Dr. David Hopson
It’s almost inconceivable that it is already August! Staff will return on August 28 and the first day of school for students is Friday, August 31. The pace of getting ready for school to open continues at a steady and challenging level with two major projects—replacing the phone system and new flooring for the middle and junior high school hallways—underway but not yet completed. It is at this time of the summer, with only a few weeks left before staff and students return, that one wonders how everything will go together in the short time left.
I have received a couple of questions about why students start school on the Friday before a holiday weekend. Years ago, the traditional start of school was always after the Labor Day weekend but, with all of the mandated, high-stakes state testing, increasing the number of days of instruction before the required testing window became very important and many schools in the area moved to an earlier start. At Gateway, our school calendar is developed with the teachers’ union because the date that teachers return is part of their contract. In essence, the administration puts together several calendar options based upon the contract and then seeks input from the teachers. All administrative options included having teachers come back before the Labor Day weekend; one option had students returning after the weekend and one option before the weekend. The teachers’ association supported a third option that included only one student day before the weekend with the stated idea that this would provide a chance to get students in, hand out all of the required paperwork, review information and class objectives, and generally get all of the basics out of the way so that students and staff can really get down to work on the Tuesday after Labor Day weekend. As either option starting students before Labor Day required the approval of the teachers’ association, the administration chose to accept the teachers’ calendar option. Despite how ominous it may sound to make decisions partially based upon a union contract, the fact is that, at least at Gateway, there is generally a harmonious and collaborative effort to reach consensus on questions that reflect everyone’s goal of putting student concerns first and foremost in the decision making process.
Many of our staff members have also been busy over the summer ‘vacation’ improving their ability to support and work with students through seminars, conferences, professional development, and college coursework. As with all professionals, the effort to keep up to date is a constant process requiring much work. I’ve also witnessed the additional summer efforts by many staff members in preparing for various student activities including field trips, artistic performances, student activity groups, and athletics which are all supportive of educating the whole child. In addition, staff have also been involved in the ongoing hiring process to fill open positions created by teachers leaving (whether to another district or to retirements) or through the budgetary process where the district transferred funding from one area to another to better meet student needs. As you may imagine, hiring processes take much time and effort to complete but are necessary to find the best staff for the needs of the district and, for us, also include completing the process using more than just building principals or administrators. As finalize filling positions, we’ll share information about our new staff members with everyone. I hope that you all get to enjoy these last few weeks of summer!
