GPA Families,
WE DID IT!
Our very first week in our very own building is officially in the books, and I honestly don't know if I have the words to tell you what this week has meant to me. Monday, we opened our doors to our 3rd and 4th graders.
Tuesday, our 5th and 6th graders joined us. Wednesday, we welcomed our 7th and 8th graders, including our Original 150 babies, who have waited so patiently for the day they could finally walk into a GPA building of their own. And Thursday, for the very first time, ALL OF GPA was under ONE roof.
Y'all, we have a school.
A REAL school.
Our hallways were FULL. Our classrooms were FULL. Our car line was FULL. 🙂 And my heart was absolutely FULL.
If you saw me crying happy tears this week, now you know why.
I thought so many times about the families who believed in GPA when we didn't have a building of our own. I thought about our Original 150 and everything they experienced with us last year. They believed in this school before they could see what it would become.
Watching those kiddos walk through our doors Wednesday morning was something I will carry with me forever.
Original 150, I love you. Welcome home, babies. We made it!
But this week wasn't only about where we've been. It was also about where we are going.
We welcomed hundreds of new Blazers, including families who made the decision to leave schools they knew and take a chance on GPA. Thank you for trusting us with your babies. That is something I will never take for granted.
We learned a LOT this week too!
We stomped out bugs. Then we found some more bugs. Then we stomped those out too! 🙂
Car line got better every single day, and I cannot thank you enough for your patience, grace, and willingness to learn right alongside us. Opening a brand-new building with nearly 800 kiddos means some things simply have to be learned by doing them. You gave us the grace to do that, and our systems are already getting stronger because of it.
A HUGE thank you also goes to our Dads on Duty who showed up this week and helped make our first days so special. You helped with traffic, welcomed kiddos, supported our staff, and brought an incredible energy to our campus. Thank you for helping us make this a week our kiddos will remember!
And to my teachers and staff, I hope our families know how much these people have poured into this week. They have loved on children, walked hallways, answered a million questions, learned new systems, adjusted on the fly, and done whatever was needed to make our kiddos feel safe and loved.
That is what GPA is about.
We will have high expectations for our Blazers. We will teach them to do things the right way. We will hold them accountable.
But we will also do it with love.
We will not embarrass children. We will not forget that they are still kiddos. We will teach, remind, redirect, encourage, and keep going.
Because more than anything, I want every child who walks into this building to know:
This is MY school.
These are MY people.
I belong at GPA.
As we finish this incredible first week, THANK YOU.
Thank you for trusting us.
Thank you for your patience.
Thank you for volunteering.
Thank you for cheering us on.
Thank you for sending us your babies every morning.
And thank you for believing in this crazy dream right alongside me.
There will still be things to improve. There will still be bugs to stomp out. We are going to keep learning and keep getting better.
But this week proved something I have believed all along:
GPA is so much more than a building.
It's our kiddos.
It's our teachers.
It's our families.
It's our community.
It's all of us.
WE ARE ONE GPA TEAM!
Get some rest this weekend, Blazers. We have a whole school year ahead of us, and we are JUST getting started!
Love you all!
💙Mrs.Davis