Week two!

I was getting a lot of butterflies last Tuesday night as I began thinking about our first day of classes and what the school year will bring.  I was nervous that there was something we forgot to do, or that student schedules would turn out to be messed up in some way, or that something would go wrong with the bus routes and our kids wouldn’t get here on time or get home when they were supposed to.  Of course, everything turned out fine and we had a great start to the year.  Deep down, I sort of knew this would be the case, but I got nervous anyway.  Really I suppose that’s a good sign—I hope the first day butterflies never go away.

So now we’re in week two.  We’ve met all of our kids, gone through our first day routines, and have started getting in to the meat of our opening units.  So here comes our first full week.  With the exception of a fire drill or two, it looks like we don’t have much on the books outside of our regularly scheduled classes so we can really start getting into the groove this week.  This is the time when our teachers begin building those relationships we know are so crucially important to developing successful students, focusing their work on the goals that we are all setting for the year, and again challenging ourselves to get better at what we do each and every day.  The potential I feel for the work we will all do with our students this year is tremendous.  It’s great to have them back and to be getting down to the business of teaching and learning.  Have a great week two, everyone!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back, Hornets! In just a few short days we’ll have all of you back meeting your new teachers, reconnecting with old friends, and beginning another wonderful year of learning and growing in the halls of J.T. Henley.  I can’t wait!

It’s certainly been a great summer here.  We’ve got several sets of new lockers that have recently been installed, an update to our heating and air conditioning system that has taken place, and a great new sound system that has been installed in the cafeteria just in time for back-to-school dances to begin.  If you check out the Henley website, you’ll notice that it’s got a brand new look as well. 

We’re really excited to be launching a new program this year called ParentPortal.  This program will allow parents to access schedule, grade and attendance information from anywhere they have a web connection.  It will also contain a link to our daily bulletin with announcements about all of the important events that will be taking place at Henley.  This should become a great information and communication tool for us this year.  As you know, because we are launching ParentPortal, we will not be mailing home class schedules this year.  Schedules will go live in ParentPortal at 4:30 on Friday, August 10.  At that time, parents who have picked up their usernames and passwords will be able to log on and see which classes and teachers their students have been assigned to for the coming school year.  If you still need to pick up your username and password, please stop by the Henley front office between 9:00 and 3:30 and remember to bring your photo I.D.

Another change that you will notice next year is that we are moving our STING period to the morning on a trial basis.  At the beginning of the year, we will start each day with a homeroom/STING period.  This will allow us to again have a period of sustained silent reading (SSR) to begin our day while still allowing for remediation and support to take place for students who need it.  At the end of September, we will consider feedback from parents, students and staff and make a decision to either keep STING in the morning or to move it back to the afternoon.

Our open house for new students is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Monday, August 20.  This is a time for students to come to Henley to meet their new teachers and learn the location of each of their classes.  We hope to see many of you at this event!

It’s been much too quiet around here this summer, and I can’t wait until our hallways are again filled with the sounds of students learning and having fun.  School starts at 9:00 on Wednesday, August 22.  Until then, enjoy these final few days of summer and get ready for a fantastic year!  See you soon and Go Hornets!

Making a Difference Every Day

It's been a while since I updated the old blog post, and something happened at Henley last week that I felt really encapsulated what we try to do as educators.  I walked into the office at the end of lunch duty on Friday to be surprised by two former students.  These were kids that almost everyone in school knew, but sometimes not for the best reasons.  They were each English language learners and they also had many other hurdles to get over, both inside and outside of school, in order to be successful.  They each struggled to maintain positive behavior at school and to succeed academically.  They were the kinds of kids that could push you to your limits sometimes, but that still found a spot in your heart because we all knew that at their core, they were good kids.  When they moved out of the state last year, none of us thought that we were likely to see them again.

Needless to say, it was quite a surprise when they showed up in the office last Friday.  It turns out their dad had some business that he needed to take care of in town, and that he was just here for the day.  Even though their dad had a full plate of things to do last Friday, both of these students insisted that he bring them by Henley so that they could see three of their former teachers.  Think about what that says about the relationship these three teachers developed with both of these kids.  They are in town for one day, which was undoubtedly a busy one for their father, and could have easily never have given Henley a second thought.  But these teachers touched their lives in such a remarkable way that they had to come by and say hello.  That’s what it’s all about isn’t it?  The reason we all got into this job in the first place?  The reason we put in the extra time to make sure our students know that we care?  It made my day to see how happy those students were to be back at Henley for just a little while to reconnect.  

The thing that makes this story even better, is that I know that similar situations could take place with any one of our teachers here at Henley.  Our ability to make an impact on students' lives is profound, and is not something that we should take lightly.  We do make a difference each and every day with all of the children we work with.  Most of the time, we never get to see just how much we mean to our students like we did last Friday, but just one experience like this one justifies all of the hours of work, the sleepless nights, and the time away from our own families that all of our teachers sacrifice for the students at Henley.  I am proud to be a part of what we have going on here, and feel incredibly blessed to work with such a dedicated group of educators.