First Day 2016
This morning I woke up at 3 a.m. and forced myself back to sleep. At 4 a.m. I told myself it was pointless to try to stay in bed as my mind and body were super anxious about the official first day of school. I decided to go for a run, which might not have been wise in the pitch-black darkness! The run allowed me to clear my head, organize my thoughts, and remind myself that today was going to be a great day.
By the time I arrived to school at 7:15, we already had five Quest students in the cafeteria involved in a joyful conversation. I convinced them to come outside and take a first day group photo. They all agreed and quickly gathered around the Quest Academy Knight, smiled for the camera, memorializing what is sure to be a prolific 2016–17 school year.
The rain began to come down pretty hard but it did not deter the smiles of students, parents or staff as they made their way into the building. Quite a few families stopped by the Welcome Knight to pose for a first day family photo. I could feel the smiles behind me from our operations team, who found a way to create the beautiful sign that withstood both the rain and wind.
8:30 a.m. quickly came upon us and I rushed to the gymnasium to greet our Lower School families who waited patiently for our first parent coffee to begin. The parents greeted the administration with smiles and as expected, the PSA volunteers had everything in place (coffee, pastries, etc.) to welcome a large number of our parent community. After going through all of the slides and answering all of the questions from the parents we quickly left the gymnasium in order to receive our scholars for their first community gathering.
Soon after all the students got settled, we readied the crowd for our long-standing tradition of welcoming our 8th grade students into the opening assembly. The smiles on the 8th graders faces were priceless as they received a standing ovation. I reminded the 8th graders that some of them might remember sitting in the front row when they were pre-school students. We added a new tradition of recognizing the siblings in the audience with the biggest gap in age — the George Family in grades 8 and PS3. I charged our gifted scholars to give 110% effort every day while not shying away from new endeavors, challenges and adventures.
The day progressed with teachers introducing our students to what will be a rigorous curriculum while making them feel comfortable about each of the gifts they will bring to the classroom. The students were cheerful to be back amongst their friends and this was clearly present throughout the halls, the cafeteria, the locker area, the gymnasium and most importantly the classrooms.
Dismissal had its bumps but our parents were patient with our updated safety procedures and all children were greeted with hugs and kisses. The hour is now late but today will go down as a great 1st day of school. Here’s to tomorrow and every day after being just as great.
Your Proud Head of School.
