Today was my first day back to work for the 2018-2019 school year. This is the first year that we’ve begun both teacher planning and the year on a Wednesday. It seems so incredibly odd to me, even though I grew up in NY and we always began the Wednesday after Labor Day.
I posted this last night on my social media accounts. It’s been nice not setting an alarm for 85% of the summer.
The day began with bowling. The entire faculty met at the local bowling alley. We found out that this had been planned two months ago. It was a nice way to ease into the year, catch up with coworkers and friends, and not feel the immediate anxiety of being back on campus. While there, we were told that there was a press conference happening at school, which is part of the reason why we were staying at the bowling alley so long. The principal said he didn’t want to subject us to the media.
Once we got to school, it was the usual routine: get your schedule, keys and staff shirt. We then moved on to the faculty meeting, where the 40+ new faculty/staff were announced & introduced to everyone. That’s a lot of people for one year… and will mean a lot for the yearbook. The rest of the meeting was about safety and procedural concerns. We all have a lot of feelings about how this year will go. There are so many unknowns, and for a group of teachers who need to have control over things, that’s unsettling. There’s the new normal we face, the media at every turn, new people on campus from outside of MSD, construction, and so many other things.
I was glad to be back, but also overwhelmed and nervous. I hope that things run smoothly, that we can continue to feel like we’re a family, and that the stress of everything doesn’t get to us.