These first weeks in the Baltimore City Public School System (or BCPSS) have been a blur. Coupled with class and the holiday weekend, I have left my reflection and this blog for too long. I have gathered my notes, thoughts, and some time and will be uploading a few posts chronicling my introduction to National Academy Foundation (or NAF) and NAF Prep as a school and community of practitioners, my first week in class, and the second week which ended on Thursday.
For this post, I will focus on my first day meeting the school staff at NAF. On August 22, the teachers, administrators, school staff, my fellow interns, and I met for the first time at NAF, in a large, old building formerly part of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and directly across from the Johns Hopkins Hospital. We were some of the first in the room and this gave me enough time to separate myself from the rest of the interns, so as to integrate myself with the staff as much as possible, grab some of the food kitchen staff made for us (one of NAF’s academies is the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism), and ready myself to meet teachers and staff who after today would be my colleagues.
Then they all began to pour into the room. After all the chatting stopped (during which I heard about the amazing reading groups from the sixth grade English teacher), we went through the room doing introductions. I had a moment to think about this while the all of the teachers, deans, assistant principals, and principal introduced themselves. I don’t know how they do it at other schools, but it was amazing to get a small sense of who every teacher was, what subject they taught, how long they had been a teacher, and usually a bit about their personality.
After everyone had introduced themselves, Principal Webber-Ndour ran through the history of NAF, its successes, challenges, and the goals for the 2011-2012 year. The school began in 2002 and used to be housed in the Digital Harbor High School from 2004-2009 and moved to its current location in 2009. With that change came the challenges of moving to a new location, especially to Dunbar’s campus. Dunbar has dealt with behavior issues and severely low attendance and test scores. Since the move to the current location, NAF and NAF Prep have focused on diversity, behavior, carrying staff and students from their old location, various building problems. This year, with everything else having already set up, test scores improvement will be the focus.
For this post, I will focus on my first day meeting the school staff at NAF. On August 22, the teachers, administrators, school staff, my fellow interns, and I met for the first time at NAF, in a large, old building formerly part of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and directly across from the Johns Hopkins Hospital. We were some of the first in the room and this gave me enough time to separate myself from the rest of the interns, so as to integrate myself with the staff as much as possible, grab some of the food kitchen staff made for us (one of NAF’s academies is the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism), and ready myself to meet teachers and staff who after today would be my colleagues.
Then they all began to pour into the room. After all the chatting stopped (during which I heard about the amazing reading groups from the sixth grade English teacher), we went through the room doing introductions. I had a moment to think about this while the all of the teachers, deans, assistant principals, and principal introduced themselves. I don’t know how they do it at other schools, but it was amazing to get a small sense of who every teacher was, what subject they taught, how long they had been a teacher, and usually a bit about their personality.
After everyone had introduced themselves, Principal Webber-Ndour ran through the history of NAF, its successes, challenges, and the goals for the 2011-2012 year. The school began in 2002 and used to be housed in the Digital Harbor High School from 2004-2009 and moved to its current location in 2009. With that change came the challenges of moving to a new location, especially to Dunbar’s campus. Dunbar has dealt with behavior issues and severely low attendance and test scores. Since the move to the current location, NAF and NAF Prep have focused on diversity, behavior, carrying staff and students from their old location, various building problems. This year, with everything else having already set up, test scores improvement will be the focus.
As an intern, this is a really exciting time to join the school. An eager and highly capable staff will welcome a student body mostly accustomed to how the school runs. Now with all these positive systems set up we can teach effectively to a (hopefully) receptive audience. One of the greatest thoughts Mr. Kerr expressed during this first day was “we will take care of the ridiculous behavior issues so you can do what you do best – teach.” This struck me because it was completely in line with the schools dedication to a teacher-led facility. The staff has assumed a role of background supporters of what goes on in the classroom, which I find compelling as I step into the classroom for the third year, but this time with the most planning and support I have ever had.
Finally, I met my mentor teacher, Julie Karree, the eighth grade English teacher and a Teach for America alumni. Equipped with a wall of over 2000 books, I look forward to learning from her and through my own experience. Here we go!
Finally, I met my mentor teacher, Julie Karree, the eighth grade English teacher and a Teach for America alumni. Equipped with a wall of over 2000 books, I look forward to learning from her and through my own experience. Here we go!
You captured the spirit of the day well in your blog.
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