By Dr. Lynn Moody

Intentionality, patience, grace, kindness — these are all very powerful words that we carry with us into the beginning of the most extraordinary year in the history of Rowan-Salisbury Schools, and as it is also for a lot of schools around our country.

On Aug. 17, we will welcome our students back to school in a variety ways and in a combination of ways that we would never have imagined were possible just a year ago. There is an added layer of excitement and anticipation this year because we have not seen our children since buses rolled away from our school campuses on March 12. We thought we would see them the following Monday, but that didn’t happen. Thus began a journey of discovering new and different ways to connect with our students to ensure they received the best education, support and love that we could give to them.

And look how far we have come since then…

Since then, we have confirmed what we already knew which is that ‘school’ is about so much more than academics. It is about nurturing the whole individual child, emotionally, socially, physically, and intellectually with hope, dreams and aspirations that they can be whatever they want to be as they grow to become successful in life.

Since then, we have learned much, developed a deeper appreciation of each other, and witnessed extreme pride for the children, teenagers and families we are honored to serve. It is inspiring to see a community come together through these most challenging and unique times with our focus on our most precious children.

Since then, we have seen our Renewal Directional System roll and turn to continue our journey in leading children to:

• master their academic skills
• discover their unique life goals
• develop their interpersonal skills

Our direction has remained strong.

So now, we begin the next chapter in writing history about how to deliver education through a pandemic. As we communicate, build, create, and deliver training in ironing out all the logistics of opening our schools in plan B, we will be ready. We know it will not be perfect. We will make mistakes, and we will achieve successes. We will move higher to the next level of finding the best ways to serve the thousands of children entrusted to our nurturing care and protection. And we will be ready to change if and when the need arises.

Because of the times we live in, I am asking everyone for your patience and grace as together we begin this school year. There will be procedures and protocols in place that are essential to safely opening our schools for our students, staff and their families. I realize that not everyone may agree with these safety measures we are putting into practice, but let me assure you we are following the guidance of our national, state and local health organizations. These are not necessarily our ideas and suggestions, but they are guidelines from experts who know what is best for all of us.

As we move closer to Aug. 17 and opening our school doors, I want to thank all my staff, parents, community partners, our board of education and elected officials for coming together with compassion in helping to make important decisions to move Rowan-Salisbury Schools forward into a new chapter. We may not know what the coming months will bring, but we do know that we have a strong, caring community walking with us.

Let’s make the 2020-2021 school year the best year ever!

Dr. Lynn Moody is superintendent of Rowan-Salisbury Schools.