We've Got This

As part of the whole-student approach to caring for EGPS students and honoring where each of them is in terms of their social-emotional reality, our Student Support Teams work diligently to embody our Strategic Plan, "All Means All." I had the privilege of attending a Student Support Team (SST) meeting at East Greenwich High School. It was a gift I will not forget for the foreseeable future. We have some truly remarkable adults serving our students and families in EGPS. 

What struck me most in the more than seventy-five minutes that I spent with this group of talented educators was the depth of their knowledge of our students. Repeatedly I heard things occurring in their lives that I wondered who else would know about. The kind of information that students might only share with someone if they have the absolute confidence and trust in that person. The kind of information that takes an emotional toll and shows up elsewhere in their world. 

Photo courtesy of Dr. Brian Pearlman @DrP_Principal

Repeatedly the adults talked about a student and his or her needs. This is part of a progression that typically starts with observations with classroom teachers and grows to targeted interventions supported by specialists. There was no agreement on a path forward without consensus, and everyone was given a voice at the table. Positions did not matter. Titles did not matter. Gender did not matter. Student information was the most valuable commodity at this table. I watched and listened in awe as the adults in this room talked about nothing else but what was in the best interest of each child for more than one hour and fifteen minutes. 

This one is re-entering this week and needs essential assignments. This kiddo is skipping classes. This person is overwhelmed when they get to this class. This one won't go to counseling. This kiddo is in danger of not graduating. This person needs an Uber to get to this place. 

I was overwhelmed by gratitude listening to these professionals as they took in new information from colleagues, shared the information they had themselves, and then crafted careful steps forward. All in the name of walking with our students on their teaching and learning journey at East Greenwich High School. It was so mesmerizing that, at moments, I stopped taking notes on the individual I was there to observe!

Do you have a relationship with this student? Isn't there a sibling we have to keep an eye on? Who knows the sibling's counselor at the other EGPS school? What have we tried that has worked in the past? Is someone in touch with this kiddo's outside clinician? 

From my humble perspective, this comprehensive meeting is ordinary. There were no heroes in that room. There were human beings who have committed their professional lives (and I surmise quite a substantial amount of their personal time) to all the East Greenwich High School students. There are teams like this at each of our six buildings to identify the gaps our young people of the world might slip through and doing everything in their power to close off that possibility. 

Our students, our adults, all of us, have endured a great deal since March of 2020, and it's not something we all willingly talk about. I know that we have people who are still struggling as a result of that in our buildings. I know we have students who are still hurting from the pandemic and also from the reality of life as a person on that planet in 2023. And while we might not see it on the outside, there are people in each of our buildings looking for signs indicating a need. 

They are ready to respond. They jump into action. They wrap around our students. 

And because of that, I can say: we got this. 

Photo courtesy of eBay

Why Not?

In the summer of 2004, My Wife and I were newlyweds. We were married in June, honeymooned on Little Palm Island, and returned to Chicago, where we lived. One of the things that My Wife wanted to do was change her name from her maiden name to my last name. It did not matter to me. When we met, I called her Gendron (and still do to this day), she married me, after all, so I did not care whether or not she changed her name. 

We thought about hyphenating our last names as part of our discussion. We both knew couples that had recently married and done that. The more we talked about it, hyphenating did not seem like the choice for us. In addition, we wondered what would happen if one of our future children married someone else with a hyphenated last name, and then that couple would be juggling four last names. It did not matter to me; I was simply over the moon that she married me. 

In the end, My Wife decided to change her last name to mine and made her maiden name her middle name. As we tried to figure out how one changes a legal name, I wondered why she had to change her name for me. It seemed old-fashioned and not in keeping with our values or the vows we had recently shared with each other. So I chose to change my middle name to her maiden name. 

After several missteps, we finally figured out that to change your name, you have to start with the Social Security Administration. Armed with all the appropriate documents, we began the process. We sat in the SSA office in downtown Chicago and waited for our number to be called. When it was our turn, we approached the window with the number that matched the one on our ticket. My Wife put her documents forward, explained that we got married, and she wanted to change her name. The clerk checked her documents, looked at her, and smiled. I put my documents forward and said, I'd like to change my name too. She looked at me quizzically and said, "You can't do that." 

After several minutes of back and forth, the young person behind the counter retreated to speak with a supervisor. After several more minutes of waiting, the clerk returned and sheepishly told me that I could indeed change my name. As a part of the apology, this individual said, "I've never had a man come to my counter and ask to change his name." We appreciated the honesty, and almost nineteen years later, My Wife and I have the same middle name and the same last name. 

We are all creatures of habit, and change is hard for all human beings. I know change is hard for me. I love my morning routine because it's my dogs and me. It's coffee and quiet. For most of the year, it's dark outside. Everyone else in my home is asleep, and I have time to think, reflect, focus, and work. I like my morning routine. 

The risk of being too comfortable is that we won't be able to grow. That our comfort will hold us back from growing and changing. That we will be too comfortable, and that will prevent us from getting out of our own way to the opportunities for learning and growth. 

Photo courtesy of https://vocal.media/motivation/out-of-my-comfort-zone

I can understand that this is particularly hard when it comes to education. We all remember our time in school and our favorite teachers, and most have a romanticized view of our education. It's hard to understand how education has evolved and changed, even during my time as a professional. When I started teaching, I was using chalk and overhead projectors. In the last graduate school class I taught, papers were not submitted to me but instead were turned in via an online portal. I was uncomfortable with that, as for almost my entire career, I would grade actual papers using a purple pen as an homage to one of my favorite professors at Holy Cross. It was clunky for me at first, and it took me a while to get used to it, but ultimately, I graded all my work online without my trusted purple pen. 

Education has changed and is continuing to change. It is the nature of our work as we try to keep up with the needs of our students. We know so much more about how people learn, what impacts learning positively, and what challenges the learning process. We know so much more about teaching and learning, especially post-pandemic than we did just three years ago when the pandemic began. Our work in education is to continue pushing past our discomfort to better serve the students in front of us right now. As part of our Community Forums in March, I shared that there are some estimates that as many as half of the jobs our graduating class of 2023 from EGHS will have in their lifetime have yet to be created. That is staggering and impacts our work as educators, K - 12. 

 

As we look to the future of education in East Greenwich Public Schools, I hope we can be inspired by the words of the late Robert F. Kennedy: "Some... see things as they are and ask why. I dream things that never were, and ask why not?"

Photo courtesy of https://www.comprose.com

Better Together

About a year ago, the East Greenwich School Committee and I finalized the agreement for me to come and serve in this wonderful community. While I didn't officially start until July 1, I worked with year-round employees throughout the summer. However, it felt like I truly got started when we welcomed all employees on Monday, August 29, and all students on Wednesday, August 31. Since then, I've been welcomed by students and staff, faculty and families, Town Councilors and School Committee Members, and the greater East Greenwich community. 

I've learned how to build a budget for our schools in the context of a 4% cap while our largest bargaining unit agreed to a 3% raise the summer before. That reflects the leadership of Maggie Baker, our Director of Finance, Administration, and Operations, her staff, and the entire Leadership Team. I've worked with our Building Committee to engage the public on a Master Plan that will breathe new life into the buildings that comprise the East Greenwich Public Schools. That work began long before I started serving in East Greenwich and grew through a partnership with Derek Osterman, our Project Manager from Colliers. I've spent time listening during community office hours (thank you to Julie DeCesare & the staff at Felicia's Coffee), individual school office hours, and virtual office hours. My commitment for this year is to be curious, not judgemental, in honor of the hit Apple + TV show Ted Lasso. Click here for the link to that moment in that show, courtesy of YouTube. 

In these handful of months that I've been serving as Superintendent of Schools in East Greenwich, one thing is crystal clear to me: we are better together. 

This was made clear to me during our Community Forums when our Town Manager, Andy Nota, stated that he wished we could build six new schools and then quickly noted that wasn't financially possible. This was made clear to me when the Town Council committed to a "not-to-exceed" amount for our bond at $180 million. This was done in the hopes that during this legislative session, the reimbursement amount for school construction will be increased, perhaps even more than sixty percent. This was made clear to me during thoughtful conversations with members of the community who came to both forums and stayed open to new ideas, despite not agreeing with all of them. 

We still have nine weeks of teaching and learning with the students and adults in East Greenwich Public Schools this year. Our budget for FY24 has not been finalized, and we still do not know how much the bond will be for the Master Plan. While I still have plenty to learn, I know for sure what's good for the Town of East Greenwich is good for the schools of East Greenwich. And what's good for the schools of East Greenwich is good for the Town of East Greenwich. 

We are better together. 

Photo courtesy of www.growmoore.org

When Will It End?

On Monday, March 27, at approximately 9:40 AM, the East Greenwich Police Department (EGPD) received a "swatting call" directed at East Greenwich High School (EGHS). This false report alleged an individual with a weapon was inside the building. The false threat that our high school received that day was consistent with what several other Rhode Island communities experienced that morning. 

As a result, EGHS was immediately placed in lockdown, consistent with our School Emergency Operations Plan. Meadowbrook Farms Elementary School was placed in a shelter-in-place out of an abundance of caution because of its proximity to the high school. Members of the EGPS arrived on the scene shortly after the call and conducted a thorough search of the building. They determined there was no threat to EGHS or any other facility in our District. The lockdown at EGHS and shelter-in-place at Meadowbrook were lifted shortly after that. Our day returned to "normal." 

More than one thousand miles away, in a different time zone, on Monday, March 27, at approximately 10:13 AM, the Nashville Police Department began receiving calls about a different kind of emergency. The calls were in hushed tones, with crying and the sounds of gunfire in the background. The first officers arrived on the scene by 10:21 AM. They “engaged” the suspect at 10:24 AM, and within two minutes of their arrival, the suspect was dead. All according to the Associated Press. In those interim minutes, six individuals were killed. 

Emily Dieckhaus (9), Mike Hill (61), William Kinney (9), Katherine Koonce (60), Cynthia Peak (61), and Hallie Scruggs (9) all went to The Covenant School that day expecting to come home when the day was over. Their families expected to see them again. Hug them again. Hold them again. See them again. They did not come home. They were killed by an assault-style weapon, the same weapon that allowed the suspect to enter the building. 

According to the Washington Post, there have been 376 shootings since 1999, which means more than 348,000 students have experienced gun violence at school since the incident at Columbine High School. I've been "feeling" these incidents differently since December 14, 2012. Not only was the devastation at Sandy Hook the first school shooting I experienced as a superintendent, but Patrick, our oldest son, was six that day. The same age as many of the victims. We were on vacation that day and were in the car together as a family when my cell phone buzzed with notifications. As I began to grasp the gravity of the situation, I was only comforted knowing that my two children were safely in the car with My Wife and me, securely in their five-point harnessed car seat, visible in my rear-view mirror. 

The Monday following that awful incident, I walked them both into school, past a Williston, VT, police officer. As we approached the entrance to the building, both boys let go of my hands, walked up to the police officer, and shook his hand. With tears in my eyes, I did as well. 

We must do better by our children, by our own children, and by other people's children. We do need more mental health services for children and adults. It's not just about School Resource Officers (there were armed officers present in Uvalde). It's absolutely not about arming teachers (Tennessee is one of 25 states that allows people to carry concealed weapons without a permit, and there are reports from 911 calls that there were armed staff members at The Covenant School, though not confirmed by the authorities). 

It's about the guns. Plain and simple. 

I had the privilege to meet former Senator Patrick Leahy twice while I lived in Vermont. I once heard him speak once about the reality of gun violence. Senator Leahy is a hunter and a gun owner, which made me curious about his views. Suffice it to say I was moved by his remarks that day. While I did not take notes from that event, I was able to find a floor speech of his from June 2022: 

We have a problem in the United States when the leading cause of childhood death in 2020 was firearms. We are the adults who must protect our children. We must protect our children. If we do nothing, we are not protecting them. 

When will it be enough?