From the Director's Desk March 2020
by Daniel Cooley
Greetings from the Director’s desk. As I sit here this morning, there are now more than 100 confirmed cases of Coronavirus in the US across multiple states, along with many thousands world-wide. While there is certainly no need for panic, it is great to know that here at NorthStar, our student’s education can continue uninterrupted throughout this current situation. Not only that, but NorthStar is ready to step in and help schools meet their online learning needs as schools have been forced to close and some students have had to leave their homes and come back to the US or to other countries. This is just another demonstration of the power and flexibility of online learning. I am hopeful that as many schools around the world have been forced to use online learning, that there will be a new level of appreciation for this mode of instruction and a new level of support for what it can and does do for families every day.
In other news from my office, as was announced last week, we are excited to have Stephanie Shafer, our Chief Operations Officer step in to take on the role of Director of NorthStar next year as I step out and take another role within our school network in Nairobi Africa. I am very confident that Stephanie will do a great job as she continues to work with the rest of the leadership team to steer NorthStar into the future. For more about my transition and what I will be doing next, see the article in this addition of the newspaper.
As we work our way through the spring semester, remember that there is help for you if you need it! Our Dean of Students Mr. Berggren as well as our Student Success Coach Mrs. Smith can work with you to make sure that you have a strong finish this year. And, don’t forget that you can reach out to your teachers any time to set up a meeting with them, or just send them a message in Teams. We are here to help.
Daniel Cooley has been the Director of NorthStar Academy for 5 years. Previous to NorthStar, Daniel served as the Secondary Principal at Bandung Alliance Intercultural School in Bandung Indonesia. Daniel has his Master’s in Teaching and a graduate certificate in Educational Leadership. Daniel is passionate about educational leadership and quality educational experiences for students.