Administration
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One School, Many Cultures, One Community
Wanda P. Coates, Acting Principal
Bill A. Baranick, Acting Assistant Principal
Principal's Message- November 2009
Dear Ritchie Park Family,
It has been my distinct pleasure to assume the role of Acting Principal at Ritchie Park Elementary. My first week was filled with visiting classrooms, working with the new Acting Assistant Principal, meeting with parents and students, and getting to know the building better. For those of you who don’t know, I am a mother of 5 and quite literally spend all day every day with children. I have 2 children in elementary school, 1 in middle school, 1 in high school and 1 in college. Children are my passion, as I hope you will see as you get to know me better. I love kids which is why I put kids first. “Every child, every day” is my personal philosophy on how I operate.
I would like to take a few minutes to share with you some of my other core values and my commitment to a having a successful year.
Being new to Ritchie Park, I realize that school traditions are based on the school community’s shared values, traditions, and expectations which are established over time. Maintaining and being respectful of the school culture prior to my arrival are important to me. Therefore, as an your Acting Principal I plan to honor current school programs and systems in place (to whatever extent possible) in order to maintain stability.
I believe that parental involvement is the cornerstone of a successful school, as I have stated many times at PTA meetings and Parent Volunteer training sessions. Research shows that when parents are involved, the school is more successful and student achievement improves. With regards to parental involvement, I would like for you to know that I have an open door policy. If you ever have concerns that you would like to bring to my attention, please feel free to stop by and chat with me. If I am available, I will sit down with you and listen to your concerns. If I am I unavailable, I will schedule a time that is mutually agreeable and we can chat at that time. Of course I do not only want to hear your concerns, I welcome you to stop by at any time just to say hello.
I believe and am fully committed to the statement that all students can learn at high levels. One area in which I will focus this year is to make certain that practices are in place that will ultimately promote success for every student. All students will be exposed to a rigorous curriculum in order to learn and grow and be successful in school. We have great teachers at Ritchie Park who make learning a priority.
I am looking forward to the December Principal’s chat/mixer and getting to know more parents. I hope to share more about myself at that time and answer whatever questions you may have about the Reading/Language Arts curriculum in MCPS. Please see this week’s PTA newsletter for more information about the Principal’s chat/mixer.
As we move into the second quarter of the year, let’s remember to take time with our children to go over report cards and talk about all of the great accomplishments and strides made in the first 9 weeks of school. If there are areas in which your child needs to improve, do some goal setting with your them and come up with a plan on how to reach those goals. Let’s make this a productive next 9 weeks.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Coates