If you are an elementary school teacher and chose November as the month to give up coffee and learn how to use a computer, you may have picked the wrong time to do it!

It's not that the Report Cards were a bad thing. Twenty-four schools were part of the pilot last year with the new Report Card format. Workshops and experience in the new assessment and reporting format were the order of the day. The computer wrinkle was just there just in case things appeared to be going too well!

This year, everyone had to use the new Report Card. Apparently, the pilot testing that happened last year was successful. So we have a whole new group of people learning about the new assessment and reporting format. Again the computer wrinkle was there and, to the credit of our system, almost all of our elementary schools opted to do their reporting using the computer.

A "system", as defined by my Penguin Canadian dictionary is "a related or organized whole composed of many individual parts". The successful implementation of reporting using the Report Card from September to November 30, certainly embodies the above definition of system. In fact, without this system, the reports going home to Greater Essex County households this week would not be possible.

It was the tenacity of teachers, school secretaries, Information Technology Services support, principals/vice-principals, CAITs, and Program Department staff that made it work. From learning about levels, observational reporting, computer software setup and operation, working through glitches in the software as three upgrades to the Electronic Report Card appear during the collection and reporting period, each step in the process was taken in stride and accomplished masterfully.

One of the things that I enjoy during my school visits is to hear from people in the "system" about their experiences in projects such as these. With each visit, there are the inevitable complaints about problems and an expression of disappointment that things didn't work well the first time through. But, in the next breath, we marvel at how well the process worked; how the various components of the system pulled together with the common goal of getting through this thing; and then stop to admire the finished product, some of the best looking Report Cards ever.

It's been a challenge in many ways but the results are terrific. Congratulations to each and every component of the system for their contribution as the individual parts all helped to create something special.