The Journey Begun - The Enormous Task

Today marks the 25th student day. The journey has begun. Kimmel Farm Elementary School opened its doors to students for the very first time August 25th, 2009 and the rest is history - in the making. Kimmel Farm offers to all who attend and teach there a fresh start in a state-of-the-art 21st century learning facility. What has happened over the course of the last 25 student days, and the teacher workdays leading up to it, is nothing short of amazing.
In the months leading up to the start of the 2009-2010 school year the core team worked together to lay the foundation for success. Their many hours of labor, their insights, and their keen decisions helped set the stage for a smooth start. Somehow "thank-you" doesn't seem enough. A new faculty and staff assimilated from many different schools formed Kimmel Farm's first faculty. The final stages of construction were completed, teachers moved in, classrooms were assembled, and the doors were opened to students.
There's no way to measure the amount of work that has already gone into opening our school. What is most significant is the spirit with which that work has been completed - by everyone. There's a synergy among our educators. They're already collaborating, using technology new to them the best ways they know how, teaching each other new ways to use it, and they're willing and eager to do even more. They seem to understand the enormous task of building the 21st century learning community for which we feel Kimmel Farm Elementary was built.
What we want for our students is to be able to clearly and effectively communicate, to be problem solvers, to develop interpersonal and collaborative skills, and to have civic pride and a global awareness. What our building does to facilitate this kind of education is give us and our students the tools. What will ultimately set us apart will be how we as educators collaborate, how we create authentic opportunities for this kind of learning, and how we allow ourselves and our students opportunities to reflect on the process.
The start of this blog is well overdue. I know we've missed opportunities to share the small, and not so small successes we've already encountered in just 25 days. However, there was work to be done. Now in development this blog will become the space where we share our successes, our insights, and reflections. The journey has begun, and so has the task.