A Special Time of the Year…

So we’ve almost reached the holiday break at last! A few days to go and we’ll be off celebrating what in many ways has been a truly outstanding first semester. I cannot begin to express my gratitude for all your hard work over the past four months, and I feel honoured to be working with such dedicated and passionate educators. I took a few minutes last Saturday night at our Holiday party to look round and reflect on how fortunate we all are to be a part of this community…I’ve said this before a few times, but a school is only as good as the people it employs, and as we head into the holiday I honestly feel like this community of teachers is as good as it gets. Thank you for what you’ve given to our students, thank you for what you’ve given to each other, and thank you for what you’ve given to me and my family throughout the year so far. I love this time of year…the extra smiles, the excitement of the upcoming vacation, the opportunity to reflect and to be grateful, and the chance to think about ways to do even better during the second part of the year…

What I love most about this time of the year however, are the opportunities that we all have to give of ourselves to others, to reconnect with the people that we love, to reflect on the year that was, and to recharge and refocus for the upcoming year and semester ahead. We also get a chance over the next couple of weeks to share a little holiday cheer/spirit with others, and to spread some of that magic around to everyone we come in contact with. I guess I just want to casually remind you all of the beauty of this time of the year, and with less than a week to go, I’m asking that you take some time over the next four days to slow down and take a breath, and soak up all the positive energy that is spilling out from our students…..let’s smile a bit more, give out a few more hugs, and spread that holiday magic around! I want to wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season, and a happy and prosperous New Year…

In many ways the most difficult part of the year is behind us, and it’s time now to celebrate all that we’ve accomplished as a team. We’re moving forward as a school in incredible ways, and that is due in large part to who you are as a faculty. The first semester has been demanding, challenging, and ambitious as we role out several new initiatives…but it’s also been rewarding, inspiring and satisfying to watch every day how you’re bringing these important changes to life for our students. Take some time during the break to put our work as a school behind you for awhile, and instead spend some time on yourselves. Rest, relax, re-charge, be adventurous, and most importantly, spend time with the people that you love…and be grateful for all that you have.

It’s a special time of the year for many reasons, and my favourite time of year in so many ways. Enjoy your holiday everyone and please know how much I appreciate all that you do…you all make me so proud. Have a fantastic final four days and remember to be extra joyful for our students and super grateful for each other.

Happy Holidays!

Quote of the Week…

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love – Hamilton Wright Mabie

Holidays
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The holiest of all holidays are those
Kept by ourselves in silence and apart;
The secret anniversaries of the heart,
When the full river of feeling overflows;–
The happy days unclouded to their close;
The sudden joys that out of darkness start
As flames from ashes; swift desires that dart
Like swallows singing down each wind that blows!
White as the gleam of a receding sail,
White as a cloud that floats and fades in air,
White as the whitest lily on a stream,
These tender memories are;–a fairy tale
Of some enchanted land we know not where,
But lovely as a landscape in a dream.