Catching Up

3/30/2015

Until reading the comments in the Parents' Survey, I did not realize how long it had been since I added to the Blog.  My only alibi is that spring semester is the most challenging time to think and create.  Notwithstanding that, I will share some quotes and thoughts that made it to my Journal as well as some responses to comments in the Parent Survey that was recently completed, tabulated, and distributed to the entire staff.

William James wrote that, "The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast us."  This quote is so relevant, because the energy and courage to bear up under the stress and time requirements at Riverside are worth the price only because of the products we are able to produce.  Each day we are disappointed, dismayed, and discouraged at varying degrees while simultaneously over-joyed at the development and goodness of our cadets.  It is hard to explain, but the peaks far outweigh the valleys day in and day out. 

As I weighed and assessed the 59 pages of parent comments from the survey this weekend, I was 90% of the time proud of our policies, faculty, and administration, but at other times frustrated at the areas that we are not meeting the needs and expectations of our parents and cadets.  Some are obvious, and I should have perceived the need for emphasis or reemphasis.  I am directly responsible for some of the areas in need of attention and others where I reacted too slowly (e.g., a teacher issue in the sciences, the failure to find a suitable Latin replacement, the lack of command attention to the issues in the on-line classes, and the need for greater breadth in our middle school athletic program).  We are already reacting to those relevant and deserved criticisms. Privilege and responsibility are inseparable partners.  Likewise, responsibility begets criticism and sometimes it takes a brave heart to weather those storms.  But, in truth, criticism causes self-reflection, which in the end creates awareness and drives us forward to continuous quality improvement as Edward Deming used to say.

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