Superintendent’s Blog – October 24, 2016
Superintendent’s Blog – October 24, 2016
Assisting our PBS Families Affected by the Flood
I am writing this blog from the airport on the way home from the SAIS (Southern Association of Independent Schools) convention in Atlanta. SAIS is our accrediting agency and the convention was a wonderful time to fellowship with other like-minded independent schools. It has been so encouraging to be in different seminars and to talk to other Heads of Schools and to see how strong Parkview is. We are really working together to have a strong, bright future. When the speakers presented information about what schools need to be sustainable for the future, Parkview seems to receive high marks in every area.
One area that I am very proud of is parent confidence. We have a retention rate over 90% which speaks volumes of your desire to stay with Parkview and continue to see the school grow. The strength of our families is truly the strength of our school. When I come to conventions like this, it is easy to hear what other schools are going through and the trouble they have with their families or their boards. I am almost embarrassed to say “Actually, things are going great where I work!” People really do not expect to hear that. I know we are not a perfect school, but we should use our positive spirit to continue to push forward. That is exactly what I intend to do.
As I talk about our great families, I am also reminded that many of our families are continuing to go through hard times. I was in a meeting recently where a staff member who lost everything said she was so encouraged by something kind that someone did for her recently just because they remembered that some people are still suffering. With this in mind, I am going to ask for your help.
I know we are entering into a time of giving with Thanksgiving and Christmas. I do not want to unnecessarily burden our families, but we all know what the people of Baton Rouge are continuing to go through with our unprecedented flooding. Courtney Haindel has been gathering information on the needs of our families and we really need our school to respond to the needs. I am very sensitive to everything we ask our parents to do, so please just use your judgment in what your family chooses to be a part of.
I didn’t want to completely cancel our Thanksgiving missions to needy families or our Operation Christmas Child shoebox program, which is a PBS tradition. However, I do want to give our PBS families an opportunity to assist with the immediate local needs we have. This is a time to really pull together and help our families. In last night’s newsletter, you saw information about collecting gift cards that will greatly assist our flood affected families.
For the next three weeks, we will be collecting gift cards to six businesses – Lowes, Home Depot, Amazon, Target, Walmart and Costco. The gift card drive will end on November 11, at which point we will be able to distribute them amongst our PBS families that are still out of their homes and/or rebuilding. I want our families to prayerfully consider what you can do. I realize some families will do everything they always do, plus helping local families. I realize that some families may choose one of those options (local or international missions) as they feel led. I understand that people can’t do everything and I am sensitive to that, but I feel like I need to make our needs known. The gift cards can be sent with your child to their Homeroom teacher any time between now and November 11.
I am always blown away by how our families respond to needs. Should you feel that you are able to give to our local family needs this Thanksgiving and Christmas season by donating gift cards, we will make sure they get to those in our school community that can use it the most. If you would prefer to just make a tax deductible donation to our Eagle Relief Fund, we will be able to distribute financial assistance as well. You can donate online by clicking here.
Thank you all so much for all you do. I really love to say great things about Parkview and you give me plenty to talk about!
Please know that people all over the south that are represented at this convention are still asking about Baton Rouge. My Uber driver in Atlanta even said his cousin led an effort to send a trailer to Baton Rouge after the flood. There is still so much good in America. Our community is not forgotten.
#parkviewstrong now more than ever,
Don R. Mayes, Ed.D.
Superintendent