Welcome Back

Jerry came back last week.
In November.
It would be kind to say that he was missed. He's been gone a year and these past few months, but his special brand of havoc would not have made our meal of primary education any easier to digest. I make a practice out of saying that there are not bad kids, just bad behavior. In Jerry's case, I would continue to stress this point, but the behavior with him came in great big vats.
And now, those vats of behavior are back.
A lot has changed since he left. We have a new principal. We have a different culture. We are stressing our Horace Mann Expectations. When he left, he was a second grader. He returns as a third grader. It would be incredible if the year he spent away would translate into maturity and a shared vision with those attempting to steer him in a direction that would bring success.
Or maybe just a relief from the constant flurry of calls to the office.
Jerry just hit someone.
Jerry just stole something from another student's desk.
Jerry kicked a ball on the roof.
Jerry is wandering the halls.
And maybe Jerry won't do any of those things anymore, having been given this new start. A clean slate, with the possible exception of the flinch that his name induces in staff and students alike. When his dad took him out of our school at the beginning of last year, there was a collective sigh of relief. We had weathered that storm.
And now Hurricane Jerry was coming back.
I hope that Jerry is ready for what is ahead of him. I don't expect us to break. I don't imagine that exceptions will be made for him. I also expect that he'll be checking to see if there are any of the old cracks or holes in the fence. Not literally, of course. Jerry wouldn't miss a day or skip from school. He knew that would be far too easy.
And nobody said it was going to be easy. Our dreams are our ticket out.