Almost Ready...

As I write, there are about 40 hours before we welcome back the students for Elmwood Franklin School's 114th year. As you'll see from the picture, we're not quite ready, although we're readier today than we were yesterday and we'll be readier still tomorrow. The week before school starts is typically one of controlled panic as teachers – Upper School, Lower School, and Prep – work to ready classrooms and Mr. Ziggy and Mr. Pat prepare the building and grounds for 350 or so eager students and their parents. But this year’s building project in the Lower School hallway has pushed us right to the limit. Lower School teachers couldn’t get into their rooms as early as usual and they’ve had to work overtime to get everything set-up. But when we open on Thursday, all anyone will see is a great new Lower School hallway, with new lockers, a new paint scheme, and a vaulted ceiling. And in the classrooms they’ll find their teachers ready for another great year.

As a blogging novice, I've been researching what makes a good blog - once a history teacher, always a history teacher, I guess. Predictably, the internet provides hundreds, maybe thousands, of articles about how to write a good, great, excellent, compelling, interesting, engaging, or even a famous blog. And while their advice is quite varied, they do agree on one thing: keep it short. If you're reading this, then you know that's going to be my challenge. Some recommend keeping each posting to fewer than 250 words, while others say absolutely no more than 1000 (in case you’re wondering, I’m at 271 right now). Perhaps the most distressing information I found claims that the average reader spends 96 seconds on a blog. To those of us who love to luxuriate in books, this seems shocking. However, when I really think about how I flick from website to website, 96 seconds sounds about right, maybe even a little generous.

My goal here is to be informative about the goings on at EFS, to ponder issues of parenting and education, and to foster conversation. I hope you’ll make a habit of visiting this blog regularly.

364 words; not bad.