On a Need to Know Basis

Returning to Chaminade with “big news” was never going to be easy. Right away, it was a bit awkward to walk into the building knowing I had signed a contract with another school half a world away. Of course, I wanted to tell people, but I had to think about how I was going to leak the news. 

My first day back at Chaminade was a Friday, and I was lucky to have the opportunity to sit down with my boss, Mike. From the beginning, he wanted a report from the conference (more out of personal curiosity than anything else). I walked him through my experience at the ISS Recruitment Conference, and it took all of about 3 minutes to reveal that I had accepted a job at Hong Kong International School. He was absolutely thrilled; he couldn’t have been more excited for me! His reaction was unbelievably affirming, and after talking to him I knew with even greater conviction that I had made the right decision. Mike is bound for retirement at the end of this year, and we agreed that we’re going to have a good time finishing out our contracts together. 

Mike and I were not the only ones who knew about my plans, however. Word had spread from one of my references (another administrator at CCP) that I had an interview with a school in Hong Kong. It took about two days for key administrators to find me and begin to pressure me for news. I had hoped to keep my plans secret for a few weeks, at least, but that plan didn’t last. I ended up telling the folks “on a need to know basis” and they promised to keep it as quiet as possible. We’ll see how long that lasts...