Day 1 - Dr. Eric Conti, Superintendent of Schools

I love the first day of school.  After working in a cubicle for a large company during my first years after college, the first day of school was a welcomed change.  It is difficult to explain to adults who work outside of education the feeling of renewal each school year brings.  School buildings are empty shells without students and teachers.  The teaching and learning that takes place in classrooms bring the buildings to life each fall.  It is this energy that makes working in schools unique.  Many students are in new surroundings and meeting their teachers for the first time.  Students arrive to see friends they have been hanging with and friends who have been away all summer.  There are new classes of twelfth, eighth graders, and fifth graders who like their new status as senior members of their respective buildings.  There are teachers who are returning to classrooms that they have been working in for decades and teachers who are teaching in Burlington for the first time.  All of this familiarity and newness collides on the first day.  Everyone starts with an "A."

In addition to the regular excitement at the start of school, we are in the midst of an incredibly dynamic time in education.  New tools and open resources are bringing the world to us at an exponential rate.  Our primary mission to master content is changing into a mission to manage content.  We all need to be learners.  These times mark a sea change for public schools.  If we are to remain relevant, we need to create learning environments that empower and engage learners - adult and child.