First Week at Work in CA - 8/12/13 - 8/18/13

Monday, August 12, 2013 – Sunday, August 18, 2013

Monday

I got up this morning and went to get my money order that I needed for my fingerprints today at RUSD.  It took awhile to do this because nothing opens till 10:00 am.  So instead, I went by the apartment complex to make sure everything was in order and ready for me to move in.  They said that everything was fine and there was no problem.  They are taking an additional $50.00 off of the lease for the inconvenience.  After this I went to the bank to get my money order and then I was off to meet my new principal.  I got to North High School and upon first glance, you can tell that it is an older school but it has character and charm.  The front of the school is a one-story entrance with the name of the school in metal letters out front.  When you walk it, it is truly a school atmosphere.  There are awards and displays around the office area.  There are two secretaries that sit in front and you can see the counselor’s offices behind those, there are four.   The principal’s secretary is incredibly nice and helpful.  I finally met Trevor, my new principal face to face and he took me on the tour of the school.  As we walked around we talked about the school and the improvements that he has made over the past two years.  I got to see Megan who is the other Assistant Principal and who was on my 1^st interview panel.  She has been in touch and calling me the last few days and I am so excited that I am here now and will get to work and learn from her as well.  She has been great at helping me adjust and transition the past few days.  After my tour of the school I went to the district office to do my fingerprints and fill out my paperwork.   I was able to meet the Asst Superintendent of Human Resources and the other individuals I have been emailing back and forth with for a few weeks.  It was so nice to put names with faces finally.  After completing everything at the district office, I have to go and get my drug test done.  I have to go down the street to the local doctor’s office to have this done.  Now, why this might bother some people, it does not bother me.  In college, I use to have drug tests done all the time because of athletics.  This time I was able to pee in a cup in private!!!!!  I am supposed to get board approved later this evening so I decide to go and change clothes.  On the way, the District office calls to let me know that I have passed my drug test and my fingerprints came back negative so I am good to go.    Later that evening the board approved me and now I can start my first day on Tuesday, August 13, 2013. 

Tuesday

Tuesday is my first official day at work and I spent a lot of time today talking to people and trying to figure out where different things are in the school.  There are several buildings since this is an outdoor / open school.  There are some buildings and then a majority of the area is portables.  The portables extend back on the school grounds so that the campus is long but not really wide.  There have been recent athletic upgrades so the track, stadium, pool, concession stands and scoreboards are new.  It really is a beautiful.  They have turf but it is the same turf that was put in in D5 with the little pellets.  Around 4:00 pm, I finally get my email address set up so that I can access email, which is Outlook.  I guess if I ever change jobs again, I will finally have an email that I am familiar with.  Laurens was Groupwise, Lex Rich 5 was Gmail and now I am in a district that uses Outlook.  This makes it tough to move around my calendars.  So here I go to learn a new program.  At least I will be proficient in a few different ones.  I stay that evening until about 6:00 pm talking with Megan and getting to know about things at North High School. 

Front of High School

Yes, there is Water Polo and Swimming!!!

Part of the Open Campus

The Library

The Pool!!!

Football Field - Track is new!!!!

Wednesday

I spent time with the Admin staff in meetings today and then with Megan, trying to get to know how things work at the school.   Megan and I take a walk and she shows me where several classrooms and buildings are as we investigate computer lab situations and other rooms.  We discover there is a room that is not being used and we decide that we are going to use it for a PD room.  Megan and I spend some time brainstorming about what to do with this room and how we are going to transform it to be a model classroom so that we can do PD for teachers.  It is great to know that I have gone into a staff situation like I had at LexRich 5.  I was worried that I would end up in a situation with no one to brainstorm with and have shared collaboration.  I cannot tell you how much this puts my mind at ease knowing that I have “landed” in a position with this type of environment. 

Thursday

Today is the Leadership Summit.  Dr. Rick Miller, the Superintendent started the event and got up and lead the Summit.  It was refreshing to have the opportunity to see him lead the district.  He made all of the new members of the team to get up and introduce themselves.  We had a great day with wonderful table discussions.  I must admit that I feel like Dr. Miller may have thought that I was being rude but Megan and I were actually texting back and forth with each other during the event.  I was furiously taking notes to be sure that I have everything written down and I understand.  The morning was all about Making Room at the Table for everyone who needs to have a voice and be a part of conversations.  It was a great lesson in diversity and cultural acceptance.  It also had a lot to do with Social Justice and making sure that all of our students are being represented and have a voice.  I truly enjoyed the discussions and meeting everyone at the table. 

They served us lunch at the event and they had VEGGIE BURGERS!!!!!!!  Do you believe it????  I was totally impressed!!!!  I did not even tell anyone I was a vegetarian, LOL!!!  That is one of the things I love about the west, there is always different things to eat at different places and they take into consideration all of the different dietary considerations without asking. 

In the afternoon we had information presented about budget constraints and the new funding rules going into affect in the next few months.  We heard about this in the morning from Dr. Miller and then again from Dr. Fine and a guest speaker in the afternoon.  At the end of the first day of the summit we were all invited back to Dr. Miller’s house for the Riverside Association of School Managers (RASM) social and fundraiser.  REALLY!!!!  We are going to the Superintendents house??????  For a fundraiser??????  OMG!!!!  Can I tell you how different this is?  I was able to sit and talk with several other administrators from different schools and really be able to get to know them. 

Friday

We had our second day of the Leadership Summit and it was just as good as the first day.  In the morning we had a guest speaker from LA that came and spoke about making Room at the Table also.  She brought up the point that sometimes you don’t want certain people at the table because they can cause some problems as well, so you sometimes deliberately excuse them from the table.  It was an interesting point of view because so many times we try and take such a positive slant on views and include everyone at the table.  I was surprised to hear the message but I get what she was saying, sometimes you want to excuse people from the table or not let them the come to the table because they stop all progress, they are “Energy Vampires,” and we do not need or want “Energy Vampires” around. I had a chance to have a one on one conversation with the Superintendent.  It was very refreshing and nice to be able to chat with a Superintendent again.  I told him how much I enjoyed the Summit and shook his hand to say good-bye and I said that it was nice to meet you Dr. Miller.  He paused and said, "That is not my name."  I almost flipped thinking I had used the wrong name and then I looked at him and said, "Rick?"  He smiled and said, "That is right."  Wow!!  As one of 180 administrators in the district, it was nice to be able to call a Superintendent by his first name again.  :)  

Saturday

On Saturday, I went into work to help with the Master Schedule.  I am not really sure how much help I was but I did learn a lot about the schedule and classes that are offered at the school.  As we were double-checking the board in Megan’s office, she would often tell me about the curriculum of the classes.  It was very enlightening to get more information about the differences in SC and CA classes. 

Overall the week went well.  I had a great start to a new position and I am excited with all that I have to learn.  The admin team I am working with is wonderful.  There are five of us and two of us are new. Mike is the AP of Athletics and is energetic.  Rich, who I have only met briefly, seems like a very nice guy who will teach me a lot about discipline.  Megan has been working on the Master Schedule and does a great job of being patient with me with all of my questions.  I have a lot to learn from her as well.  Trevor who is the principal is calm and collected.  I have a lot to learn from him. 

Education is education whereever you are.  There are some differences in the calculations of funds and different things that occur but overall there are not a lot of differences.  Credentialing and classes are a little different as well but nothing that is not hard to learn.  In addition, the graduation requirements as a whole are calculated differently but it is nothing that I cannot figure out.  They use an A-G system, which is basically just the number of classes in each subject area that is required.  If the students graduate with A-G, it mean they are ready for any University of CA college. However, the requirements are somewhat minimal and the students are encouraged to take a more rigorous course load during their high school career.