It’s August already?

It seems like summer just started yesterday, and yet we’ve had our state’s sales tax weekend for back-to-school items, we’ve had summer school graduation, National Night Out, and everything I seem to see these days has something to do with back-to-school.

Already, Suffolk Christian Academy’s athletic teams will have games beginning next week, and their students start school Aug. 21. Nansemond-Suffolk Academy begins school a week later, and then Suffolk Public Schools will start Sept. 3.

Not only have fall sports practices begun but also many teachers and other staff from schools have been taking part in professional development opportunities over the summer. And many, but not all, of the summer camps have come and gone.

In other words, summer is over before it feels like it’s begun, even though it’s still hot enough.

So, in that spirit of preparing to go back to school, I am preparing as well.

One of my points of pride is that I like to get into as many classrooms, and share as many stories as possible about what’s going on in all of our city’s schools — public and private.

At one time, many eons ago it seems, I took some education classes with the idea of perhaps becoming an elementary school teacher (kindergarten would have been my grade of choice). While I didn’t ultimately choose that path, it did afford me opportunities to get inside schools not as a student, but as an observer, and in a few small instances, a student-teacher.

I spent time in a third grade, an elementary special needs class, and a high school sociology class, and it was invaluable in my understanding of what goes on in classrooms, and behind the scenes in preparing lessons, the administrative side of the role and more.

So that, and having covered education in myriad places over the years, has given me a lot of insight, though not enough to rival that of those who are serving frontline and behind-the-scenes roles in our public and private schools.

And while these things, and my own wife’s background in education, have given me — and continue to give me — a plethora of story ideas and other avenues for coverage as we approach the upcoming school year, I’d like to make sure I have your input also.

What stories are important to you as you prepare for the upcoming school year? Whether you’re a teacher, administrator, parent, student or anyone who cares or is interested in our schools, I’m interested in hearing your ideas.

My personal goal, beyond just attending and covering the important news to come out of the Suffolk School Board and the school division, is to spend time in every school, reporting stories inside the classrooms. I want to highlight teaching innovations, students doing great things, and how enacted policies play out on the front lines. My goal is to give you the pulse of what’s happening in all of our schools. And if you homeschool kids, I want to keep a pulse on that and note issues and challenges in that arena as well.

It’s certainly important to highlight the good, as well as the challenges. While I like to think we’ve done a good job in reporting in both of those areas, there are always more stories out there, and my aim is to share them with you.

Yes, I’ll certainly be following closely the search for a new superintendent, and I’ll cover what our school division and School Board are doing. But as much as possible, I also want to take you behind the scenes and show you how money is being spent, and how things are in the classrooms, buses and anywhere else that touches the lives of students, staff and families who are associated with schools in Suffolk.

So, as this new school year approaches, feel free to reach out to me at jimmy.laroue@suffolknewsherald.com and share your ideas and thoughts on the upcoming school year. I look forward to hearing from you.