Friday, September 4, 2009

Principal Newsletter -- September 4, 2009

What a week.

To say this past week was a whirlwind is the understatement of the year. Thank you for all of your support and understanding as we got up and running. We had a great week, and hope you did as well. The rest of this post reads like a recipe for no fun at all (swine flu, politics, bus and parking issues...) but I assure you, we are having a great time here! All summer long the logistics of moving kept me occupied, but there is nothing like 322 eager faces to make one focus on what is important. That being said, here are some more logistical notes.


Ice Cream, You Scream...

The PTC Ice Cream Social was an unbelievable success last night! Thanks go to the parents who organized the event and served ice cream to the HUNDREDS who attended. The kids seemed to have a great time, and, for those Duck fans in the crowd, missing the first half was a blessing in disguise.


Busing

Every time I write "busing" it drives me crazy that it's not spelled with two s's. For that matter, every time the buses are late, I lose a bit more hair. This has been the one area in which we've experienced the most glitches. To a degree, it's understandable, given that our routes have changed, the school moved, and our ridership doubled. Nonetheless, a number of wrinkles are now being smoothed. Some highlights:

  • Updated bus routes -- click here to see the latest iteration of the bus routes, adjusting a few stops (if you don't already know about an adjustment, you won't be surprised here) and most of the times by a few minutes.
  • Late buses -- we expected a degree of disequilibrium around the time schedule, but, frankly, not this much. A number of factors contributed to the delays, but they should taper and disappear by next week. The bus company has also adjusted some of the pick-up and drop times to make transitioning into first period classes go more smoothly.
  • Upperclassmen monitoring the front -- beginning today I started talking to older students who are interested in sitting up front with younger students to help ensure they feel comfortable and are safe. Please encourage your middle school student to volunteer for this important role; parents of our younger students will thank you!
  • Students should ride one bus on a regular basis. It is too difficult for us to otherwise keep track. If plans change, or a students needs to ride a different bus home or to a friend's house, they should bring a not to that effect for the teacher and bus driver.


Drop-Off

Please help us keep students safe by dropping them at school no earlier than 8:30. We simply do not have the capacity to supervise them any earlier. Teachers need that time to prepare for the day and there is no location suitable to keep them dry and warm once the weather starts.


Presidential Address


On Tuesday President Obama will be delivering an address directed at students, much like President H.W. Bush did in 1991, aimed at diminishing the drop-out rate and promoting the importance of education. The country is clearly polarized around a great number of political issues. There are great arguments for why we ought to have kids watch the speech, and also very strong arguments against. I am quite certain that, in either case, many parents will be disappointed with the position we take. After speaking with our faculty, and considering options, we will not be showing the speech live here at school. It will be so widely available online that children and families who wish to view the speech will have full access from home. Additionally, logistical issues with our wireless network here make it nearly impossible to have all children watch the speech live. I understand that some in our community may be frustrated that we are avoiding a "teachable moment" in taking this course, or -- worse -- implicitly sending a message about avoiding important discourse. And, these are both very valid concerns; I share them. However, because of the combination of network viability here, the disruption to our schedule, and the ubiquity of access from home, I am comfortable with this course.


H1N1

This week we distributed materials from DHS with information about our responses to the likelihood of a pandemic. I'll link the pdf here as well. Below are some basics that should help us be proactive in our approach to mitigating the issue.

  • Teach your children to wash their hands often with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub.
  • Teach your children not to share personal items like drinks, food or unwashed utensils, and to cover their coughs and sneezes with tissues. Covering up their coughs or sneezes using the elbow, arm or sleeve instead of the hand when a tissue is unavailable.
  • Know the signs and symptoms of the flu. Symptoms of the flu include fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit, 37.8 degrees Celsius or greater), cough, sore throat, a runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, and feeling very tired. Some people may also vomit or have diarrhea.
  • Keep sick children at home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have fever or do not have signs of fever, without using fever-reducing medications. Keeping children with a fever at home will reduce the number of people who may get infected. Please do not give aspirin to a child with influenza symptoms, it may cause a rare, but serious condition called Reye’s Syndrome.
  • Do not send children to school if they are sick. Any children who are determined to be sick while at school will be sent home.
  • If you call into the school to report that your child is ill, please tell the school staff what symptoms your child is experiencing.


Parking


We had an incredible turnout for the Ice Cream Social. The spillover effect was that, for the first time, we impacted the Ash Creek neighborhood in a negative way. I received a number of complaints about illegal parking on neighborhood streets, and it raises my level of concern, knowing that Back to School Night is coming soon (September 15th).There's not much to be done about the number of vehicles we bring for such a large event, but it would help us (and my inbox) enormously if we adhere to posted parking signs and remained clear of driveways. Thank you for your help with this.


Finally, congratulations to the staff, students, and families of Riverdale High School for their incredible academic accomplishments -- truly, the best high school in the state!




Upcoming events:

Monday
no school -- Labor Day

Tuesday
first day of school for kinders

Wednesday

Picture Day
PTC General Meeting (9:45 in cafeteria *note time change from original calendar*)
Sally Foster Assembly 2:00-2:25

Thursday

Summer Readers Ice Cream Party (in library, K-4 lunch recess)
girls volleyball home vs. Crossroads (4:00)

Friday

Monday, August 31, 2009

Wonderful Day One