Having spent the bulk of my time at work the past two weeks embroiled in a string of concerned-parent meetings, I'd like to reflect on a couple-three things that have occurred to me throughout the process of facilitating these always complex interactions.
1. Marshall faculty and staff are amazing. Without fail, each and every staff member that I've called upon to meet with parents and me these past two weeks has done precisely what I knew, with great confidence, they would be able do: put our students' parents at ease about what's happening to their kid at Marshall School. At every turn recently, our exceptional staff members have been able to convey to parents their abiding affection for our students, their commitment to the cause of academic success for all, and their careful and deliberate attention to ensuring the well-being and safety of every student in their care every day.
2. It's the rare case that brings a parent to our school with a concern about their child that's founded in a desire to beat-up on us. In almost every case, our parents arrive concerned in the front office because they love their kids and wish for their experience at Marshall to be the very best it can be. It truly fills my heart with gladness when our faculty and staff are able to convey this same message, "We love your kids, too," to our parents. It's remarkable to watch how quickly, upon hearing this message, their anxiety is diffused and then how soon thereafter we're able to turn a potentially contentious situation into a generally positive one.
3. Corporately we are an exceptionally intuitive group of people. In almost every case these past couple of weeks, y'all were able to make me well aware of these emerging concerns in advance of the parents contacting me. I think it almost instantaneously puts our parents at ease, or at least on a footing where they're a lot more ready to listen, when, upon greeting them at my office door, I'm able to let them know that I probably already know why they're here. I appreciate the heads up and I appreciate your proactive stance in reaching out to your students' parents just as soon as you notice a concern that might-could develop into a situation where the parents may soon reach out to me. I think it's fundamental to making it possible for us to so commonly resolve these concerns in a positive and productive manner.
Special Olympics
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| Congrats to all our Olympians! |
- Roy & Ezra- GOLD
- Trent & Cash- SILVER
- Carter & Angel- BRONZE
- Sophia & Arizona- 4th place
VOICE Committee
Andrea Shaw has expressed an interest in serving as Marshall's certified representative on the FUSD VOICE Committee, stepping in to the role that Bobby Macias has held so capably for the past couple of years. I'm grateful to her for her willingness to take on this important task on behalf of all the certified faculty at Marshall.
FHS Baseball Field
I've been involved in a productive dialog with Flag High admins this week, hoping to reach an agreement with them to ensure that our staff and students have safe and unrestricted access to the baseball field in the event of an evacuation. They have agreed to keep the gates between our campuses unlocked from now on. In return, they "would appreciate it if Marshall could partner with us and make sure that when they go out to the outfield that they are good stewards and are not creating excess wear and damage. Baseball works very hard devoting personal time in addition to fundraising dollars to maintain and care for the field and it is frustrating when groups use it without thinking about their impact. In addition to not using it when wet, we would also appreciate it if they would move around and not use the same area all the time." I've assured them that we would make every effort to do so.
Calendar
- Monday 25 Sept
- Coe, Reasor at Flag Community Foundation Grant award ceremony, 10:00
- Tuesday 26 Sept
- Coe at FUSD School Board meeting for school report, 5:00
- Thursday 28 Sept
- Faculty Meeting in the Library, 7:45
- Friday 29 Sept
- Payday!
- Post-conferences, 1:00-3:00
- SEI TPEC Pre-conference, 3:00
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