With Frosh Orientation past and Holy Bowl won, the school year at Jesuit High School is switching into high gear. As the students settle in to focus on schoolwork, faculty and staff are planning for the year.

Jesuit has made some huge changes in the past few years, including the recent implementation of iPads and Google Classroom. Faculty and staff have since branched out to better utilize available technologies each year. The school’s current state is best defined as a time of balance in which teachers have a chance to take the tools they have been given and specialize them for better use in the classroom.

“We had in the previous five or six years undergone significant changes in the school, really good changes,” Mr. Wood said. “Where we are [now] is a place of equilibrium. There’s no radical change this year, and that means now we have the freedom to innovate, to take risks.”

During a recent tech-oriented Faculty In-Service, faculty and students were invited to give insights into how technology has influenced the quality of education at Jesuit. The group discussed the past, present, and future of education technology, hoping to continue to improve the way it is utilized in the classroom.

In addition to these long-term ed-tech goals, Mr. Wood has high hopes for growing student life on campus. He is especially impressed with the number and quality of clubs and activities students have organized on campus.

“One of the things we try to make sure is that there is a place for every student on this campus, that there is somewhere for that student to go that meets his interests, needs, passions, curiosities,” Mr. Wood said. “Whether it’s athletics, drama, media, science, [or] rhetoric […] We’re trying to bolster all of those programs so students feel that they have a place.”

Mr. Wood is excited to see how students will take what options they have and apply themselves, to get involved, to learn, and to grow.

He is also exceptionally proud of the variety of student-run events being introduced on campus. Emerging events like the Outdoor Movie Night and the Holy Bowl Night Rally are adding excitement and school spirit.

“We’re at a wonderful place in the school where we have the freedom to create, to innovate, and to advance the school,” Mr. Wood said.

Creation and innovation should be at the heart of Jesuit’s growth this year now that teachers and students have time to improve and expand, before Jesuit prepares to take its next massive leap.