(On Tuesday, Sept. 4, the staff of the Roslyn Public Schools attended a Superintendent's Conference Day to open the 2001-02 school year. The following is part of the text of my address to them as we prepared for the first day of school which was yesterday, Sept. 5.)

This is the tenth time that I have had the pleasure of addressing the staff on the first day of the new school year. Back in 1992, when I spoke to you for the first time as superintendent of schools, I noted that I was one of 35 new members of this outstanding public school district's "team" who were starting their first year in Roslyn.

I used the word "team" deliberately then, and I use it again today. I use the word "team" to emphasize how much we depend on one another for the important work we do every day. I use the word "team" to underscore the collegiality that is the hallmark of any successful educational system. And I use the word "team" to remind everyone that it is only as a team that we can effectively educate the children of our school community.

It was extraordinary teamwork that enabled the school district to make it through a very challenging summer of 2001. As you know, the Heights School has undergone wonderful interior renovations that have readied the building for the pre-K, kindergarten and grade 1 students who will be attending school at Heights this fall.

This transformation was made possible with the assistance and cooperation of the entire staff: administration, teachers, paraprofessionals, secretaries, custodians and food service workers. Many parents of Heights students in the past year have commented to me that they hardly knew that construction was taking place in the building throughout the last school year. That is a tribute to the teamwork of the entire Heights staff, and I thank them for their efforts.

At the middle school, a far more extensive expansion and renovation project is under way. This project will continue throughout the coming school year, and I know that the middle school staff, which is very accustomed to the concept of "teaming", will play an integral part of the successful transformation of the building into a modern middle school facility for our youngsters.

You may also have noticed other work going on this summer on the fields at the high school. This is one of several other projects that will be ongoing in and around our buildings right through 2002. Wherever you work in the school district, your school environment will be enhanced by the capital projects that are currently being undertaken. I remind everyone that the primary purpose of all of this work is to enable the district to be able to continue to provide outstanding educational opportunities for all of the youngsters in our district.

There was also a great deal of other activity in the school district over the summer. In addition to the faculty and staff who provided an outstanding summer program at Harbor Hill School in June and July, our school secretaries, as well as the men and women of our custodial and maintenance staff, did their usual great job preparing our schools for the arrival of students tomorrow. We thank them for all their hard work.

In my first opening day speech in 1992, I also noted that public education was under attack on many fronts. Regrettably, those attacks have not diminished. However, when I look around the Roslyn Public Schools, when I see how much we have accomplished together in the last decade, I can't help but be amazed by the phenomenal success that public education has been in the Roslyn school community. When I witness the extraordinary things that take place each and every day, in classrooms and laboratories, on auditorium stages and athletic fields, I marvel at the incredible skill that every one of you applies to your job each day, and the unbelievable results that have earned Roslyn its hard-earned reputation as one of the best public school districts in the United States.

It is teamwork that has made this possible: the teamwork of a Board of Education that supports everything we do; the teamwork of a community that not only places a very high value on public education, but also willingly provides the resources necessary to make that education possible; and, of course, the teamwork of professionals like you who work on behalf of our children in countless ways.

While we have accomplished so much together, there is still so much more to be done. Our commitment to our students' academic success must continue to be balanced by an equal commitment to the values we hold dear as a community and a society. Our commitment to community service, human relations and values education remains constant and strong.

The stirring presentations by Judy Shepard in this auditorium last fall must stand as a reminder that each and every one of us bears a responsibility for creating a school environment in which every student is free to learn without fear of bullying, harassment or discrimination of any kind. In this respect, we are all role models, and we are all teachers. How we model our own cooperation and teamwork is directly related to how effectively we hand down the values of honesty, decency and respect to the children in our care.

I would like to close by reiterating what I said on my first opening day in Roslyn. I said that I was proud to be joining this team that will touch and shape the future. The intervening years have only intensified that sense of pride. I remain very proud to be your Superintendent of Schools, proud of your dedication and professionalism and of the outstanding success we achieve together year after year.

As we embark on another great adventure together in the new school year that begins tomorrow, let me quote the great painter Henri Matisse, who said, "Derive happiness in oneself in a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us."

I wish you all a great opening of school and a great year!