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Welcome Pine Island Families,
Thank you for joining us at Meet and Greet Thursday and Friday. I enjoyed getting to know our families and more than anything was lifted by all the smiles, laughter, positivity, excitement, questions, and eagerness to return to school.
Also on Friday I was greeted by the media and asked, "what were the immediate challenges that faced Pine Island?" I believe most see the facilities as a challenge, however, I believe different. I believe that the heartbeat of a school are the people inside the building - the kiddos, Staffulty, families, and the uniqueness that each of us bring to making Pine Island stand out as a leader of schools throughout the county.
Of course, we want our facilities to be perfect and they will be very soon, but what Thursday and Friday confirmed for me was that the true heart/heartbeat of a school is about the people. Thank you for showing up at Meet and Greet with smiles, warm welcomes, laughs and encouragement. It showed the power of our community when we commit to ensuring no matter what, we will make Pine Island a place that represents ALL and is full of love, compassion and excitement.
Most recently we joined with the Pine Island community to create our vision and mission. Our "why" and "how" we do our "what." It was a beautiful time of collaboration between families, students, and staffulty where we came together to create the identity of Pine Island Academy.
Our vision, our "why," at Pine Island will be to show up everyday committed to giving our students opportunities to "Discover Strengths & Pursue Dreams." Our vision reminds us in everything we do and say is aligned to the unique individual needs of every student, every need, every day!
Our student's voice had a large part in the "how," the mission of our work. They want to create a culture and build a community that embraces ALL, inclusive, nurturing, and safe. With our student's voice and the support of our families and staffulty our students put words to our "how."
"One Pod, Making Waves, Fins Up!"
Focused on building an
Inspiring
Nurturing
Safe Environment
Unlocking, Unlimited
Potential
Our student's voice matters and their involvement in helping describe how they want their environment to feel each day is priority to the success of our students. As we move forward in creating our "what," designing learning experiences, discovering unique needs, and embracing each individual student our mission will be evident for ALL.
Although this year may begin with potential challenges that were not forecasted, we at Pine Island are committed to the health and safety of our students. We have and are continuing to respond accordingly to our families needs that require attention to each individual need. The district has provided guidelines and protocols that we are honoring and are making sure that all our classrooms have the adequate resources to keep our students and Staffulty safe during these time.
I asking that our families trust Pine Island Admin and Staffulty will follow the guidelines that have been put forth to keep students safe. Honoring and respecting all the needs of our community is a priority to us and we area working to ensure that parents request are honored. We must believe that our teachers are working hard, prioritizing safety while committed to the learning of every student, every need, every day. A task that more than any other time in our lives, we understand the greatness of this task. Especially because most recently all of us were tasked with helping support the learning of own children in the home.
Please trust that when families ask for their student to be given PPE it will be done, when our families ask that students still be able to participate in learning experiences that are collaborative, it will be done, when our families ask that students be given more protected spaces in the classroom and CAFE, it will be done. This only happens if we trust each other in a trusting environment.
Knowing that at Pine Island everything we do is intentional for the sake of our students and I am asking that our families choose to trust as the onset of every interaction we have this year. Trust that no matter what, we are embracing our challenges of unique times and meeting each individual need of our students. It is our promise, it is our work, it is what we have committed to doing at Pine Island Academy.
We believe that relationships is the most important thing we do, especially with our students. We have to capture our student’s heart before they will ever begin to learn! As we open Pine Island Academy, we will spend the first few weeks developing relationships with our students and making sure they feel safe, loved, and accepted. We will spend time teaching, modeling and practicing what it looks and feels like to be an all inclusive environment that respects and embraces the uniqueness of each other. This time that we spend building relationships and establishing predictable environments throughout the school will be the foundation of our success of Pine Island.
Our goal is for Every child, Every Need, Every Day to be served in an environment of excellence. I feel completely blessed and honored to lead at Pine Island and am committed to the LEARNING FOR ALL…
We invite you to join us in - Discovering Strengths & Pursing Dreams! We are Pine Island Academy - Home of the Dolphins!
Greatly Appreciated,
Mrs. Riedl
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