Yesterday the principal made an announcement to the students which alarmed a few of them and probably delighted a few others, too. Buoyed by the success of the changes he had made and the new practices he had instituted at our school, he had accepted a higher position in our school district where he would have the opportunity not only to remain in touch with our school, but also to institute many of the practices he had instituted at our school in other schools.
My paperwork appears to be fine, I was told in an email I received yesterday from the personnel office, and it appears that my application to work in the same school again next year will be accepted. A new principal, a woman, has been appointed for our school's coming year. Our departing principal spoke of her in glowing terms. She visited our school twice in the last two days, and no one has sounded an alarm. She seems to be very competent and well-liked according to every indication I have seen.
But will our school remain as good next year, or will it get even better ? Or will its quality decline ? As the heading of this entry states, since I will be there on the spot and will report, we shall see what we will see.
At first, a cultural question came to mind. Since the present principal of our school, a man, has had such close relations with students' families, will our new, female principal be able to maintain these relationships? I know very little about Hispanic culture, but I suspect that a man automatically has an upper edge, more of a respected and commanding position than a woman might have. Upon reflection, I don't think this is going to make much of a difference because the interface between our school and parents is usually with the mothers of the students' families.
In the wake of this announcement, another came to me this morning in private between the teacher I have been working with in our morning boost and crew periods and myself. He, too, is leaving our school for a better position in San Francisco. He has been enrolled in an elite course of study at U.C. Berkeley, recently finished his thesis, and saw an opportunity to move up more into administration, which is what he has been aiming at for a number of years.
I cannot blaming him for wanting a better situation for himself and his family. Our school district, like most these days, would happily keep an extraordinarily talented teacher at as low a salary and as low a position as possible. But here is an extraordinarily gifted teacher who commands great respect from both other faculty members and the students, and he is going elsewhere.
I feel totally comfortable around this teacher for I know him to be extremely intelligent, gifted in human relationships, brilliant in his teaching. His loss may well be a greater loss to next year's students than the loss even of the principal. And I, a minor cog in a bunch of much larger wheels, know that I almost certainly have a job at this same school next year, but that I will be working with some other, at the moment unknown, teacher. What's that going to be like?
As I have learned in life, all things are temporary. Sometimes we do not understand how good they were until they are gone and we look back. For instance, we do not remember what pleasure it was to sit and drink coffee with one's wife until she has passed away. Then we look back at the memory with sadness and appreciation. As for next year at school -- we shall see what we will see.
My paperwork appears to be fine, I was told in an email I received yesterday from the personnel office, and it appears that my application to work in the same school again next year will be accepted. A new principal, a woman, has been appointed for our school's coming year. Our departing principal spoke of her in glowing terms. She visited our school twice in the last two days, and no one has sounded an alarm. She seems to be very competent and well-liked according to every indication I have seen.
But will our school remain as good next year, or will it get even better ? Or will its quality decline ? As the heading of this entry states, since I will be there on the spot and will report, we shall see what we will see.
At first, a cultural question came to mind. Since the present principal of our school, a man, has had such close relations with students' families, will our new, female principal be able to maintain these relationships? I know very little about Hispanic culture, but I suspect that a man automatically has an upper edge, more of a respected and commanding position than a woman might have. Upon reflection, I don't think this is going to make much of a difference because the interface between our school and parents is usually with the mothers of the students' families.
In the wake of this announcement, another came to me this morning in private between the teacher I have been working with in our morning boost and crew periods and myself. He, too, is leaving our school for a better position in San Francisco. He has been enrolled in an elite course of study at U.C. Berkeley, recently finished his thesis, and saw an opportunity to move up more into administration, which is what he has been aiming at for a number of years.
I cannot blaming him for wanting a better situation for himself and his family. Our school district, like most these days, would happily keep an extraordinarily talented teacher at as low a salary and as low a position as possible. But here is an extraordinarily gifted teacher who commands great respect from both other faculty members and the students, and he is going elsewhere.
I feel totally comfortable around this teacher for I know him to be extremely intelligent, gifted in human relationships, brilliant in his teaching. His loss may well be a greater loss to next year's students than the loss even of the principal. And I, a minor cog in a bunch of much larger wheels, know that I almost certainly have a job at this same school next year, but that I will be working with some other, at the moment unknown, teacher. What's that going to be like?
As I have learned in life, all things are temporary. Sometimes we do not understand how good they were until they are gone and we look back. For instance, we do not remember what pleasure it was to sit and drink coffee with one's wife until she has passed away. Then we look back at the memory with sadness and appreciation. As for next year at school -- we shall see what we will see.
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