First Day of Online School - Reflection from the Dean of Students

Today was a day of firsts for all of us.  Knowing this, I woke up excited like it was the “first day” of school.  Seeing students in the virtual world was a great experience.  

Today I was also able to log on my 1st and PK3 students for their first day.  It took a little time to get accustomed to the online environment for the younger students but after seeing the plan I think this is going to bring real value to their education. I was able to debrief with Mrs. Kelly and Mrs. Reaves after the session and Mrs Reaves stated, “ Today, was a great day!  I was thrilled to see all my students. They were eager, engaged and ready for this new online learning experience. First graders are fearless!  Mrs. Kelly added, “I was afraid and worried Zoom wouldn’t work but the minute I saw their sweet faces I felt connected and so overcome with Joy and Love.”  We truly have some acceptioanal teachers. 

After that, I was able to join in on Mr. Moore’s Middle School introductory practice sessions and it went quite well.  All the students were engaged and ready for this experience. Mr. Moore and I both agreed that this was a far better experience that we anticipated.  He added, “I thought it went very well for a trial run. Students seemed to be able to figure most everything out and were great about taking directions in this new learning format.  There were, and probably still are, tons of questions, but I think we worked out a lot of the major issues.” 

We have heard from so many parents and I agree with their sentiments that our teachers have done an amazing job pulling this together in such a short time.  As a parent, I’m forever grateful that we have such amazing, kind, and dedicated faculty. As an administrator, I have never worked with a group of colleagues like our St. Theresa’s faculty.  We have the best community in the Diocese of Austin.