The Sights and Sounds at the Schoolhouse Gate

By Johna Giordano, MS E.L., Principal, Hollywood Academy of Arts & Sciences

Getting operations up and running, training new teachers and new families, rainy day dismissals, fire drills, PLCs, positive culture, and a plethora of seemingly simple tasks can fill every minute of our day as administrators.  Like most other school principals and administrators, I am booked solid.  But, on an early September morning, I found myself wandering from my arrival post greeting students inside the building to traveling outside to the schoolhouse gate.  When I arrived, I stopped for a minute and noticed the families wishing their children well, many hugs and kisses, and some students even received multiple, back-to-back hugs and kisses all over their faces repeatedly.  As I continued my varied greetings, “Hello, welcome, good morning, come right in, have a great day!” I watched bookbags, lunchboxes, projects, and water bottles handed off to children.  The most important handoff I observed though, was the genuine love and hope being poured into our students and, frankly, I found myself overcome with emotions.  I was unable to find the words to describe this experience.  In that instant I wanted the world to feel that hope and happiness and perhaps by feeling we could spread this hope to others.  We hope that our children will be safe, have fun, and strengthen their minds and soul during the school day.  I hope that we will all do our best and try hard to be better today and even better tomorrow.  My real purpose was laid out in front of me and highlighted in the form of an energy transfer from parent to child, the simplicity and beauty of an encouraging morning can change a child’s entire day and carry them.  When I saw each of those students turn around and enter the school, their smiles were much larger and more meaningful than the others I observed.  Now that students around the nation are back in school I am reminded of the beauty and humanity of a positive and inspiring early morning routine for both parents and administrators.  Don’t forget to stop, look, and listen to the sights and sounds at the schoolhouse gate.  You never know how the smile and hope in a child that typically goes unnoticed can reignite your purpose and passion for the great work of education.