Mr. Sonntag's Blog

As we continue to explore and better understand the mission of Pleasantdale School District 107 (remember it is "to create a community of inspired learners"), we must all share common beliefs about the children whom we've been charged to educate and develop.  The school district, from top to bottom and everywhere in between, must know these beliefs and keep them at the forefront of their minds when making decisions that affect our schools and ultimately students' learning.  Today, we're going to probe deeper into belief number one, as adopted in the Pleasantdale Strategic Blueprint and found here . Belief #1: Students are passionately engaged in topics that examine world issues, where they feel a sense of purpose and in which they make a difference. Many of us remember back to our schooling experiences and asked ourselves the questions, "When am I ever going to use this" and "Why do I need to learn about this?" Take a moment to think back ...

This week's blogpost is centered on District 107's Mission and the Strategic Blueprint that is guiding how we are making our great district even better for our students.  District 107's Mission is "to create a community of inspired learners" and I believe this truly is our mission.  Remember a mission is what an organization wants to do right now.  What better undertaking for a school than the creation of a community of inspired learners? Let's unpack this mission statement a little bit more (fully acknowledging that I am new to our district and wasn't a part of the conversations arriving at this mission statement) and learn what it means to me. "Creating" means producing, making, fostering, constructing.  To examine the raw materials that are present and building something out of them.  These materials are the people in our entire school community, students, parents, and staff members.  Everyone brings something to the table to support our m...

Welcome to the 2017-2018 school year at Pleasantdale Middle School. My name is Griffin Sonntag and I am excited to begin my principalship here at the middle school in District 107.  This is my first foray into blogging, and I believe it will be a wonderful way for the readers to get to know me.  Much of the communication that will come from the middle school, either via email, Twitter, Facebook posts, etc. will center around timely topics and occurrences at the school.  I hope you'll see themes of learning, growth, social emotional development, mindset, students in action, positivity, events, safety, and procedures.  As much as I would love for you to read everything we put out, I understand the amount of information you receive.   If I can ask anything of you, I ask that you read the emails that come from me, Mrs. Knapik, and your child's teachers.  If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to the source of the information for a better understan...