Hello Lake Harriet Community School,
As part of my 90 day plan I promised to create a blog to keep families and staff informed about what I am learning and who I have met with. First of all, let me say how excited I am to be the new Principal of Lake Harriet Upper school. Many years ago, as I was working on my teaching license, I was listening to MPR as they announced that the Teacher of the Year award was being presented to a teacher at Lake Harriet. Throughout our community people know that Lake Harriet offers an outstanding education.
On Tuesday night I met with Ann Smith and Karen Knapp from the PTA for an hour and a half. They helped me understand the various roles the PTA plays in the school's success. We went over the different fundraisers and grants the PTA facilitates. It was truly impressive to see the level of parent knowledge and involvement - not to mention generosity. I want to extend my thanks to both Ann and Karen for meeting with me.
After meeting with the PTA we had an informal meeting with the Site Council. Again, I was impressed with the knowledge they have of the school, the curriculum, and the needs of students. We talked about the new STEM position and how that will support the needs of students across the disciplines; we talked about Focused Instruction, an initiative to provide teachers with a structure to identify student needs, deliver the right instruction to support those needs, and finally assess if the student has achieved the standards; we talked about creating opportunities for Lake Harriet students to engage with the city as a whole; and much more. It was an engaging conversation that confirmed for me how many great opportunities there are going to be for us to deliver a rich education to our students.
Because of the late notice of my appointment, I wasn't able to meet with the entire school community. I am going to set up a few times to meet students, staff and families before school begins in August. I will plan on being at Dunn Brothers on 43rd from 9:00 - 11:00 am on Saturday, July 20 if anyone would like to stop by. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call me at work this week, 612-668-4556 (until June 28) or on my cell phone 612-310-9831 in July.
