North of Montgomery

Whether you think of them as stages of development, a state testing model, or as the green and white signs along an interstate highway, what are milestones to you? Are they something to be celebrated? Or would your rather overlook or perhaps ignore them altogether? These little reminders, not only of how far you still — read more

In this, our last week in advance for the 21-22 school year and my last principal’s message at Woodland, there’s one final observation I’d like to share with you.  There’s something interesting I’ve noticed about you middle school parents over the last four years.  And yes, you might be wondering what direction this is going.  — read more

“Family comes first.”  Hopefully in our time together you’ve heard these words come out of my mouth.  More importantly, I hope you believe me when I say them.  I’ve tried to be as accommodating, understanding, and empathetic as possible when it comes to appointments, time off, sick kids and parents, you name it, regardless of — read more

If you remember the 1980’s as I do, the Karate Kid franchise is a classic.  An underdog tale with great music, the good guy winning in the end and getting the girl, and several references that have made it into pop culture lexicon.  Even people who haven’t seen the movie know the Karate Kid, Mr. — read more

I remember my first exposure to sarcasm.  As a ten year old baseball player, I made the All-Star team in our league (for the record, every ten year old made the All-Stars because of the small size of our league).  In our generation, “All-Star” teams were similar to today’s travel teams, except with only one — read more

“When I realized I couldn’t answer the questions posed about two [ — — — ] poems on the Texas state assessment tests (STAAR Test), I had a flash of panic – oh, no!  Not smart enough. Such a dunce. My eyes glazed over. I checked to see if anyone was looking. The questions began — read more

In the spirit of a Disney theme at school, who remembers this scene from Lion King? Poor Zasu.  Living the dream one day under Mufasa’s protection, then imprisoned by the evil Scar the next.  And don’t get me started about listening to those hyenas non-stop and not being able to do anything about it.     That — read more

Please indulge me for just a few minutes:  If I were to ask a random sample of 100 teachers “what is the last job you would ever consider outside of teaching,” what do you think the most common response would be?  Go ahead, pick your answer and hang on to it for a bit.  I — read more

When I’m asked what’s special about our school or what makes our school different, I respond consistently each and every time.  Oh we have our mission and vision, as well as our “true north,” but my response doesn’t immediately address those important representations of our school climate and culture.  Of course we want each student — read more

Believe it or not, there are certain times of day when I do get the opportunity to spend time in thought.  For a performing introvert who is an Enneagram Type 5, such time is critical in retaining one’s sanity (afternoon naps notwithstanding).  Most of that opportunity at school is greeting our car riders each morning.  — read more