Return to School
"I'll be back" is a catchphrase associated with Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was made famous in the 1984 science fiction film The Terminator. As someone who watched an over abundance of science fiction films in the past, the term seems to surface into my thoughts each time our school is forced into lockdown. "I'll be back" is an optimistic type of foreshadowing, and one prediction that has happily come true.
It’s been a great week of in-person instruction for the youngest students, from pre-school through grade 2. The children and teachers haven’t stopped smiling as they interact with each other. It’s clear we have all been missing each other terribly. In the pre-school, even the three-year olds skipped off happily into school, without too many glances back to their parents. (Many of the parents appeared to be doing some ‘skipping’ of their own as the youngest were finally sent back to school!) Remarkably, however, the most consistent comment I have had from teachers is related to how much their students have grown, both physically and academically. Good teaching is all about the transfer of learning and ISA kids on the whole, have held onto much of their online learning when facing in-person instruction. Second graders, for example, have retained their mastery of subtraction with regrouping, a skill that was introduced in virtual school.
From March 15 each of the third through fifth graders can also shout, "I'll be back!" The motivation of our students and teachers to be together in school, combined with a successful spell of virtual learning, gives us much to look forward to in the months ahead. We also have a big and spirited service project to welcome upon the return of all of the children. More news about our Red Nose Day plans will be revealed next week.
Don Newbury
Elementary Principal
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