So… it’s 9:17 am on the Friday morning of EduCon. Traditionally, today is the day that EduCon attendees spend the day at SLA, visiting classes, meeting up, talking with kids and teachers.

Except the roads are a sheet of ice, and the district (wisely) cancelled school today.

It got announced at about 7:00 pm last night. By 7:01, we had our first text message from a student, "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT EDUCON?" By 7:05, there were already Facebook threads talking about how kids were going to navigate a somewhat limited bus / train system to get to school. By 8:00 pm, there was an email from our Home and School president to all the parent volunteers with an update that we were going to be here, no matter what. And by 10:00 pm, over half the faculty had called, emailed or texted to check to see what needed to be done and when they could come in.

By the time I had gotten official permission from the district that kids could come in today, I already knew that short of locking the doors, there was no way the kids weren’t coming in. We still didn’t know exactly what the day would look like, but the kids would be here, so I tweeted out:

There’s going to be a horde of kids at SLA tomorrow. This is EduCon, and this is their school, and a little snow isn’t going to stop them.

One of the kids came up to me this morning and asked if I was going crazy last night. And I told him, "Only until I found out you all could still come in. Once I knew we’d have you guys, I knew we’d be fine." And he said, "Yeah, you knew we were coming." As Cody, our student co-chair has said since we started planning, "We got this." And he has, so has Alaya, his partner, so has the faculty, the parents, and all the kids.

So we’re going to have an unconference today. We’ve got tons of really cool activities and discussions that will spring up… and in the end, while I’m bummed that so many of the EduCon attendees aren’t going to see classes today, because I am so proud of what teachers and students do every day, what they will see is something even more powerful.

I admit – I’ve been feeling really emotional all morning. I am awed and humbled by this community. I am honored to be able to say that I am the principal of this school. And I am renewed in my belief that if we build schools that matter… if we believe in our kids… if we can bring passionate, caring teachers together around a common set of beliefs and ideals… if we can communicate those ideas to kids, value the people they are now and then dare them to do real work that matters, then there is no end to what they – what we – can accomplish together.

Welcome to EduCon. Welcome to SLA. This is our school.