Each day begins at my apartment door where Vanessa and Tanya gently knock around 8am. (I call them New Zealand and Australia, respectively.) We ride the elevator down 22 flights, walk a quick 5 minutes to the bus, and arrive at school around 820am. I snapped the picture above out of my bedroom window as I was headed out this morning, thankful that I do not have to deal with traffic anymore.
Today the new staff met the old staff for coffee, a bit of mingling, and a formal presentation by Malcolm Kay, Superintendent. (Notice how much more crowded the staff lounge has become; buzzing with excitement!)
Look at our gym, all dressed up and fancy! The full staff took up half of the gym--I'm not quite sure how many of us there are altogether . . . After the presentation, we split up.
I met the entire arts department: 2 drama teachers, 3 art instructors, 2 music instructors, and 1 dance instructor. We planned out the year which has a total of about 9 performances, including 2 large productions: A Midsummer Night's Dream (this fall) and Peter Pan (next spring). Maybe my nephew Liam can come and play the skunk again!
School starts on August 21st, but the grand opening of the school is on October 19th. Lots of dignitaries, parents, and funders will be at this event. And, my students and I will be constructing a giant paper mache' lion for the students' presentation to the attendees. (The lion is our Stamford mascot.) It's going to be the finale. I'm really excited about this project: it will be on wheels and the head will move!!
After our department meeting, we were excused to our classrooms for the remainder of the day. Tanya and I emptied every box in sight and organized our newly found Art Store room. We really have an amazing amount of space. Kudos to the design team for thinking this through!!
We have two and a half tubs full of straws. (???) All different sizes and colors. Bend-y ones, fat ones, and skinny ones. Researching projects now. Goal: straws will be gone by spring!
Here's our Art Store storage space! Check it out! Seriously amazing . . . Supplies in here, projects in the classroom. It couldn't be more perfect! (Now we just need to fill it up!)
Oh, and my schedule looks something like this: on Mondays, I have 2 classes. Tuesday through Friday, I have 3 classes. Each class, 80 minutes long. And all of my students are 2nd, 3rd, or 4th graders. Woohoo!!
Then I got home and found out that we have a rooftop deck on our building. For common use. Incredible. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.
Sometimes you have to leave home--the place you love--to find the dream.
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