Letter to East Community From Principal Harris Nov. 22, 2006

From the East High Web Site
November 22, 2006
Dear East High School Community:
When I decided to become a principal I promised myself that I would do several things. One was to work as hard as I could to make quality education a reality for all of the students in my building and the second was to pay attention when confronted by people’s concerns and hopes.
As I have worked at East over the last year and a half I have pushed to get the building under control, to begin a conversation with the teaching staff about high quality instruction, to empower students, and to take an honest look at our data.


What we know is that East students can stack up to any group, any where if we give them the tools and the chance. Vision 2012, which involved a group of community members, parents, staff and students, provided us with clear goals for our future. I have proposed programmatic changes I believe can achieve those goals.
Superintendent Art Rainwater has asked that all four high schools cease programmatic changes until the entire district can take the quality time necessary to have broad community discussion regarding how we prepare students for post secondary education and eventual employment in an increasingly global economy.
Changes that are eventually implemented will not be successful without the support of the larger East community. The passion and interest that has been shown by you this week is a strength that we can build on for future discussions.
Let’s take the time to figure out how to best serve all of our students today and in the future, retain parent and community support for our programming, and continue to draw upon the expertise of our East teachers and staff.
Our students deserve this careful approach.
Sincerely,
Alan Harris