I am filled with gratitude and clarity because of a gift from Mimi who passed on in early October. As she was the real Principal Caregiver for my children from birth til Covid’s March, when due to her valiant battle with pancreatic cancer she was quarantined and we had to begin to learn to take care of ourselves. For real. And the gift she gave me was the opportunity to take her position as the Principal of the Donadoni Academy.

Now, I think I have done a bang up job in a few places as a teacher and administrator, but this here was the chance to really, really make a difference with those closest to me. With over a quarter century of experience in every conceivable school setting, and what I would call a pretty productive and meaningful career, I was quite literally and figuratively coming home to take on the dream job. Keep in mind, I have toiled in private boarding school dorm parent obscurity, substantially separate behavior programs, Special Education positions from A-Z, urban, high needs populations, worked with 4th graders to high school seniors, big cities and some places special, so I have a wide range of experiences to bring to the proverbial table…This new gig will be easy, no?

While I knew that taking a new role in a new school would be challenging, I felt like I could use my experience for this place. Mimi surely had given me strength to go with the gift of the new gig, and I was determined to make a positive impact from day one.

So I went from wide-one-eyed wonderful happy to have a new job to how can anyone be expected to run this academy and stay sane in a matter of days. Maybe hours. Most likely minutes.

First of all, clearly the custodians’ contract was up and no one was willing to pitch in and help clean anything. Imagine a school where the hallways are littered with papers, and lockers open and trash at lunch is over flowing and kids are running up and down the halls shouting at each other and the teachers just stare vacantly into their rooms and plead unsuccessfully for help to clean up Johnny’s puke or remove the dead mice and blood and snot from Suzie’s nosebleed.

And that was just on the building operational side. Who was going to deal with the glaring need for a school adjustment counselor (man, I really wanted to call up one I worked so well with in years gone by). Without access to what had truly taken place at breakfast tables, walks to school, or rides in the car with the old Principal, I was going to have to find the records of these kids myself, and try to figure out what was in their heads each morning.

After a week of struggling to find a schedule that worked with the staff and students, and a curriculum that would appease even the most stubborn students in the Academy, I started to see progress. But like any good principal will tell you, these things take time. Overnight adjustments, change, transitions take time. And blood from cutting fingers instead of vegetables for school snacks. And sweat, from cleaning the bathrooms daily, the floors nightly, and everything in between whenever I wasn’t redirecting wandering students in the yard, driveway or playing video games illicitly. And I haven’t even talked about the daily struggle to apply Restorative Justice to combatants who believe that their sibling was put on the planet with the sole purpose to annoy the other.

As I began to get my rhythm, I found that I could balance the scheduling needs of the Academy with the needs of our mascot Wally. But, not always as the day he dropped a deuce in front of my throne clearly demonstrated.

Once I got the teacher’s union and the custodial union on board with how we were going to operate under my leadership, I could focus on the food service. I never realized how many details were required to meet the daily needs of a school kitchen until I had this Academy Principal’s job. Did you realize that 3 meals a day and snacks in between do not simply materialize out of thin air?

Thankfully, I have the patience, vision(figuratively speaking), empathy, superhuman sense of humor and tons of support in the community to handle all of the challenges of the Family Academy. No leader can provide the structure, clarity and motivation necessary on a daily basis without a strong network of supporters, connections, and people pulling for them. So while I thank Mimi for the opportunity to take this position (for as long as the Academy needs it, or until the universe sees fit) I am also keenly aware of the power of positivity from my network of amazing connections and eternally grateful for their help preparing me for this special role.

This job is by far the most rewarding job I have ever had. It is also the most exhausting, terrifying, humbling, and fascinating job I have ever had. While my experience as a school administrator has been fantastic, and I hope impactful, I truly believe that the Academy job I have here is the pinnacle of ultimate joy. I remember an old timer veteran teacher once grumbled that he should be deemed a failure because after 36 years teaching he was still in an “entry level” position. I sure hope no one I know in education carries that hopelessly self deprecating perspective! But as for me, I know that after all my years thinking I had the best job in the world wherever I was at that point in time…I was actually only preparing myself for this ultimate corner penthouse office with a view and a lifetime contract to boot. Pretty good to know that no school committee or superintendent on earth can replace me now.

So, thank you Mimi. Thank you to my family and former colleagues and friends and maybe even my enemies (if they exist- but I doubt they do) and best wishes as you continue your journeys while I revel in my dream job of a lifetime. And, of course- thanks for coming!