Is This Really 'It' ?

It is true. Students arrive on Monday, September 9th. Summer has been amazing and our staff has had a nice transition back to work over these past couple of weeks. Like last year, we came back in early to receive professional development training at Fordham University. We then pivot back to our school campus a week before most teachers go back in. Heading into this long Rosh Hashanah weekend (happy new year, 5774), it is hard to believe our classrooms will be filled in just a few days.

Upon leaving school around 6:30 p.m. yesterday, I could not help but notice how much work still needs to be done. Granted, our school is way ahead of many in terms of planning, learning formats, and other fundamental structures and support systems in place. But in terms of classroom aesthetics, we have a long row to hoe for the next month or so. For example, we are adding an entire new class of students this year, heading into our school's third year. Therefore, we now have several new classrooms and a whole bunch of new teachers. As of yesterday evening, most of these classrooms are still lacking in furniture and technology equipment. Classroom libraries still need to be organized and new offices set up. Furniture that should have been delivered while we were on campus to receive it came instead with no one around. Helpful. Binders we should have received many weeks ago still have not arrived.

We moved various classrooms around to new spaces, as well as acquiring completely new spaces for our main office and principal's office. We now have a chemistry teacher, which many public high schools in NYC do not have. And I will be teaching two sections of U.S. History, which we are building from the ground up as we welcome juniors in for the first time.

The level of collaboration and interdependence within the High School of Language & Innovation (HSLI) is fiercely unique, so there is no doubt we will pull through trials together. It will be fascinating to witness our evolution over the next few weeks. Refreshed, we march onward into a brighter school year than any of us have ever seen before...