I anticipate that for the first few days of school at least, we'll be working the kinks out and then hopefully everything will be in full swing after that.

We're getting ready to open the doors for the kids. We'll have a number of new hires this year, 31 people to be exact. And among them will be six new staff members. So on [the staff's] opening day, it will take a little bit longer than usual to make all the introductions.

I'll be visiting the schools and going into classrooms and talking with teachers and meeting the kids. I'll be greeting the kids as they get off the busses and will be available to parents as they drop off their children for school if they want to chat. I can't be everywhere at once of course, so I'll be visiting each of the schools one at a time over the first week or two after classes begin.

Those enrollment figures reinforce the fact that we need to open the new high school as soon as possible,

We can attract a better faculty now. Those coming out of graduate school looking for jobs but who may be thinking of having children will be attracted to this place. FIU is the first university in the state to agree to such a policy. It's maybe the best policy in the country.

I shared the thought with a friend that it would be nice to run my own school, never dreaming it would come about.