BALTIMORE — One sign of an exceptional school principal is knowing the name of every student.
Mark Bongiovanni, or Mr. B as the kids call him, can fire off each student's name at Curtis Bay Elementary School in South Baltimore as he greets them in the morning.
He's been the principal at Curtis Bay for five years and says he is ecstatic to have the kids back in the building. He says they had no idea what was in store for them when schools first closed at the start of the pandemic in March of 2020.
"When we were first closed we thought it was going to be for a couple weeks, and there was even some celebrations like ‘oh we got two weeks!’ But when we realized it was going to be longer we said wow, we really gotta find a way to make sure our kids are keeping up through distance learning."
Bongiovanni came up with the idea to record daily morning announcements for teachers to play before they started virtual learning. Prior to the pandemic, the announcements were done over the loud speaker in the school.
After awhile, Bongiovanni said he thought the videos were getting a bit boring so he added other characters like his Golden Retriever Jack. And Jack quickly became a fan favorite.
"He's funny!" said one student.
"Jack takes over everything," said another.
Other characters joined the cast, like Squirrely and Limey the lime tree. His mission with the morning announcements is two-fold; to be entertaining and educational.
"A lot of the things we try to do and communicate in our message is aligned with things we’re doing here at school. We’re big on kindness, we’re big on reading, writing and mathing, we’re big on positive relationships and these are things the kids are engaged in every single day," he said.
Bongiovanni decided to keep doing the videos even as the students returned to school. They are a big hit among students and teachers, especially his daughter Isabella, who sometimes make an appearance in the announcements.
"Its really funny and it always bring joy to everyone’s day," she said. "And [Jack] is pretty much famous."
Silver linings have been hard to find during the pandemic but Bongiovanni said changing up the way they do the morning announcements allows him to be more engaging with his school and the community.
"I get to be outside more, I get to say hi to parents, I get to say hi to the children in the morning. I get to check in with teachers and I don’t have to rush to the office to do an announcement that no one will listen to," he said with a smile.
They're definitely listening now.
