After the summer hibernation, the beast known as Miami-Dade County Public Schools is awake and growling.
The nation’s third-largest school district brought its 350,000 students and 17,000 teachers back to the classrooms Thursday, and superintendent Dr. Jose Dotres said it was a smooth opening day, with only minor hiccups such as a few bus delays and about 20 reports of the air conditioning going out. Dotres promised those issues would be fixed as soon as possible.
He visited several schools Thursday. We caught up with Dotres at Charles Drew K-8 Center and at his first stop, early in the morning at American Senior High School.
“Is everybody happy to be back in school?” Dotres asked one classroom of students but got no response. “Let’s try that again, is everybody happy to be back in school? I got a si over here!” he said, laughing.
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Back to school
With a drumline, the band, cheerleaders and majorettes outside, American High cranked up the fanfare for arriving students and faculty.
“It’s an exciting day, I know students are like, oh, I gotta go back to school, but once they’re here, they’re excited, the teachers are excited, I’m excited, it’s gonna be a fantastic year here at American Senior High School,” said principal Stephen Papp.
“The first day of school is so important because it matters that we start on the best feeling possible, right? Enthusiastic, that we encourage the students as we enter school and that we thank the teachers and the school leaders for everything that they do,” Dotres said in a news conference after touring the school and greeting students and staff members.
At Charles Drew K-8, Dotres reminded everyone that the district’s first magnet program started there 50 years ago, and now, students are learning in a brand-new, state-of-the-art building that opened Thursday.
“It definitely is a boost to the morale here at our school within our culture,” said principal Dr. Selena Volcy. “Our teachers work hard every day and for them to walk into a brand-new space, it just reinvigorates their passion and it just motivates our students to want to do better.”
Parents can always help their kids do better, and Dotres urged them to get involved.
“The greatest message is to please, as parents, don’t stay in the margins, connect with the schools, speak to the teachers, get to know them,” Dotres said. “And we have to focus on educating students, on supporting them, the same thing with teachers, and not allow the narrative of the politics to keep our focus where it needs to be.”
Dotres was referring to state laws that limit what teachers can say in classrooms, and what pronouns and nicknames students can use.
