Principal's Message

                                                       LOOK UP.

(Full disclosure: This year’s theme is unabashedly due to my fandom of Superman.) 

I am encouraging our staff to LOOK it UP if they don’t know the answer. The adults should be the lead learners in each classroom, and they should let the students observe how they think to arrive at an answer or how they form an informed opinion. I desire to be surrounded by educators who capitalize on the chance to hone their craft, to expand their repertoire, to broaden their horizons, and I want that for your kids, too.

Because I know that our little Cardinals LOOK UP to our staff, I want my staff to also LOOK UP to a mentor. It’s important to one’s flourishing to find someone with admirable traits to emulate. This takes vulnerability and a willingness to consider another’s perspective, and these are the very qualities that we expect from our kids.

This generation of young people can easily feel secondary to the technology that consumes their adults’ attention, therefore, it’s vital that we LOOK UP at them. Pausing from the task at hand to focus on the person in front of us tells that person that she is worth our time, that he is valuable. Good old-fashioned eye-contact speaks volumes but is in short supply when we allow devices to command our attention.

When I was a middle school assistant principal years ago, a very wise and thoughtful custodian once advised, “Mr. Brennan, look up.” This was less about my propensity to squint furrow-browed at the floor as I navigated through halls full of early adolescents and more about the need to see the people and the activity and the good that was going on around me. This is how I encouraged the Carrollton staff on our first day together for the 2025-2026 school year and how I plan to continue to encourage them all the way through to our last day together: LOOK UP. It’s my encouragement to all of our Cardinal caregivers, as well. This year will be as great as you make it. You will value your children as much as you want to. You will be annoyed as much as you let circumstances and others annoy you. You are in charge of your attitude, so don’t give that superpower away. This is an important life lesson that I challenge you and your children’s educators to impart through words and actions.

When the staff walked into our building August 25 they were greeted by disarray: hanging wires, missing ceiling tiles, construction equipment, and debris. They could’ve stared at the mess or they could’ve chosen to fix their sights above, see the new HVAC system in the ceiling, and get to work. I’m glad they chose to focus above the mess with a vision of how to make our students’ Carrollton experience this year a super one.

LOOK UP!

Mr. Brennan