Skip to main content

My 10th Anniversary Story

As I shared last week at Back to School Night, our theme for this school year is Our Stories Matter.  This theme was inspired by an author and speaker, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who explains that stories help us to humanize and empower those around us when we take time to learn them.


Fall 2009 school gathering 
So, I will take the liberty of sharing a bit of my story as it relates to our school.  It was ten years ago this August that I made the move across town to become the principal at Bel Aire Park.  At the time, there were two schools on one campus and because of very restrictive policies that were in place in California at that time, there was a huge disparity in what the schools were allowed to provide for students.  Our staff, parents, and students came together as one new magnet school and began implementing the Primary Years Program of the International Baccalaureate Organization.  At the time, this was a huge change for everyone and it took a lot of courage and a lot of work by all our stakeholders to build a new school and become the successful IB school we are today.
In 10 years, we have become a model school for IB and an award winning magnet school. We frequently hosts visitors from near and far and we've been interviewed by news outlets and education researchers to hear the story of journey.
Visiting Delegation from New Taipei City, Taiwan
Receiving National Magnet School of Excellence Award

But one factor has remained consistent throughout; an attitude and desire to continually improve.  Although we enjoy our school traditions that have remained, we are always looking to add new components and deeper learning to who we are as a school.  We want to challenge ourselves in the same way we challenge our students to be thinkers and inquirers. 

With all the ways we've grown and with the work we still have ahead, my story of the last ten years includes so many stories of students overcoming obstacles, being kind to each other, and pushing themselves to get better each day.  I think of a student who was frightened to even go inside the MU room as a Kindergartner who confidently presented his poem on stage in front of all the parents in 4th grade.  Or the countless students who have initiated projects to help our school or community to try to solve a problem.  I have a big stack of mementos, letters, work samples, etc. that represent so many of our kids demonstrating attributes of our Learner Profile

I'm sure most of us will be in new places or circumstances 10 years in the future, but for now, I'm super grateful that this time of my life is here at Bel Aire Park with amazing students and friends.  







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Creative Start to 2019!

After 3 weeks away for the holidays, we were able to start 2019 with a great event.   Our 4th and 5th grade students were invited to spend the day at New Tech High School for a joint project sponsored by Adobe software.  The high school students worked with our kids to design an art piece to be used at the upcoming display for the Napa Lantern Parade (Friday, Jan. 18).  Our students were able to document the process using their brand new 1:1 iPads (courtesy of our magnet grant).   Our hosts at New Tech planned a busy day of collaboration and creativity.  It's always amazing to see what kids can come up with when we get out of their way and let them use their skills and talents to create.  The high school students were patient and encouraging with their elementary buddies and allowed them to use their ideas to add to the project. Our students took pictures and video to tell their "story" of the day using Adobe spark software....
Post a Comment
Read more

Telling our Community Story

This year at Bel Aire Park our theme has been finding our voice and telling our story.  In thinking about our annual World's Fair last week, it occurred to me that this event is an important way that we share our story as a school community.  We've held this event for several years now as a way to come together with kids and families for a fun, relaxed time where we can enjoy being together.  While also trying to celebrate a little bit of culture from around the world in keeping with our International Baccalaureate program.   It requires a lot of work to put this event together and this year especially I was reflecting about all the people that have their hand in making it successful.  We have members of our staff, leaders from our Family Faculty Club, volunteers from our ELAC group, community support from organizations like 4-H and community partners like Cooke Orthodontics and Umpqua Bank all contributing ideas, time, or resources to help us have an enjoy...
1 comment
Read more

Season of Giving

I'm always grateful when the holiday season approaches each year.  It helps me put things in perspective.  Although all of us have challenges and stresses in our lives, it is good to think about things we are grateful for.  As a staff at Bel Aire this past month, we have been trying to practice starting the day with something we appreciate.  It can be something as simple as the sunshine or water.  Then, each time we notice the thing we appreciate, it gives us an opportunity to pause and experience for a moment the feeling of gratitude and appreciation.  I have been reflecting on and appreciating all those helpers that come forward when there's a crisis or tragedy.  We see it often in our own community and have seen it with the recent wildfires again in California.   We also had helpers in our own school community, inspired by their IB unit about how taking action is part of what it means to be human.  All the 3rd and 4th grade classes,...
Post a Comment
Read more