Getting Ready for the School Year

I'm back from vacation, we had a great time in the Cape. My kids (Eliza 5, Harrison 4) took swimming lessons and it was wonderful to see their confidence in the water grow every day. This week I've been focused on next week's Administrator's retreat and Opening day. At the Administrator's retreat we'll be talking about PLC's, Mathematics, and leading the Change Process, in addition to dealing with "administrivia." I'm excited about the fact that we have some great partners that will be working with us next year. In addition to GE, Michael Fullan and his team will be helping us with PLC's; the Panasonic Foundation and the Connecticut Center for School Change will be working with us on systemic issues around collaboration and the development of a standards-based K-12 curriculum framework. These partners won't be imposing their models; rather, they'll be serving as critical friends who ask us tough questions to help us improve.

I'm also excited about having an intern from the Harvard Urban Superintendents program with us next year. Rebecca Thessin will be arriving in the district on Monday and will be spending the next 6 months with us. She'll be shadowing me for the first 8 weeks and then working on different projects in the district. I know she'll learn a lot from folks throughout Stamford.

Finally, if you have a chance, be sure to Google our opening day speaker Neil DeGrasse Tyson. You should also check out his Daily Show appearances, which can be found on YouTube. I know you're going to be inspired by what he has to say.