Dear PAIS Friends,
We are in the midst of the festive December holidays in which different faith traditions celebrate seminal events in their annual calendar. With this, family and significant others gather for special sharing and messages of appreciation. In this same spirit I want to express my appreciation for our partnership with you and your school.
As PAIS has entered a season of transition, we ask some important questions:
How can we better serve our schools? For example, can our accreditation process further evolve so as to become the catalyst for the change that schools seek? Can it be adapted to serve each school’s unique needs? How can it be a more effective instrument to catapult schools to their aspirations? Finally, can schools partner with each other prior to and following the accreditation process for support and ongoing mentorship?
PAIS also seeks to not only be vigilant with legislative affairs, but also to anticipate political changes that could affect our schools in this volatile civic landscape. In the coming months, we will seek to inform school Heads about how you can engage local legislators, who often view our schools solely as an enclave of wealth and not the socioeconomically and racially diverse schools that we are.
My first six months at PAIS have been broadening and enriching, but also challenging.
We are in the process of evaluating where the association stands in its history and how it can better serve our schools. I appreciate your patience, for as I have mentioned to many, I foresee some important changes on PAIS’s horizon.
On a personal level, I have loved getting to know the city of Philadelphia, the eastern side of our state, the beautiful Delaware Valley and even the PA Turnpike, which I travel each weekend to my family in Pittsburgh. I have enjoyed visiting your schools, the lively discussions about our work together, and my colleagues, Lukie, Joy and Liz, who are great partners in service to our schools.
Whatever your faith tradition, I wish you a blessed December. Here’s to 2020 and our goal of better serving our schools.
Sincerely yours,
Gary J. Niels
Interim Executive Director
