Greetings,
GreenMount Community,
Today, I would like to announce the
addition of a new staff member. As those
of you who are somewhat observant probably already know, Ms. Kelly is having a
baby (a girl) toward the end of November.
She has decided that she will not return to GreenMount, but instead devote
all her time to her family as they welcome this new, wonderful addition. We know that Kelly has been a daily source of
positive energy and always ready with a smile for everyone. She will be especially missed by the students
who love her so much. However, we do
wish her the best, and I know that Ms. Kelly and her first girl will visit us
sometime following the birth.
In her place, we have hired Mr. Robert Bekas, who
comes to us with a great deal of experience and training and the unusual
credential of having graduated from a university solely devoted to physical
education. Being from Poland, Robert
attended the Academy of Physical Education in Warsaw and has a Master’s of Arts
in Physical Education, specializing in fitness and strength training. As a PE teacher at the St. Catherine Laboure
School in Wheaton, Maryland, he had seven years’ experience teaching students
K-8. Unfortunately, that school closed
in June, leaving its staff and Mr. Bekas without jobs. Now, happily, he has found a new home and is
anxious to start straight away working with our students and staff. Please welcome him when you have the chance.
Of course, we wish Kelly nothing but happiness and our
gratitude for her service to the children of GreenMount. She has been a wonderful staff member, always
willing to do whatever we asked of her and more. She will definitely be missed.
Did you know that it has been five
years since we were accredited by the Association of Independent Schools of
Maryland and D.C. (AIMS)? It seems like
only yesterday that we went through that very labor-intensive process. And now it is time for our five-year
review. A team will be coming out in the
next month or so to look us over and review our Action Plan. The Action Plan is the result of our
Self-Study, which we completed as part of the accreditation process. This was an educational process for the
entire staff as we looked very closely at what we do for students and ways we
could improve our practice.
We created he Action Plan five years ago to address
the items that we felt needed to be considered over the 10-year period of our
accreditation. When we created the
Action Plan, we spared no part of the curriculum or our daily operations from
intense scrutiny. We viewed everything
based on our philosophy and mission and made sure that we are true to our
beliefs and ideals. This year, the staff
and board members as well as non-board parents took on the task of reviewing
the Action Plan and evaluating the status of our actions. Elaine headed the
committee and made sure everyone had a job to do.
Today, the revisions are almost complete, and I am
editing the final document that is due on October 1. I know that we will pass muster again for
this review because of all the good work that has gone into the Action
Plan. I am very appreciative to all who
participated in this process. And, by
the way, my thanks to all of you for choosing GreenMount for your child. For it is the community that we have created
together that makes us find such favor with AIMS. Of course, it also helps that we are one of a
handful of independent schools across the nation that is at capacity. AIMS likes that about us….
Cheers,
Steve
