What's Important?

The reality has yet to fully sink in for me.

We will not see our students again in person this school year. Our students will not see their teachers in person again this school year. We will not see our colleagues or meet as a Faculty & Staff in person again this school year.

My head fully understands the science behind Governor Scott's decision. My heart is aching for what might have been had this global health crisis not impacted our world. There are so many unknowns, and yet we must focus on what we can control and what we know.

This is what I know about our future together:

Relationships come first in our school family.
We will prioritize conversations over grades.
We will prioritize being kind, over being right.
We will prioritize people over our institutions.
We will meet students and their families wherever they are.

This is what is important to us. We want our students to know they matter more than what they can do while they are away from us. We want our teachers to know that the connections they nurture with their students matter more than what our students can produce while they are away from us. We want our families to know they are not teachers, nor are they expected to be teachers. We want our families to do what they need to do to care for their families during this difficult and challenging time.

That's it. That's our list. That is what's important to us. We will figure out the rest together.

We are in this together. We are here for you. I am here for you.

Take good care of yourselves and each other.

Photo courtesy of www.strobeleducation.com