A Letter to My Family
Trust, Love, and Commitment
Having been in education for over thirty years, this past year has been the most difficult to wrap my mind and heart around. The roller-coaster of emotions we have all gone through personally, professionally, and as a school family has truly tested me as a dad, administrator, sibling, and family member. But the one thing I can always rely on comes in the form of one word, but means so much more to me….FAMILY!
Throughout our lives we have all shared both beautiful and tragic events. In looking back at these times it is my family that has pulled me through or jumped in celebration with me. Our children, although probably the most resilient, need our family to work as one unit, ensuring each and every member has what they need and are safe and healthy. This will be an enormous task, but one that the Dwyer Family can handle! As we begin to ready ourselves for a “new” beginning there will be many things we need to share and instill in our students in creating this new normal for us, as I thought of what was needed these three words kept coming back to mind, TRUST, COMMITMENT, and LOVE.
Trust, in the fact that we are doing everything possible to ensure the safety, wellness, and academic health of our students. It might not start as smooth as we would like but we will be constantly working on bettering our families overall well-being. To support this, we have created a School Based Pandemic Committee. This group was made up of all of our stakeholders, administration, teaching staff, paraprofessionals, custodians, nurse, guidance, and parents. This committee provided valuable insight into our building and best practices to ensure all aspects of our day were thoroughly thought out from all viewpoints. A special thanks is very much needed for this group.
Love, when I newly interview any member of our staff I am looking for them to answer one question throughout their responses, “do they love children?”, and “do they care about children?” To me, this is very clear. The Dwyer staff wants all of our students to succeed and become productive citizens and students. I often ask the students, “if you did not show up, who would you miss and why?” The overwhelming response is their teachers because students know and understand what they bring each day and that they come to school with one mindset, I am going to make my students better today than they were yesterday!
Commitment, I want to let our parents know that our teaching staff has worked throughout the summer honing their computer skills and better ways in which to improve the quality of instruction through technology and in-person learning. This was mainly done on their own time because of their dedication and professionalism. I have to say as their administrator, Dwyer has the hardest working and most devoted staff anyone can ask for! I have watched as emails flew throughout the summer on what teachers were finding to support one another and their students, I have met with teachers to discuss best practices, and throughout it all there was one underlying concern, what is best for children! The Dwyer Staff is committed to ensuring the best possible year for our students and families! What is asked for in return, your commitment to our family to stay in communication, work together, and also have a positive mindset that we CAN get through this, but only together as a family!
These are reasons why the three words, TRUST, LOVE, and COMMITMENT will be invaluable to our family this year, without them I am not sure we will get through this pandemic!
Mr. McGovern