Dear Woodbury Families,

I am very excited to be a member of the Woodbury community! I hear great things across the board and cannot wait to partner with you and the school staff. I am a strong believer in the importance of the school-home connection to aid our students in reaching their full potential. Our partnership is key! I will be taking the first few months to familiarize myself with Woodbury and will be reaching out to you for your feedback. I hope that you will participate in these opportunities. I have an open door policy and always encourage parents to reach out at any time with questions, comments or concerns. 

I have recently spent the last five years as Principal at Mitchell Elementary. It is just down the road and shares many similar traits with Woodbury, including a similar student population and similar initiatives. This experience will undoubtedly be a valuable asset in my transition. As a parent of three young daughters, I fully understand the perspective of a parent and the trust that is placed in an elementary school to not only educate, but truly care for each child on our campus. This is a responsibility that I thoroughly enjoy and pour all of my energy into.

This school year is critical as we transition back into a regular school day. Our priorities for this school year that encompass both Goal 1 and Goal 2 of the GGUSD Strategic Plan will be:

Reconnecting with Students- We have missed our students and we know that they have missed us! Each member of our staff will be looking to reform those vital relationships that create the foundation for learning to take place. School needs to be a positive place for students to thrive and we will again be creating that school environment for them.

Social Emotional Learning- Last school year, Woodbury teachers took unprecedented steps to address the social-emotional needs of their students. The global pandemic took a tremendous toll on all of us, but especially on our students who dealt with uncertainty, loneliness and isolation, family stress from job instability and ill relatives. It will be important that we continue to support our students in this area and we will develop new steps to do so.

Learning Gaps- Inevitably learning gaps have formed with some of our students. Distance Learning is not optimal for the majority of students especially as some households were dealing with internet issues, technology issues, or lack of supervision as parents worked during the day. This school year we will take special care to identify these learning gaps and offer intervention during the school day to help students recover from this difficult time. 

Thank you for your continued flexibility in working with us. While we are resuming a full-day, full-week schedule of live instruction, COVID-19 still looms in the background. I cannot say with certainty what this school year holds, but I can promise that we will do everything possible to tend to your child’s physical and mental health while giving them a high quality education.

Sincerely,

Chris Francis

Principal