The events leading up to the opening of school had their moments.
After two years of a nothing-but-test-scores approach to this place, the Principal suddenly switched gears on us and decided that we needed to access the student culture, we needed to re-connect with each other, and we needed to bring the fun back to this place. Several are cheering, several aren't buying it, and others have become so accustomed to keeping their heads down I'm sure they didn't notice. This is a great departure from her previous approach to this school's management, and I (like others) can only hope that the follow-through is as good as the pitch. (It also feels a bit like whiplash, since the district-level management changes over the last two years have resulted in greater legal protection, higher rates of documentation, and an arm-wrestling match with the teachers union worthy of Olympic-event news coverage.)
We got through teacher hiring and student registration okay, though I had some difficulty with one Special Ed position. I interviewed several people, then hired a guy; he took a job somewhere else two weeks AFTER accepting our position. I went back to the drawing board and hired another person; another school in our district stole her away. After going through every application remaining--and getting shut down for a variety of reasons (I'm more interested in elementary, I've already found a job, I've got too many offers in front of me already, I'm leaving town to become a nun)--I finally took a page out of their playbook and stole a guy from another high school in our district. Fight fire with fire, blah-blah-blah. The principal over there wanted to hire a new coach anyway, and this gave him an excuse.
Day One for students seemed to go rather well. It was like any other where-do-I-go, what-do-I-do kind of day, especially for the seventh graders. I'm sure it won't be this routine for long.
Helpful hints, position essays, and useless blather from the Assistant Principal of a high school in Southern California. Posts here do not necessarily reflect the positions or views of the school or district with which he is employed.
So there.
So there.
