My daughter, Kayla, will be celebrating her graduation from 8th grade this afternoon, and my son Josh graduated from high school nearly two weeks ago. This seems like a good time to take advantage of the blog to celebrate teachers.

As Laurie would certainly tell you, I love teachers. I always root for them in the admissions process, hoping that their goals will align with their experience and commitment to service.

Over the years, my children have been fortunate to have been taught by some amazing educators — people who transmit knowledge and love of learning seemingly effortlessly, while employing creative classroom management skills that many of us non-teachers fail to appreciate. At each of the five schools they’ve attended are teachers who have left their mark on Josh and Kayla, and I have always found their work inspiring.

Within the U.S., Teach For America deserves a lot of credit for transforming the thinking of current college students, reawakening the perception that teaching is a career that top students pursue, rather than a job that academic stars leave to others. And because Teach For America focuses on placing teachers in difficult to serve schools, there’s a sense of mission about the enterprise.

That sense of mission also motivates many of the teachers at the school from which Josh just graduated, PHA. It’s a public charter school, with many students for whom thirteen years of school, followed by a college education, is not as natural a path as it is for my children. Like all the other families of PHA students, we chose to send Josh there. It met our education goals, as well as his desire to be in a highly diverse environment. And he is starting to appreciate how lucky he was to be taught by such an amazing group of committed individuals with a mission to educate all students in their classes.

So, on the occasion of Kayla’s graduation from the 8th grade, and Josh’s recent high school graduation: Thanks to all the great teachers out there! Whether you’re a career educator, or a twenty/thirty-something with the determination that all children should receive a high quality education, your work is vital to our future and should be celebrated!

January or September 2009 Applicants: Are you thinking of visiting Fletcher this fall? If so, now is a great time to nail down your plans and book an appointment for an evaluative interview. The preliminary schedule is up and you can have your pick of times. Not a morning person? Grab an afternoon spot! Tend to feel sleepy at 3:00? Book an interview before lunch! Right now, the choice is yours! Wait until October, though, and other eager applicants may have made your choice for you.

We already have our weekly Monday and Friday information sessions on the calendar, and we’ll soon add a few on Thursday afternoons.  If you want an information session to be part of your visit, be sure to book on one of those days. Also note that the majority of our classes take place Monday to Thursday. Check out the class schedule as you make your plans.

And, lest I cause unintended anxiety, I should note that interviews are a recommended (and valuable) but optional part of the application process. Though we highly recommend them for anyone who can make the trip to campus, you will not be at a disadvantage if you cannot get here. If you do plan to interview, though, please do not wait until the last minute to contact us for an appointment. As we go through the fall, there will be many weeks during which we have no appointments available.

Two updates today.

First, for students enrolling in September. You should have received an email yesterday with information on how to obtain your new Tufts email address and identification number. This marks a bit of a turning point — you’re moving along from enrolling student to just-plain-old student. And that means that the best source for answers to many of your questions is now the registrar’s office. We’re still happy to hear from you! But as you get into the details of selecting your courses and planning your studies, there will be greater authorities than even the admissions office, and we’ll forward your questions as necessary.

Second, for students continuing to wait on the Wait List. By May 1, as I wrote previously, the class was looking pretty much complete, but May 1 is way too early to be sure. (Students request deferrals through May, or have sudden changes in plans well into the summer.) We have admitted a small handful of students off the Wait List, and it’s possible we’ll admit a few more (trying, as usual, to wrap up the process as soon as we can). But given how few wait listed students have been admitted so far, I wanted to pass along the word that not having heard from us yet doesn’t mean you’ve been passed by. And this, I should say, is true for both the MALD and MIB programs. I’ll continue to post news on the Wait List when we have it.