Alumni Social and Staff Changes

Last evening, (Wednesday June 8th) we held our first Alumni Social. Thanks to the efforts of our staff members, this event was a huge success. We had over 30 former students and staff members attend. This event was so successful, we intend to host it again next year. During this event, we also dedicated the "Honoring Our Past" plaque. This plaque will contain the names of staff members with 25 or more years of service to the school district who are selected by a committee to join the Alexandria Faculty Hall of Fame. Five individuals were inducted during this first year. The plaque will be placed outside of the Superintendent's office for all to see.

This is the time of year when many positive culminating events are occurring in the school district. One of these events that can be viewed as being either positive or negative is staff assignments for the next school year. The assignments for 2010-2011 will be available early next week on each school district's webpage.

Our administrative team holds many meetings to consider the best way to arrange our staff to meet the needs of our students. We consider staff member's input and expressed wishes, the mix of personalities and dynamics among teams and departments, and our impressions of a staff member's strengths and talents. Ultimately our administrative team makes a decision that we believe is in the best interest of the overall school district. Each person who is being assigned to a different position is met with on a one-on-one basis. During this meeting, they are provided with the rationale for the move. We express and will continue to provide support for staff members who are unsure if they can meet the expectations of their new assignments.

The decisions we make are not taken lightly and are thoroughly discussed and debated. Some of our staff members are ecstatic with their new assignment, others accept it, and some express strong emotions related to the change. It is difficult to have any staff member upset that they did not get placed in the position they desired. Yet, our administrative team must always strive to achieve our primary mission of serving the students in the best way we think we can with the legal and budgetary constraints we have.

As part of our past experience, we have learned that while change can feel painful at first, it presents individuals with the opportunity for personal and professional growth. We hope that this year's changes will accomplish this goal.