Brian M. Stack's School Leadership Blog

This article was written originally for MultiBriefs Education . The decennial tradition, a time when our country takes an official “count” of its population, has arrived! The census is used for apportionment (a process to determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives). It is also used to distribute billions in federal funds to local communities. The census has been conducted every 10 years since the first one in 1790. Back then, a simple six-question survey was used to count approximately 3.9 million Americans living in our young country. Fast forward to current day, and the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the 2020 count will gather statistics for our country’s growing population of around 330 million people in more than 140 million housing units. The statistics collected will influence a wide variety of decisions for years to come. Like most school principals around the country, earlier this year I received a package in the mail from t

This article was written originally for MultiBriefs Education . The COVID-19 crisis of 2020, with unprecedented calls by states for social distancing and remote learning in schools from coast to coast, has left our teens feeling helpless, especially our soon to be high school graduates. As educators, we need to help them through this difficult time. Consider the situation through their eyes, in an open letter that I have written to them. Dear Class of 2020 Graduates, This was unexpected. As adults, we can try to say that we know what you are going through. We can try to tell you to look on the bright side and be thankful for what you have. We can remind you that you can still talk to your friends online. The reality is, we don’t really know what you are going through. The COVID-19 crisis of 2020 has profoundly changed the way our society operates right now and for you, the timing couldn’t be any worse. You are supposed to be entering into your final weeks before gra