The beginning of the school year is always filled with a lot of energy — and this year was no exception — energy from the students, the teachers, and the parents. I now have both a middle school student as well as an elementary school student, so it was great to spend some time at both school this week. Besides accompanying our children on the first day yesterday, I enjoyed TL’s Back to School night last night, and I am looking forward to Arundel’s tonight. The beginning of the year should remind us all of how we do indeed create a great learning environment for our children and how excited they are. Despite all of the machinations about enrollment, budget, and other things that most students aren’t even aware of, the big picture — why we do this — is evident on the first day of school.
I also had the privilege of attending the staff “back to school breakfast” on Tuesday where all of the teachers, staff, and administrators gather in Mustang Hall to celebrate the start of a new year, recognize new staff to the District, and honor those who have been with us for a long time (there was one 40 year honor!). Our new Superintendent, Dr. Craig Baker, spoke about the high quality of education we deliver to all of our students and clearly outlined his three main priorities for the year — fixing the enrollment process, managing the incredibly tight and awful budget handed to us by the State, and implementing better communication within the community.
At the breakfast, there was also a special guest speaker — Denise Clark Pope of Stanford — who talked about the challenges for students today, the stress they are under (which was exemplified by a few tragedies and near strategies in some of our neighboring communities in recent months), and the ways we can all help them. At the end of her talk, Ms. Pope commented that she was incredibly heartened by the energy level and excitement she felt in the room among our District staff, and pointed out that unfortunately this is the exception nowadays in California — because of the budget crisis, many school districts have a much somber mood. We must be doing something right because despite these external forces, we retain an excellent, committed, and energized group of teachers, staff members, and administrators.
Here’s to another great year, and thanks to all of the people in the District that make the magic happen. I also hope that as we work through the inevitable issues that will come up in the District, we keep in mind the big picture…that which was symbolized by the excitement on our children’s faces on the first day of school.
