Letter From The Principal

Dear Reitz Memorial Family,

“Every day will be something different.” I remember hearing that phrase when I was told what the most difficult part of the job would be. Having to adapt on the fly and to be comfortable knowing that what I plan for the day won’t be what ends up happening. It’s taking some getting used to, but having great support from the students, faculty, and community has made it enjoyable so far.

The year is off to a great start. We have had great leadership from our seniors at our events, and their example to the rest of the student body is appreciated. Every day I see how hard our students are working — at their academics, athletics, performances, and clubs. Our students know that they have been given a wonderful opportunity, to be able to be a student at this school. We want to support them, to help them grow, to help them find their passion. By investing in this school, with their time and talents, they can find faculty and staff who will help them on that journey.

We had a great “Meet the Teacher Night” back in September. Parents were able to make that initial contact with a teacher and help build that partnership of educating and forming students, and we are already looking forward to hosting this event again next year. One thing that has stood out to me is the level of support we are seeing at all our various events. It’s been inspiring to see so many faces at Booster Club, Steak Night, Meet the Teacher, and Igniting the Tradition. Thank you to those who have made it out for these, and if you can find time to make it in the future, we would love to see you there.

Our Flex Time schedule has been going very well. Students, parents, and faculty are reporting that they are finding the schedule helpful. To date, we have had more than 2500 students take advantage of this time slot to go see teachers, receive tutoring from our Incognito Instructors, go to club meetings, or work at study tables with their athletic teams. We appreciate the support of parents when teachers make requests for students to stay and work. The pressure that is being taken off our students and faculty to fit more in with less time has been reduced, and overall, we are seeing positive results from it. We appreciate the support of parents when teachers make requests for students to stay and work.

Our faculty and staff are called to support the students and help them. I tend to think that is true of all educators, no matter where they work. But at the beginning of the year, we talked with the faculty about sharing their “Why?” Why do they teach, but more specifically, why do they teach at Memorial? I think it is incredibly important for students to know that the faculty believe what they do matters and that they feel called by God to make a difference at this school and in the lives of their students. The story they share in class should leave our students never doubting that their teacher cares about education, students, and about Memorial.

Sincerely,

Aaron Schmidt, Principal