Faculty Goal Setting - WOW!

Lately, if anyone has been waiting on me to return a voice mail or an e-mail, allow me to justify my delay in returning your communication. This 2008-09 academic year marks my sixth year as Junior High School principal at Westminster. For the first time, though, I have set aside most of September to meet with each of the eighty Junior High teachers and support staff and to listen to these educators explain the goals that they have set for the year. WOW! I will soon complete the first week of meetings. What a blessing it is to hear our remarkable teachers review their 2007-08 student course evaluations and relay to me their strengths and challenges as teachers. Everyone thus far has detailed the reflective lessons that they are gleaning from students' feedback. Most impressively, each teacher is communicating concrete ways in which he or she plans to enhance the curriculum, to connect better with students, or to increase one's responsiveness to the specific needs of the various learners in class. Every afternoon, I have left school feeling enriched by the conversations and insights that the Junior High faculty are sharing. Clearly visible, these teachers maintain superlative hopefulness for the learners that they feel genuinely called to teach. A positive atmosphere permeates my office because of the ambitious work that the Junior High teachers commit to undertaking during this wonderful and critical time in the lives of our middle school students.

2008-09 JH Parents Night

Thank you, parents, for attending the 2008-09 Junior High Parents Night. I genuinely appreciate you taking a night away from home to meet with me and my Guidance Committee (administrative team). Your strong attendance at this event is great testimony to your commitment to your child's education, and I am thankful that PAWS hosts such an evening for all of us. Certainly, I understand the challenges with attending night meetings, and I know some of you had schedule conflicts. I look forward to seeing you at the next event. The link below should provide you access to the Power Point slides that I used as the core of my talk on Parents Night.
https://boadams.wikispaces.com/JH+Blog-Document+Links