Today the Sun Shines!

For those of you who are more accustomed to my normal pattern of communication, today's post may seem a bit off. However, with the sun shining and the cloudless blue sky I just couldn't resist! Last week I kept the curtains of my home office shut most of the week, which may seem pretty strange for a guy who doesn't have windows in my regular office to begin with. One would think that if given the rare opportunity, I would jump at the chance to see outside!

Now then, if you weren't aware, the world headquarters for the Hudson Community School District have been temporarily relocated to my home office. My wife Ann has learned what my assistant Sheila has known for quite a while now: The work of a school superintendent isn't all that exciting and consists of a lot of computer time, phone calls, and meetings (albeit virtually now). Sorry about that, I digress....

So, even though I have windows in my home office, for the most part the curtains were kept closed last week. I mean, there wasn't really much to look at considering it was cold, windy, and rainy a lot of the time. This morning however, Ann came in and suggested we open the curtains. What a difference in climate that has made! This warm spring day is a great reminder for me, and hopefully for all of us that we are going to be alright. After lunch and spending the morning working at my computer I took a short break to walk around the block. It was nice to see a few people outside and share some brief, but vitally important words of greeting with my neighbors.

Most of the time you probably don't care all that much about what I am doing on a day to day basis. Today I thought I would share: Making plans for the 2020-2021 school year. Why? Sooner or later things are going to return to normal. We need to be ready for that. #HudsonSchools

— Dr. Tony Voss (@AnthonyDVoss) March 30, 2020

This morning I posted on Twitter that I was spending part of my day today planning for next year. That's right. Patience is a virtue and sooner or later this difficult time we [now] find ourselves in will pass. Truth be told, my day today isn't a whole lot different than it would be at any other time in my regular office at the end of March. Things will return to normal and I look forward to being able to visit in length, enjoy one another's company, and the term 'social distancing' will no longer be part of our everyday lexicon. We are going to be ready for that day and at the same time won't spend these days stuck in a rut of despair. The fact is, late last week we finished hiring three new teachers that will join our ranks next year. In the coming days, we will start to develop and articulate our plans for professional development next year. The good news is a lot of that work has already begun and will continue unabated. 

At the same time this planning for next year is occurring, we can't lose sight of the great work that is going on right now. Our building principals and teachers are working incredibly hard to connect with students in new and unfamiliar ways. They are finding their footing on ground that shifted right out from under them, and very quickly I might add. Teachers have reported to me very high levels of student engagement, and this is based largely on the level of detail that has gone into planning  that was done on the fly. 

Springtime is my favorite season. While it also often comes with a lot of rain, wind, and damp cold it also comes with days like today. Very soon flowers will begin to bloom, trees will begin to bud and the grass will turn green. This is the promise of new life. Warmer days are ahead Pirate Nation, Warmer day are ahead!