A View from the Now-Retired Principal's Seat

Where do you work, and what is your organization's core mission?   Perhaps the core mission is to increase shareholders' value?  Maybe you work for an organization whose core misson is to provide quality healthcare or entertainment?   Core missions can vary depending on the area.  As the leader of a school and an employee of a school district, our core mission is learning .  We are designed to help young people learn and to reach for more academic and social/emotional growth than they thought possible.  At the end of the day, all we do in our district - from Board members and superintendents to groundskeepers, teachers, and bus drivers - is focused on increasing learning for students. One strategy our district embraces to reach our core mission is to invest in learning opportunities for their staff members.  Our district has a long history of providing and encouraging quality professional development for their staff.  I am aware of tra...

Dear 4th Graders, It doesn't seem possible the time is almost here for you to transition from Novi Woods to being 5th graders in your new school.  My guess is you're excited but also a bit anxious about your next steps.  That's OK.  Living somewhere between excitement and anxiousness is normal.  Perhaps you recall those same feelings when you started at Novi Woods?  Many of you, of course, started at Woods in kindergarten, but several of you have joined us in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th grades.  Regardless of when you joined Novi Woods,  you have made a difference, and the community at Novi Woods is richer because of you. Together, Novi Woods has partnered with your families to grow great leaders!  Together, we have learned about and demonstrated grit, empathy, passion, compassion, frustration, understanding, perseverance, sadness, joy, and so much more.  There have been awards, rewards, retirements, and many new faces.  I've been ...

Are you immortal? Of course we know the answer.  Nobody is immortal. Whether good or bad, we tend to think of ourselves as super-human or even irreplaceable.  I am 100% guilty of feeling like I am the only one who can do my job or the only person who can make sure our building runs smoothly or facilitate solving problems.  My favorite place to be in our district is at Novi Woods.  I am often required to be at workshops or meeetings away from the building, but I feel most satisfied when I am at Novi Woods working directly with our staff, parents, and students.    Life, however, has other plans--occassionally. I didn't know what back spasms were until I first experienced one in the summer of 2013.  I learned that a back spasm can make you laugh and cry at the same time.  I learned what it means to look at your wife and say, "Just push me over a cliff so this can all be over."  I learned that sometimes your body is in charge of you so much...

What do you say when you don't know what else to say? Perhaps that's why I have never written about the so many mothers who have directly impacted my life?  I just don't know what to say.  I am blessed beyond belief, and I know it.  The words just never sound right.  In fact, I always feel a little boastful when I put on paper the moms in my life because I know many of my students do not have this in their lives.  My hope is that in sharing my story I may inspire someone to reach out and be a mother for someone who needs it or to be a better mother than they thought possible. Both of my grandmothers are alive and doing well in assisted living.  They have always been integral parts of my life, and I was grateful to grow up living and being close to them.  As their oldest grandson, I always felt like I was the favorite, but I know there isn't really a favorite grandchild.  Despite raising large families of their own, I was spoiled by them, and I...

100 dives!  Wow.  I couldn't believe I was going to complete my 100th dive.  I've been a certified SCUBA diver for many years, and it's something I really enjoy doing because it usually means I'm on vacation where it is warm.  Also, our daughters were certified several years ago, and I enjoy it even more since I am with them. Just to be clear, I am a "fair weather" diver.  While I've dived in cold water, I appreciate the warmth and comforts of the Caribbean!  Since we live in Michigan, I really only get to dive when we are traveling. I was looking forward to my 100th dive while my family and I were on a recent trip to Grand Cayman.  Over the years I've been fortunate to see and experience diving with sharks, eels, sting rays, eagle rays, octopi, goliath grouper, and sea turtles.  Who doesn't love to see the "big stuff"  when you're exploring?  I was expecting nothing less for my 100th dive, and I let our dive master/guide know...

What makes great school conferences? Our school hosted our spring conferences tonight.  Traditionally this would mean teachers schedule times to meet with each child's family to share strengths and concerns he/she has about the child with the parent.  In its purest sense, these conferences were "parent-teacher" conferences.  The students were not involved. Novi Woods reinvened our conferences this year.  With great leadership from our teachers, staff, and students, we hosted our first "Leaderbration."  This was a celebration of the great leaders we have at our school.  Students created leadership notebooks to share their learning.  The notebooks included personal and academic goals, progress statements, and plans for achievement and evaluation.  Students knew exactly how to discuss with their parents and how to share their plans for improvement.  Teachers were then free to mingle and dialogue with each family and to celebrate the acade...

I saw grit today, and I was reminded how beautiful, precious, and inspiring it can be. We have a second grader at our school who was born with a "stub" arm, and he wears a prosthetic arm.  I wrote about this boy in a previous post.   Please see the original post here.   It's been more than two years since this story started, but today, and with permission from his father, this young man's story continues. While part of my regular rounds in the school, I saw the boy and his class.  He raised his arm to show me that his prosthetic arm was broken.  The hand was twisted around backwards.  I took the boy to the office and asked our school secretary to call his parents to see what we could do.  Occassionally the arm has an issue, but we almost never have to do anything.  In fact, I'd say the arm is "invisible" at school.  We really don't think about it, and it isn't even a topic of conversation.  Without missing a beat, our secretary, who ...