Dear Parents/Guardians of Elliott Elementary students,
I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce myself. My name is Andrew Wise and I am your new principal at Elliott Elementary School. I am excited to meet all of you and to begin our process of working together to meet the needs, goals, and dreams of our children.
With any major changes in an organization it’s important for the leader to take some time and evaluate numerous areas during the transition period. Over the next several months, I plan to meet and make relationships with as many of you as possible. This will be a common theme for me each day.
Before coming to Elliott, I have spent time as a classroom teacher and an administrator in numerous settings. My background in urban, rural, and special education has shaped my educational philosophy. I believe strongly in providing all children with three major components every day:
- Love
As you have seen on our signs outside our building my #1 core principle is shared by our team at Elliott. We will be telling and showing our kids how much we care about them on a daily basis. Several things you will see this year are:
- Staff greeting students with a healthy positive touch (high five, handshake, fist bump, special handshake, etc.)
- Weekly birthday cards mailed to families
- Elliott CARES programming (reward system to give positive recognition to students who are doing great things everyday)
- Structures
Research shows that our children’s success is increased when provided with structured environments. We will continue to provide numerous programs that address needs with students who are struggling academically, socially, emotionally, and behaviorally. Several things you will see this year are:
- I will be helping support within our parking lot on most days; rain or shine. We will be working with our families over the start of the year to ensure that our drop-off and pick-up processes are as streamlined and safe as possible; for all students within the school and outside the school.
- I believe strongly in communicating effectively with parents, students, and our staff. You can expect official monthly communication from me regarding programming within the school, future projects, and updates on student accomplishments; via a monthly newsletter and social media.
- Our team will be making a strong push at the start of this year to teach our kids about various playground games and games that will be beneficial for their overall development.
- Discipline
Discipline can come in many forms. Many of us grew up in an environment where discipline meant “you can’t do this” or “you can’t go there.” This is not Elliott’s vision of discipline. Discipline is providing the proper guidance to help our students make positive choices. Several things you will see this year are:
- When students choose a negative alternative, we will be collaboratively (school and families) looking to make it a learning opportunity for he/she so we don’t make the same mistake again. (Our team is currently studying the book Conscious Discipline (Dr. Becky Bailey) and I/our team will be routinely referring to it over the course of the year.)
- Our team will continue to provide a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) for our students. You will be hearing our team speak about this over the course of the year and also within monthly communications.
- Our team will continue to provide Positive Behavior Incentive programming (PBIS) for our students.
Our team is thoroughly excited for the upcoming school year. We hope you and your child are too!
Sincerely,
Andrew Wise
Principal
Elliott Elementary School
Holt Public Schools
