Principal Year 5 Week 1
I went back to work this week, starting my 5th year as a 6-12 principal. Summer went way too fast, and so did this week. Do not be under any delusion that I didn't work all summer, but that was from where I wanted and on my schedule. I am lucky that even our early August days are a bit flexible, but the to-do list is long and the days go fast.
Monday morning arrived earlier than expected, but thankfully, I had prepared and ordered some mini salad kits from my Walmart pick-up order, so lunches were easy this week with the grilled chicken and fruit. I am now, for the first time in 20 years, packing just my lunch and not lunches for a kid in school. (yes, I was that mom that packed my high school students' lunches; it is my love language- acts of service.)
Our office was full of all the teacher and department orders that my admin assistant and I had processed over the previous weeks...well, not all, but most of the orders. I sorted those and started delivering some to unburry us. I was delivering in stages because it is still hot and humid, and we only have one small cart. Deliveries were my movement and brain break every hour or so. In between deliveries, I worked to clean up my office, unpack my bags from home (a lot of stuff went on a nice vacation to my house and back). I also started working on rostering in several of our digital services to update rosters for this school year. Unfortunately, I hit a snag with both of them and had to contact customer service. I was also working on checking scheduling and enrollment information. I met with a few staff members who came in and helped answer questions. The day went faster than I had hoped.
On Tuesday, the custodial and maintenance staff started on the last major project in our building, the hallways, so I couldn't make any more deliveries until Thursday. I continued to work on rostering in digital systems. I also started printing off the items staff will need for the opening days of school and looked at the PD/staff meeting plan I worked on in June. I also continued to process fundraising papers, enrollments, and oversee scheduling changes.
Wednesday, I had to be gone to help out a family member, but I was, of course, answering calls on the road. I also continued to wade through emails and answer questions. I am never truly on vacation, I feel.
On Thursday, I came in a little later than normal to run a few errands. There was enough time for me to deliver a few more packages to classrooms. I also got our first set of math workbooks that we had printed; I am so happy with how they turned out and will have to get on ordering the rest of them in the coming weeks. Then we had our first admin team meeting of the year. That is always a good time for us to coordinate what we need to across departments and buildings. We made plans for lunches, program transportation outside of our district, and tutoring for the year. The meeting always ends with a principal's meeting; among other things, we did some reminiscing about COVID times and how it seems so far away, yet it wasn't that long ago. Our incoming kindergarten students were born during COVID years, so that it a bit of a shock.
