Principal's message: 

This has been a great week for our students, with much more to come! On Tuesday, their parents turned out in intense numbers for Back-to-School Night. I appreciate how tough a Tuesday night session is for our teachers (and for parents as well) and was happy at the many positive reports I received. On Wednesday I met with the leadership of our ADCA; there is much to be said about their work this year (and I will say more soon) but I want to commend them for tackling this busy year with gusto - and Lori Jackson in particular as she wasn't even planning to BE president! On Thursday, Deal's football team had its first game (volleyball has just started and cross-country had a meet yesterday) so we know sports are fully underway. And on Friday, we had Movie Night - with the largest attendance ever. To top the week off, we had a great 6th grade Peace Day celebration (check out the Twitter feed). So much going on.

This week, the action continues unabated. Our 6th Grade heads off to the Hemlock Ropes Course, (with a substantial contribution from the ADCA), our first interim reports come home, and Falls starts with a rush! Our ADCA has the first big general meeting of the year with a speaker who will talk about the challenges of middle schoolers. One of the most intriguing events in the month is the visit of James Ponti - the author of a number of young adult books - who has set his latest series in the hallowed halls of Deal. Yes, his protagonist is a 7th grade student at Deal who also serves as a detective. Ponti will be at school at 6:30 to talk about the book - and will visit earlier in the day to meet with students. On Friday, teachers take the day to work on collaboration and professional development so there will be no school at Deal (for the students). And on Saturday, our 6th Grade October-fest will take over the school in a day that is always crowd-pleasing. Check out the details on each of these events below and plan accordingly!

We recently had a teacher decide to leave with no notice. Mid-year departures are without a doubt among the worst things that can happen to students or a school. In this case, it appears there was an unresolvable emergency situation and we were left to pick up the pieces. It is exceedingly difficult to plot a positive course through such a departure, but I do want to share some of the work that takes place so that you can have some insight into the challenge. The immediate response is to have a substitute take the class. For anything longer than a day, a substitute needs to be the right type of substitute (they can teach) and be given lesson plans for the curriculum. In the current case, a teacher agreed to add a part of the departing teacher's workload to her own - she is providing some lessons. A second teacher agreed to become the teacher of record for two of the five classes. Within hours DCPS had provided me with four active resumes; within a day or two interviews were set up. Of course, it is impossible to have a current teacher just step in and take over the class; I don't have anyone in the building not working to their capacity. In spite of this, for the coming week, I have decided to assign four staff members additional course instruction to help us through this critical time. As of this coming Monday - 6 days after the teacher's departure - all interviews will be concluded and an offer will be extended. Once an offer is made and accepted, there are still a number of days required to bring that person on board to the school - all the DCPS clearances must be made. In addition,, coursework that has been given out must be graded and results uploaded into Edline. No substitute can do this work; it has to be one of our experienced staff members. The Deal teacher community knows how important it is to maintain student work and engagement in these difficult weeks and always - always - steps up and steps in. For this we are very grateful. Because I am loathe to promise what we can't be sure of - the exact start date for someone new or a seamless transition - communication with families is always a bit tentative. I appreciate the patience everyone has shown in this case and hope that this insight into our process shows that we pull out all the stops to resolve these interruptions as soon as possible.

Finally, thoughtful parents pointed out that our 8th grade Williamsburg field trip in late October conflicted with a Wilson Open House - the only one of the year. After some conversation, Wilson HS agreed to schedule a second Open House on November 18th. This was a great compromise, and I thank Principal Martin and her team for this flexibility.

Take care, and keep in touch.

James Albright ( james.albright@dc.gov)

NB. This weekend's opening of our country's newest museum - the National Museum of African-American History and Culture (NMAAHC) - means so much to this city and its people. In so many ways this has the feeling of being Washington, DC's museum - a hard-won victory to represent American history with a fullness and richness it deserves. And it is of this city: some of our friends and neighbors contributed to the museum, are the subject of exhibits, helped make the museum, or are celebrated in this museum. I hope all of us get to visit soon and I am sure that, once things settle down, field trips to the museum will be planned! Just imagine how powerful this will be for our students.