Prepping to Return to School

FROM PRINCIPAL BLAND – Greetings Parents, Staff, and Community Members…WE ARE ALMOST THERE! It’s been an amazing last couple of weeks with all sorts of awesome activities taking place. I am excited to say that we are making great progress in being 100% ready to open our doors to our students in just one week! Can you believe how fast the summer has flown by? Our buildings are spotless, the classrooms are set, our teachers are ready, and my team is anxiously awaiting DAY 1! A lot has happened since the last BeeMail went out:

• We had an awesome meet and greet with our community. The Primary Center hosted over 100 people all anxious to meet our new admin team and new school leadership. It was great to finally shake hands, meet some students, and share good conversations about what to expect this year. Thank you to those who came out!

• We met our new Kindergarten DLI families. As you know, Brandon is a Dual Language Immersion school and it was great to present to the expectations and learning that will take place with their children. Walking into a classroom day one and only hearing Spanish from a teacher is interesting for Kindergartners and with the help from our awesome DLI teachers, Dwight Hutson our new bilingual Program Admin and the APS Office of World Language, we were able to answer all questions and put any nerves to rest. It will surely be a fantastic year for them!

• We welcomed ALL of our new teachers for a day of new teacher orientation. We spoke about our mission and vision for the school, gave them some IB 101, and talked about the support that will be provided to our students through Special Ed. and SST as well our focus on collaborative Professional Learning Communities also known as PLC’s. They are so excited to be at such a wonderful school and can’t wait to meet their teams and new students!

• We also welcomed all of our returning veteran teachers! I invited all of our Leadership team including our Student Life Team for a day of collaboration, brainstorming, and preparation for the year to come. We spent the entire day planning the year ahead and I learned a ton from these Brandon leaders.

While we await our teachers’ arrival on 7/26, I wanted to keep you updated on a few items:

• Kindergarten class lists are going to be posted on 7/25 at the Primary Center.
• Grades 1-5, please reach out to the office to find out your child’s homeroom teacher.
• Please look out for our schools 8-Day Rotation Calendar posted here on our website. All general ed. classes will still be on a Monday-Friday schedule, but your child’s Specials classes will be on an 8 day rotation. More info to come from your teachers.
• Please remember to mark your calendars for our Celebration of Learning on 7/30 from 12-2 pm. This will be a time where you are invited to meet your child’s teacher and meet other parents in your class.

I continue to be impressed by the amazing faculty, staff, and parents that are truly committed to hard work and lending a hand wherever needed. Brandon is a special place and I am so happy to be here. Please remember to sign up for my Remind alerts by texting @mbbees to 81010, follow me on twitter at @jbland100, find me on Facebook and always feel free to reach out to myself or a member of our admin team for any questions or concerns.

See you soon!
Jay