Welcome back to school!!!

I can feel the excitement in the air. Parents are relieved – almost giddy – to be getting the kids back into routines. School staff are bright eyed and cheerfully welcoming each student. Even the most resistant of kid seems to be looking forward to getting back to school if for no other reason than to break the monotony of being at home.

Even with a delayed start, this is a wonderful time of the year. The first day of school is upon us!

There is something cyclical about the start of school. Seasonal. Traditional. It helps us mark the rhythm of the year. The start of school, that crisp bite of the cool morning air as we make our way to school on the first day. Fall is here. Time for schedules and routine again. Time to say good bye to carefree summer days.

And now we turn our minds to the business at hand. This is a place of learning, but in order for learning to occur there are a few things that need to be in place. Our staff and students will be spending the coming days and weeks working on building community in their classrooms and in our school. Before any of us can learn, we need to feel safe, cared about and like we belong. That goes for kids and adults.

So how do we create a culture of caring?

There are only three “rules” I ask kids to keep in mind at school.

• Take care of yourself.
• Take care of others.
• Take care of this place.

Here’s the thing….

If you are doing these three things, you are likely doing your job.

I’m not a fan of having a big list of do’s and don’ts with varying degrees of consequences in black and white for each infraction. I don’t know much, but one thing I know for sure is that there are very few black and white decisions in my day. Each situation has a context. Each child is a person with their own set of experiences. Each mistake that’s been made is an opportunity for learning. I make six mistakes before I even leave the house each day. Thankfully I have an understanding daughter! We need to look after each other, like a family. Also like a family, we don’t need to always like each other, but we do need to care about one another.

We will be working in the coming days and weeks – all year really, to make this a cohesive, caring community as I know it already has been. The staff agree that all the kids at our school are ALL OUR KIDS. Each teacher cares about each of our students whether they are in that class or not. We want school to be a place where kids feel cared about and included and welcome. Yes, we will have some conflicts with each other – but we will solve them together.

I believe in the red car syndrome. You buy a red car and suddenly all you see are red cars everywhere. Anyone who has been expecting a child knows that during that time there seems to be pregnant people everywhere. The same goes for looking for negative things. You see what you look for. So I’m going to focus on the caring. We will look for and teach ways to take care of ourselves, each other and this place. When things go sideways, we will help everyone involved to get back on track, because this is a place of learning.

I know you will let us know how we are doing.

Happy first day back!

Stacy