Principal Rachel Skerritt was in the middle of one of the busiest parts of the year, planning for students’ return to Eastern Senior High School in Washington, D.C. this fall. With her hands full juggling agendas, making sure teachers knew where they were supposed to be and coordinating the all-school assembly, she hadn’t had much time to think about how students would feel about returning to school.
But Voncia Monchais had been mulling over that question all summer, especially since the Class of 2015 will be the first senior class Eastern has graduated since closing in 2010 and reopening the following year as a turnaround school with a new principal and staff. Monchais wanted to roll out the red carpet for the senior class and get them excited about their last year. So she did. The first day at Eastern featured a red carpet leading up to the front door, crowns for every senior, a DJ out front and an overall festive atmosphere.
“I’ve never seen so many smiles on the first day,” Skerritt said. It’s a good thing, because unexpectedly the mayor, school chancellor and the press all showed up to do first-day-of-school coverage.
“That energy from day one really propelled us through the first couple weeks, which are some of the hardest weeks of a school year,” Skerritt said. Despite shuffling schedules and broken technology, kids remained optimistic about the school year.
Monchais is now bringing that same creative energy to back-to-school night, trying to think of ways to welcome parents into the school and make them feel part of the community. It’s all part of a program called the Future Project, a nonprofit organization that pays Monchais’ salary as the school’s dream director — her mission is to help students identify their passions and connect them with resources to turn them into realities.
[For more of this story, written by Katrina Schwartz, go to http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshif...tudents-reach-goals/]
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