Greetings,
GreenMount Community,
WELCOME BACK! This morning, we finally got our families
back from what I hope was a productive and enjoyable summer vacation. For some of you, today was an anxious moment
and one in which you already began missing your children. For others, it was noted that you did not
hesitate to click your heels and let out a hearty “Yahoo!” as you left the
gated area. (The gated area, by the way, was heavily congested today due to almost
everyone arriving on time. I hope that habit
continues as it is important for students to be present for the morning meeting
and to begin each day with their classmates.)
I am seeing lots of smiles today,
and it does my heart good to see how welcoming our “old timers” are being to
the very large group of new students that have joined us. This new group of students seems excellent
and we are all excited about how they will contribute to the school. We are
also especially excited about the families who have joined us. It was obvious during our picnic last week
that we are continuing to gain parents who will be tremendous assets to our
school with the many talents they bring.
I hope that all parents will consider visiting classrooms to talk to
students about your professions and skills that you have developed as
adults. It is important for kids to
understand that it takes hard work and persistence to achieve success in life
and that we are all learners, no matter what our age.
Speaking of success, this summer I
read Outliers by Malcomb
Gladwell. What a great book! I loved it because it spoke to me about the
need for opportunities to be given to
children to find their passion and that which will drive their inquisitive
minds. The research in the book is very
interesting and relates especially well to the kind of standards that we are
growing to build a culture of excellence in our school. If some of you have read the book or would
like to, I think we could have a great discussion about it.
Many parents and teachers, both new
and returning (notice I didn’t say “old”), are very kind in their praise of our
school and our approach to learning. We
believe that approach is fashioned to create learners that will be equipped to
meet the challenges of a future about which we can only speculate. It is an exciting and yet uncertain future
that our children face, and who knows what will face our kindergarteners in
2062 when they are retiring?! So, we know that we have a great responsibility
to create a culture in our school where the “cool” thing to do is to work hard
and achieve our very best. We have laid
out a plan for inculcating excellence, and that plan is shared with you on the
following page. Our professional
development plans for the year will extend our research and discussion in
creating this culture and I hope you will join us in using the language that
inspires children to take risks, strive for excellence, and unleash their
curiosity and innovative spirit. Each
year at GreenMount is better than the previous one, and as our staff learns, so
do the children. It will be a banner
year for all of us. Aren’t you excited?
The same quote as last year. We are still pursuing this goal:
E X C E L L E N C E
“Excellence is the result of caring more
than others think is wise; risking more than others think is safe. Dreaming more than others practical and
expecting more than others think is possible”
Cheers,
Steve
