Greetings EEJMS Students, Parents, Guardians, and Families:
Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year. This year brings another opportunity for us to learn and grow together as a community. I hope you found time this summer to rest, relax, and reflect in preparation for the new school year.
The new school year brings an opportunity to set new goals for yourself and the family and to create a plan to achieve them. As you reflected on your experiences of the past year, I hope you had a chance to celebrate your successes but also analyze the root cause of the challenges that you may have faced, whether they were academic, social, or emotional. In looking at your successes, it is my hope that you identified what you did well to achieve them and what you will do to continue to improve on them. It is also my hope that you took an even closer look at the challenges, which ones you had complete control over, and what you will do differently this school year to minimize or prevent them.
Our work as a school community is never done in isolation because we know that we depend on each other to learn and grow. As educators, we understand the correlation between our work and student success. We also understand that some of the challenges that you face are within our realm of influence. As reflective practitioners, we will continue to adjust our practices to ensure that we meet all our students' diverse needs, thereby providing the best possible educational experiences. Every challenge faced provides a new opportunity to learn and grow. Therefore, we commit to doubling our efforts to employ high-impact and innovative strategies to provide the best experiences for our students; experiences that are grounded in academic excellence and equity.
As we continue to steward our vision of collaborating with all stakeholders to build the best learning community, we would like to re-enlist the support of parents, guardians, families, and community members. One of our premier initiatives this year is a Saturday Enrichment and Support Academy, which will focus on improving math and reading skills. Another will be the re-establishment of our Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA). I will be in touch with you very soon to solicit your support in various capacities for our Saturday Academy. Please be on the lookout for an email from our PTSA Planning Chairperson at ernestjustptsa@yahoo.com in the coming weeks about elections and membership.
We have a unique and powerful community at Ernest Everett Just Middle School, and collaborating around the common good of our school will provide our students with the best middle school experience.
I am honored, humbled, and excited to serve as your principal, and I look forward to collaborating with you to ensure that our students and teachers have an amazing school year.
Sincerely,
Kenneth I. Barrie, Ed.D.
Principal
