Janie
07-23-2009, 08:03 AM
If you all have followed the my school saga, you know that after homeschooling my four children all the way through high school graduation, I went into the traditional classroom of a local private Christian school. Though not classical, I had hopes to influence and change that. :001_smile:
After three years, the board fired the administrator. I refused to call him a headmaster. He wasn't either, in fact. He almost financially bankrupted the school (this is no exaggeration). He mismanaged so many things that we really wondered a few weeks ago whether the school would open this fall.
Although the former administrator was a horrible manager, he was the type that would let you do anything that he didn't have to do. (He passed the buck like you wouldn't believe.) I took advantage of that. I introduced my passion for classical education from the beginning of my tenure there. Classical education can't help but sell itself when teachers understand it properly. The head teachers embraced it, but moreso, the admin gave me the go-ahead to completely change middle school history and English. Big start with lots of work, but it's done! We academically survived the first year and looked forward to the coming one. Achievement tests soared in one year. I was grateful for the opportunity to implement this but wondered if we would ever be able to go full-school, especially if we got a new headmaster that wasn't so inclined.
Then yesterday, the elementary teachers talked to me about implementing classical history (SOTW!) and science THIS year! That's only weeks away. I've given assignments for them to read TWTM and make lists of questions for me when we return to school Aug 12.
On top of all this, I got the news that not only had the board just hired a new headmaster (that quick made me nervous), the person they hired is the one who just opened a K-8 classical school at the other end of the county. Don't know the in's-and-out's of the particulars, but this man is not only an award-winning educator, he is a terrific fundraiser and speaker (both necessary contributions of a headmaster), he is a classical educator! He is not just an interim, but our permanent headmaster. Never, ever, did I expect that to happen.
I am so excited that this news almost pales tomorrow's beginning of my trip-of-a-lifetime! I am just so excited. My dream for years has been to open my own classical school, which nowadays is just financially impossible. The next best thing was to teach in a classical school, which, in my area, was not feasible. The next best thing after that was to implement what I could classically into my own classroom. I never, ever really thought that we could implement classical so easily into the school AND get a classical headmaster all at the same time.
God is good and can do great and mighty things in the midst of our struggles and hardships.
I envision that we will now be able to move the school beyond academic and spiritual medicrity and toward academic and spiritual excellence.
I've always loved what I do, but I've not always loved that I was not teaching in a classical school. Now, I really love what I do!! I am just so excited! We can really make progress with the transition now. Please join my thanksgiving to God for this journey!
After three years, the board fired the administrator. I refused to call him a headmaster. He wasn't either, in fact. He almost financially bankrupted the school (this is no exaggeration). He mismanaged so many things that we really wondered a few weeks ago whether the school would open this fall.
Although the former administrator was a horrible manager, he was the type that would let you do anything that he didn't have to do. (He passed the buck like you wouldn't believe.) I took advantage of that. I introduced my passion for classical education from the beginning of my tenure there. Classical education can't help but sell itself when teachers understand it properly. The head teachers embraced it, but moreso, the admin gave me the go-ahead to completely change middle school history and English. Big start with lots of work, but it's done! We academically survived the first year and looked forward to the coming one. Achievement tests soared in one year. I was grateful for the opportunity to implement this but wondered if we would ever be able to go full-school, especially if we got a new headmaster that wasn't so inclined.
Then yesterday, the elementary teachers talked to me about implementing classical history (SOTW!) and science THIS year! That's only weeks away. I've given assignments for them to read TWTM and make lists of questions for me when we return to school Aug 12.
On top of all this, I got the news that not only had the board just hired a new headmaster (that quick made me nervous), the person they hired is the one who just opened a K-8 classical school at the other end of the county. Don't know the in's-and-out's of the particulars, but this man is not only an award-winning educator, he is a terrific fundraiser and speaker (both necessary contributions of a headmaster), he is a classical educator! He is not just an interim, but our permanent headmaster. Never, ever, did I expect that to happen.
I am so excited that this news almost pales tomorrow's beginning of my trip-of-a-lifetime! I am just so excited. My dream for years has been to open my own classical school, which nowadays is just financially impossible. The next best thing was to teach in a classical school, which, in my area, was not feasible. The next best thing after that was to implement what I could classically into my own classroom. I never, ever really thought that we could implement classical so easily into the school AND get a classical headmaster all at the same time.
God is good and can do great and mighty things in the midst of our struggles and hardships.
I envision that we will now be able to move the school beyond academic and spiritual medicrity and toward academic and spiritual excellence.
I've always loved what I do, but I've not always loved that I was not teaching in a classical school. Now, I really love what I do!! I am just so excited! We can really make progress with the transition now. Please join my thanksgiving to God for this journey!