Dear Alcott School Community:
It is with great pride and excitement that I welcome you back for the 2021-22 school year at Alcott Elementary School. Returning to school each year brings a sense of joy as a school administrator, but this year is different. After an entire year of school closures and a partial return to on-site instruction last spring, we now enter a new era in education. More importantly, we now have an opportunity. An opportunity to self-reflect and become innovative in our approach to providing our school community, staff, and students with the best educational experience possible.
Throughout this school year, my message will be focused on 3 simple goals.
- Positivity:
- Our staff will provide that welcoming culture that is focused on being positive. You will see us smiling, greeting each other, our families, and our students in a positive manner.
- Self-Reflection:
- We can’t fall back into old practices or habits. How we taught yesterday will need to be different tomorrow. Our world is changing daily, and our students will be entering jobs in the future that don’t even exist today. We need to engage your children and each other on an entirely different level. The pandemic has been our wake-up call and we are committed to self-reflect and be more for our school community.
- Collaboration:
- We are a staff of over 80 educators serving children from birth to 5th grade and our collaboration this year will allow us to benefit from the strengths of an amazing and talented team. This Collaboration will result in a stronger team at Alcott and more importantly, will include you (our most important stakeholders-the families and guardians of Alcott Elementary School).
You will notice a unique change at Alcott from day one of this school year. This change is a mindset. Our entire staff received their summer book, How Full Is Your Bucket, which outlines a simple philosophy that will define us for our positive school culture. It is a belief in the power of positive recognition and the realization that “…9 out of 10 people say they are more productive when they’re around positive people…” and for that reason, we will focus on being that positive and supportive staff who acknowledge the efforts of our colleagues, families, and students.
This is OUR school, and it is my promise to our families, staff, and students that I am here to listen and validate our team. Although I have done this work for many years, I am committed to remaining “vulnerable” in my learning. Your voice matters and we will need you to participate in our efforts to ensure our future at Alcott is strong.
Be sure to review your email daily for updated messages regarding our August 30th return to school. Next week, I will be sending our school community information regarding the new COVID-19 precautions we are putting in place to ensure the safety and well-being of our staff, students, and community. We must remember that COVID cases are on the rise again; however, if we keep our focus on our health and safety precautions, we will be able to provide that positive school culture we all strive to achieve as we enter this 2021-22 School Year.
Sincerely,
Stephen Lewis
Principal
UBUNTU: I AM; BECAUSE WE ARE