So we’re less than two weeks away from the opening of SLA, and while the building will be ready for us to occupy on opening day, we are going to be cutting it close. We’ll be working to unpack boxes over Labor Day, we’re waiting for phone and internet hook-up, and we will have workers in the building dealing with the punch list in September.

Add to that a principal who has been a bit distracted for the past three weeks, and I was getting a little nervous about opening day. (To say nothing of wondering if the laptops we’ve ordered are part of the Apple recall…)

But here’s the thing… we’ve got some amazing people involved in this process. We have teachers who are creating truly amazing curriculum, posting them on moodle, sharing intro letters and scope and sequence and essential questions. We have a ton of our kids writing on moodle, building community, having debates about school colors and mascots and lab coats and such.

And that’s why I am not that worried. (Hey, I wouldn’t be a good principal if I wasn’t a little worried. That’s my job!) We’ve taken huge steps toward building this community. We’ve put in the hours, teachers, students, parents and administrators to create a community. We may not have every bell and whistle we were planning on having on Sept. 7th. We might not have every box unpacked by the end of the first week. But we’ll be teaching and learning from the moment we step into the school. Honestly, we’ve already started that together.

There’s no question that laptops and a new building and all kinds of fancy, shiny science equipment are exciting. There’s no question that all those things can make us all walk a little taller and feel a little more pride in our school. But none of those things matter anywhere near as much as the relationships between the people who inhabit that building. None of those things matter anywhere near as much as the passion and intelligence and joy that those people bring to the mission of the school. And when it comes to that, we’re ready.

And that’s why I can’t wait for Sept. 7th, even if we are still trying to figure out where half of our stuff is stashed.