Martin’s smile says it all. Students and staff are overjoyed to be back at school!
This year’s school theme is Opening Doors of Kindness, Opportunities, Acceptance and Possibilities. As the NFSSE staff reflects on the first few weeks of school, we recall the literal opening of doors on the first day- the smiling faces of returning students and hesitant steps of new students into North Florida School of Special Education. We opened their car doors and held the doors open as they entered their new classroom- a classroom with loving educators who have been dreaming up big plans for their students.
Already this year, students have had doors flung open for them but more than that, they have opened the doors for their peers. Returning students helped their new friends find their voice in class, made space at their lunch tables and shared that first exciting experience of unlocking their locker doors. Together, they have filled the school with feelings of kindness, opportunity, acceptance and possibilities.
Through each act of kindness, students reaffirm that there is a place for everyone. North Florida School of Special Education was founded with that very thought in mind. Parents wanted a place where their child would be seen. As the school has grown, and new families have joined us, we have never lost sight of why NFSSE first opened its doors.
NFSSE’s staff leads by example through their love of our mission, to discover and foster each student’s unique abilities, revealing their highest potential within an engaged community. It is our hope that when students and community members enter our school, they walk through open doors of kindness, opportunities, acceptance and possibilities—and that they hold the door open behind them for the next person.