Back to School Night!

OK, I've got to come clean...I'm a back-to-school-night junkie. I admit it. I just love back to school night! It's kind of dorky, right? I'd probably go to other schools' back to school nights if I wasn't afraid I'd scare the other parents (and probably the teachers, too). I love the energy. Now that my daughter is in college and my son is at the high school, I'm down to my last few legit back to school nights. I'll be sad when they're all done...but until then, I'll enjoy walking the hallways, marveling at the crowds, sitting in the desks, checking out the artwork on the walls, chitchatting with friends and asking "how do they do this every day?" while fighting through the infamous intersection, and listening to the teachers explain how much they love our kids and how everything should go smoothly as long as we all (kids and parents) understand the "expectations." Honestly, tonight was one of the best night's I've had in a while! (no comments on the dull social life).

Some highlights from RHS tonight: the school looked pretty good overall...there were a lot of helpful student "ambassadors" to give directions...every class seemed full, which meant parent turnout was good...oh, this is a good one: almost every one of my son's teachers said they're using Blackboard regularly this year! I'm so glad! It's probably not the best program out there (the more I check it out, the more I realize it's probably better suited to the college environment), but it's what we've got and I'm glad to see it used as much as possible. I can't wait for the first time my son says "I need you to drive me back to school to get ___" and I'll say, "Well, Mr. Cook said it's on Blackboard so you can just download it now!"

One more thing I noticed tonight: the number of parents who walked out of classrooms and immediately called (or texted) their kids at home: "Did you know you have a test tomorrow? Did you know you have a project next week?" Another example of technology in the school!