July.
In between.
A few weeks left before the barn raising of a new school year.
A week after leaving the state on vacation:  new people, new visions, new perspective.
I sort it out and process.
They are so quiet, my days.
After years of intensity of the school year, and then being dropped down into the freefall of summer, I am getting used to the abruptness of the change.
I am learning to relish the rest, the quiet, as well as the anticipation and hopes of a new year.
No other profession has such a delineated beginning and end as education.  We dream of great new heights with our students, building on the work of prior years.  We are filled to the edges with hope.
After many years in the field we learn to trim our published goals into measurable outcomes.  Inside our hearts we are still busting through with the impossible dreams:

• will we get the grant that will provide an ipad for every student? (I just submitted the application today).  If we do, everything will be transformed and then what will we look like?
• how much more can we grow in our enrollment?
• will our family service center be in place and how will that impact our community?
• will we ever fill our 7th grade Spanish position?
• how will the new teachers influence our culture?
•  how will our new student government members shape the school?
• what will happen when our k-6 language academy grows?  how will that impact Comstock?

So many unknowns, and yet we will harness some of these into plans and missions.   One thing I know for sure:  we must stay focused on our students and student learning.  Their futures are in our hands and we must be reverent stewards.