In my district of ~1300 students, the administrative team consists of three building principals, the superintendent and myself. I oversee curriculum, staff development, special education, technology, new teacher mentoring, many state/federal reports, and countless other smaller projects. I'm in my second year in this role after teaching six years of math in the high school setting. Today, we finished our second day of school and I'm now reflecting on the diversity of activities and responsibilities that filled up these two ten hour days. The following brief narrative is more for my own personal reflection, but it also may answer a question that I used to ponder every once in a while,

"What does a district administrator do on the first day(s) of school?"
-Visited all three buildings to see the nervousness and excitement of the new and veteran teachers.
-Video taped an assembly featuring a cover band of high school teachers literally get kids on their feet to show their excitement to be back at school. (Did I mention the high school principal sang a solo?)
-Assisted one middle school student and one high school student find their way to their new classes.
-Sought out teachers during their prep times to ask them what they were most excited about for the upcoming year.
-Responded to several emails from staff members looking for quick responses to IT requests (Goal: alleviate the work load of our short-handed IT staff!)
-Discussed next steps for our district's staff development with teachers who played a role in designing our before school in-service day.
-Started recruiting new community members for our district's school improvement advisory committee.
-Brainstormed ways to continue supporting our second year teachers.
-Met with an extended learning program teacher to brainstorm new and improved ways to serve our brightest students.
-Sent an all-staff email communicating upcoming changes to our assessment schedule for the year.
-Assisted Kindergarten students in opening their milk cartons during their first snack time.
-Gave high fives to first grade students in the hallway.
-Consulted with a teacher and our IT specialist on modifications to our students use of Google Apps for Education
-Replied to emails from staff members inquiring about a setting that needed to be changed in our student information system.
-Encouraged elementary teachers who have put in a tremendous amount of extra time getting their classroom ready for the first day in the midst of an ongoing renovation project.

In total, my email program says I sent 87 email messages over the past two days. Not sure if that's a record, but WOW.

It's going to be another great year!