Change

I am the first to acknowledge that taking a chance to change things is not always going to be well received. In fact, sometimes there is outright protest at the change. As I have seen this year, there are decisions I made that produced the desired results and those that did not. While I am going to commit to a decision in the year that I must make it, that does not mean it will be in place forever. My ten years as an educational professional have shown me that pedagogy and school culture evolve constantly and change with society.

At the root of all decisions I make is the aim to do what is best for students. Some of these decisions are to continue policies enacted by my predecessor, but many also represent a change in those policies. Continued dialogue with parents, students and staff gives me new ideas and helps plan for future. On our May 4th SIP day, I spent half of the day with our Building Leadership Team asking what our staff would like to see from me next year. The key to this professional growth goal is that my teachers are willing to share feedback with me and engage in dialogue. I appreciate the staff's willingness to express their goals for the school, for me as the principal and for themselves as individual teachers and grade level teams. That is how we will continue to develop our teaching talents and our connections with students and parents. I hope to hear from many parents as time goes on and that this blog becomes a better opportunity for dialogue rather than simply my thoughts.

Comments

[Kevin & Danita Bergrud]

Yes, change, for the right reason, at the right time is good. Who can dispute it when good things happen? We feel it is very important for the parents to be involved in some issues however. Do we not know what is best for our kids? But telling the kindergartners that they are "not allowed to play with each other" as they wait for the doors to be opened is simply absurd.

We are still not happy with the fact that parents were misled last year and from what we have seen - still have not been told the truth and we're not happy with how and your boss responded to it. THIS is certainly not what we are looking for in the future. Give parents accurate information and the right things will happen.

Also in the future - Like from today on - we would appreciate having our inquiries replied to. Communicating with you thru your blog or via the newspapers is also absurd. Neither you, Jason, nor the PTA president are responding to any of our emails or even certified letters (though the one to the PTA president was actually REFUSED), and this needs to be changed. Putting things in writing is not an issue for us -and for those honest in their dealings - shouldn't be an issue for them either. It is your responsibility to communicate with your "stakeholders" as the district calls us. You do need to be accountable to the parents of the children at Owen so we wait...