Dear Colleagues,
At the start of each academic year much thought is given as to what desired outcomes should be achieved throughout the year. Oftentimes, what is theoretical does not always translate in a practical way. As we strive to be a service oriented school in which we require 100% involvement by the community, logistics can be challenging. This has been the implementation year notwithstanding the growing pains. The feedback from you all has been invaluable and as a team we have asked ourselves some pointed questions such as 'what does authentic sustainable service learning look like?' We have decided to cancel three of the SLDs' November 3, December 2 and March 10 to will allow us to re-think how to approach the remaining two SLDs slated for next semester.
With regards to collaborative planning days, November 29th and December 14th will also be cancelled The thought behind this was, that we do not need to accomplish everything this year. We will revisit the second semester CPDs to determine those initiatives that are important to address for the rest of the year.
A survey was carried out among the staff to determine the structure of the CPDs; lose the last block that is presently in practice or all blocks follow the special day schedule, 50 minutes each. The majority of teachers favor the latter option. We will therefore go with the special day schedule beginning with Mondays CLD.
I apologise for the literary diarrhea!