May
 |
As my first year as principal of Fox Ridge draws to a close, I would like
to reflect on some of my goals for the year. As a new principal, I knew
that communication would be important. Fox Ridge greeted many new families
this year. Our goal was to ensure that all our families received information
on school activities and to clarify some of the guidelines that have been
in place for a number of years. Many of our parent activities, such as
Literacy Night, were geared to helping all families become acclimated
to Fox Ridge. The Board of Education is in the process of completing an
audit to prepare a long range communications plan for all of District
303. This was the topic of Summit 303 in April and several of our parents
have shared ideas that were gathered at that meeting.
One of the things that I was determined to do was to make the principal’s
office a less ‘scary’ place for students. My goal was to
have students feel safe, and I certainly would not want to be confused
with The Principal from the Black Lagoon. There are many reasons to
come to the office, the weekly book raffle, Tuesday birthday pencils,
or to share a poem, story or piece of writing. Even when a student has
been ‘sent’ to the office, there shouldn’t be an overwhelming
anxiety. Does anxiety sometimes occur? Unfortunately, yes… perhaps
it is inevitable, but we try to minimize it. I always let students know
that everyone makes mistakes – it is what you do afterward that
is important.
Some of the joys of being principal include watching the changes in
our students throughout the year. I just love it when our band teacher,
Mrs. Oswalt, brings students down to play a piece or two, and Mrs. Borkowski’s
orchestra students will play anywhere there is a music stand –
in the community room, hall or teachers lounge! Or when the Action Arrival
Team has their quarterly pizza lunch in the office to discuss how their
responsibilities are going. It is such a delight! What all this means
is that the entire school is for the students. The adults are just the
caretakers. And that’s the joy of an elementary school –
it’s a daily rainbow of delights.
It is hard to believe the end of the school year is closing in. There is much that has been achieved this year and much of which to be proud. Transition has been an important part of our school year. We were fortunate to have so many delightful families transition to Fox Ridge during the year. We had many wonderful new staff members transition to our school as well. Fox Ridge will say good-bye to Mrs. Luckenbill, and we will welcome Mr. Smith for Physical Education. The children were very excited when he visited in April. My sincere thanks to everyone for your support in making these transitions smooth and positive experiences, and for making my first year as principal a wonderful one!
For your children,
Anne Van Zandt
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