Back to School... We've got this!

I bought a cheap watch from a crazy man Floating down canal It doesn't use numbers or moving hands It always just says now Now you may be thinking that I was had But this watch is never wrong And If I have trouble the warranty said Breathe in, breathe out, move on

-Jimmy Buffett

It’s time to go back to school!

The plans are done. The plans about plans, meetings about meetings, PR, social media, and press conferences about the plans are done. Now the real work happens.

Not to minimize the planning process, but planning marks the end of the start. The actual execution of the plan, and the execution of plan B because plan A didn’t account for something, and plans C-Z need to be actualized. These plans need to be implemented, revisited, and changed, many times on the fly, by dedicated school-based staff. In the end, plans are just paper, execution is reality.

It’s not about planning now, it’s about being prepared. Being prepared for the uncertainty when hundreds of students, teachers and support staff come back to school during a pandemic. Being prepared to make real decisions in real time, with real risk that will impact real people.

For teachers and school-based staff there is the inherent risk of COVID as we come back to school. But for these caring adults, there is also the risk that we might not think of every possible scenario and perfectly implement all of the practices and processes required to ensure the safety of all of those in our care, This second risk is weighing heavily on our school-based staff at this time. We don’t want someone to get sick on “our watch”.

Our rational minds know that we can’t eliminate all risks, but we do the best we can. Every day we live the words of Maya Angelou, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

Unfortunately, putting the “coulda, shoulda, woulda” thoughts to rest at the end of the day are more easily said than done. This school year, we cannot burn ourselves out before we begin. We need to remind ourselves of Maya’s quote, and then repeat to ourselves Jimmy’s quote:

“Breathe in, breathe out, move on”

Educators, we’ve got this! We can’t be perfect in an imperfect situation. We try, we learn, we succeed, and we fail; but we do better tomorrow. The time to go back to school is NOW, and each day for the foreseeable future, we need to breathe in, breath out, move on!

Good luck to all the educators out there, and thank you to all of the families for trusting us with their littles. Happy new year!

PS A huge thank you to all of the front line medical staff, first responders, essential service providers, and store/restaurant workers. You’ve been doing this all along, leading and showing us how to be safe and move forward.