New school year begins.......

What a superb start to the 2011-2012 school year! Four weeks in an everyone is happy and very productive. I do believe it was the easiest opening I can ever remember. The Preschool opening was a small miracle-no crying after the first day or two, both students and their parents. The Primary kids were excited to get into a new routine and enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting new ones after the summer. The Elementary classes came back ready to learn and took the month early departure of their teacher, Mrs. Jan Hayes, for maternity leave in stride. Mrs. Fuller stepped right in as their interim teacher and everyone has been making good progress and building a great sense of community. I am easing into retirement slowly as I am now at school on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I do, however,call in several times a day on Monday and Friday to check on everyone. All the office staff keeps things running so smoothly and Stacie is a great co-director. Did you know she has taught every grade in our school at one time or another. I am blessed to have her stand in for me...I have every confidence in her ability to do the job. The staff of teachers and specialists this year are awesome and we have so much extracurricular activity going on after school. I predict that this is going to be A VERY GOOD YEAR.

Full Circle

I have been blessed to know many wonderful children and their parents in my career. Two of those students, now all grown up, are bringing their children to me at CDS to be educated this Fall. What a excellent and strange feeling is that! In this years' Preschool group will be two daughters of children I personally taught at Gifted Child, the school that grew into Country Day School. I remember them both very well as three year olds, and cherish the thought that now we will be teaching the second generation. It really makes me want to spend more time actually in the Preschool classroom, which is where I have always said I would end my career. It all makes me very happy, nostalgic, and makes me realize how much time has past, and how old I really must be getting.

School starts soon

So excited about the possibilities of a new school year at Country Day School! This should be a banner year with a great staff and group of students. We are ready to begin the journey anew.

Pray for Sasha

One of our former Preschoolers, Sasha Dison, has been diagnosed and is fighting cancer. Her Mom, Larissa, was a teacher at CDS. Our hearts go out to the family and ask anyone reading this to stop and say a prayer for Sasha's complete and rapid recovery.

Bittersweet Graduation Day

Today is Graduation Day for our eight graders, and we are so proud of them and know they will do well. In this group is my only Grandson, Lance, who has been at CDS since he was three. I have been so blessed to be able to watch him grow and learn everyday and get those special hugs on the fly. I know it is time for him to experience a larger world and yet I also know it is the end of a very special time we had. Both his Mom and his Dad work as teachers at the school, so I know they are experiencing the same feelings. He is so ready to move on and do great things at Catholic High and beyond. I will just miss seeing his face and knowing he is there. Congrats and Good Luck to all our grads, but especially to Lance.

School year almost over!

Next to last week of school is here already....how can that be? Just yesterday they were walking in the door with new lunch boxes and shoes, all ready to start their journey. But look at how they have grown...physically, socially, emotionally and of course, intellectually. All in all, it has been a very good year. We have enjoyed our time together, laughed lots, cried some, and learned so many new and exciting things. From Preschoolers in awe over rainbows and shadows, to primary students learning to read, to Voyagers building their villages in the woods, to navigators performing Julius Caesar.......they were the best of times. Now on to graduation which includes my Grandson, Lance. He has been at Country Day since he was three.I hope I can hold it together to give him his diploma and send him on his way to the big world out there. Thanks to everyone who made this year special. Have a safe and restful vacation!

Lessons Learned

As most of you probably know, our area was devastated by an outbreak of tornados last Wednesday resulting in loss of life and many homes. Another result of the storms was a complete power outage which is still going on for some six days later. As far as we know our CDS families are all ok and we will re-open school tomorrow.

During this time of simple survival, there were no lights, just candles or lanterns. There was no TV, no Internet, no cell phones or landlines for many of us. Those who had batteries and radios could hear what was happening, but some of us were in a complete communications blackout. We cooked what we had in the fridge or freezer on our gas grills if we had our propane tanks full. Soon we realized that automobile gas was a real problem to find.I waited in a gas line in Morgan City for two hours on E but made it to the pump to find a $25 limit for cash only.That brought up the next problem....cash. The banks did not open because of lack of power for several days and the credit card equipment would not function as they also depend on electricity to operate. It was a spiral of realizations that we would have to draw upon our own creativity and resources to get by. It was problem solving at the core of our daily existence.

During this time I heard on and off from staff and parents via Facebook messages. They all had a common thread...how blessed they felt to have been spared and how sorry they felt for their neighbors who were not. Also everyone began to notice how much simpler and enjoyable family life can be without our daily distractions. It was of interest to many that the Voyager class had been recently studying a time in history when their survival depended on the same things we were now facing. Their simulations of their colonial villages and families in the country day woods were now happening in their own homes in real time. They were watching their parents problem solve as the challenges kept coming. What a life lesson this provided.

As we begin to recover and rebuild, the lessons learned during this time can be reflected upon and can affect our lives in the future.