Dear friends,
As you may have noticed, this blog has been quiet for the last six weeks. This is not a reflection of the joyous learning, teaching and living that has been going on at The Berkeley School, but rather an inverted representation of my life this spring.
I have been juggling so many balls, pins, and knives (wrapping up faculty evaluation, interviewing for the Kindergarten, Learning Support, K-5 Spanish, and K-8 PE sabbatical positions, helping finalize next year's strategic program initiatives, developing a process for generating our CAIS accreditation action plan, and just this week launching the process for year-end progress reports and class placements for next year -- not to mention the regular ongoing work of student learning and growth) while trying to start spinning a few plates atop sticks (visiting Gateway School, informally meeting parents and family members, attending official Board meetings and beginning to get information flowing with various administrators -- not to mention finding and buying a house, and starting to pack up) that I simply haven't been able to keep this outlet going. Not that I've been casting about for content -- I've had dozens of topics to write about, and hundreds of iPhone photos downloaded onto my computer waiting to post.
However, now that it's May, and we're entering the season of year-end events designed to provide closure to children's academic and social/emotional lives, and to honor and celebrate the transitions that we all go through with the cyclical nature of the school year, with deep affection and sadness I am officially closing this blog. I've greatly enjoyed sharing my views into the Elementary classrooms, the inside scoop on admin discussions, revealing the thinking and processes that drive our school culture, and engaging with interesting topics in the larger field of education. Thank you for the many kind words and deeds you have given me over the last several years, both online and in person.
If you find yourself walking along West Cliff in Santa Cruz with nothing to do, please come knock on my door at Gateway and say hello. If not, as Archimedes reportedly said to the Roman solider who killed him, Noli turbare circulos meos.
With love and respect,
Zaq
