There is never a boring moment in the Driscoll community, is there?
Obviously there is never a good time to say good-bye to a principal who has been such an integral part of our community, but right now we can’t think of a harder time to be facing the news that Dr. Talukdar will be leaving our school at the end of this academic year. We want to reassure you that, while we must remain physically apart for the moment, our community is still as connected and strong as ever. This is an uncertain time, but we are all united in our desire for the best outcome for our children, our families, and our teachers; that commitment will continue to guide every choice we make.
We have already been in contact with Interim Superintendent Lummis to discuss the next steps in identifying the next principal of Driscoll School. You will hear more from the district about this process in the days to come, but there is some specific information we can give you already. To start with, please do not contact the Office of the Superintendent directly with your feedback on what type of principal you think would be a good replacement for Suzie; everyone in the district is working overtime trying to stay on top of the constantly evolving COVID-19 state of emergency (especially as teachers are taking their first steps to reach out to students this week), and any such emails would only take attention away from urgent health-related communications. There will be plenty of chances to voice your opinions in the days to come, through surveys and potentially a virtual town hall meeting, as well as the creation of a Leadership Profile that will guide every step of the search process; we will pass on more information about these opportunities as soon as it becomes available. As always, you can email any of us on the PTO Executive Board with any questions or concerns, and we will answer to the best of our abilities.
In the nearer term, we are looking for volunteers to join the Interview Committee, which we are happy to say will include parents and educators. Any Driscoll parents or caregivers are welcome to apply to the PTO to be considered for the Committee. You can submit a letter of interest to driscollpto@gmail.com, and the PTO Executive Committee will make our recommendations from this pool of applicants (any members of the Executive Committee who are also applying will recuse themselves from this decision). Since time is of the essence, the deadline for receiving these applications is Thursday, April 2, 2020.
Again, if you have any questions do not hesitate to reach out to us. It’s not quite as simple as grabbing us in the halls after drop-off right now, but don’t let that stop you from reaching out (virtually).