It's a great start to what should be a great year!

The kick-off to the 2010-2011 school year is behind us, culminating in nearly 5,000 students who have entered the doors of our schools this week.

It's so great to have the kids back!

It has been a lot of fun these past few weeks, stopping in at the "Meet and Greets" at our elementary schools, attending the open houses at our secondary schools, witnessing the enthusiasm and commitment of staff during workshop week, and dropping into each of our schools during this first week of the school year.

The smiling faces, the excitement, the hopes, as well as the apprehension --students and staff!-- are all a part of the start of school.

I had the chance to have breakfast with a second and third grader (There they are above, courtesty of my phone's camera.) at Northpoint Elementary School on Tuesday morning. The second-grade student summed up the start of school well, stating: "I'm pumped - and kinda scared. I wanna read a lot better. I hope my teacher likes me."

In many ways what this student was pointing out is that students want to be successful, and they need to know that their teachers have the highest expectations for them, and that their teachers believe that they can meet those expectations.

It is so great to be able to tell parents that we have an outstanding staff who not only hold extremely high expectations for each of their children; they are working together to personalize learning and provide a system of supports to meet the varied needs of each of our students. At the same time, and most importantly, staff understand the importance of building meaningful relationships with and among students.

To see more photos of the first week of school and to read more about my thoughts of the past week, click here.