms, and most important, LESSON PLANS! Everyone has performed beautifully and we are off and running!
August 16th had a big red circle around it on the calendar. No matter what, that date doesn't move. Ready or not, we were going to have a school full of kids! These last few days have certainly been busy, and I haven't had any trouble sleeping at night. In fact, you may notice that this post is a day late. I would like to claim it is because I wanted to post my blog on opening day, but the reality is that I was just too exhausted when I got home last night to write it!
The formula for every opening day of [any] school is virtually identical: A flurry of activity in the days leading up to the students' arrival, and then it all just comes together at the very end (kind of like magic)! Indeed it has. Is it perfect? Not at all. We are still having some minor issues with the software that runs our hot lunch program, and the student management software is being uncooperative. (A brief sidebar here: I appreciate the patience of everyone as we work hard to solve these problems.) In spite of these very minor glitches, I don't believe the children know the difference.
So here we are, the first day of school! My to do list for today includes the following items:
- Get all the students to school (Check)
- Feed everyone (Check)
- Make sure everyone gets home at the end of the day (Pending)
Oh, one final thing: the new parking lot works....
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