There is a lot to learn at the start of any school year.

For example, Joshua Radcliffe, the new principal at Shoemaker Elementary School, is learning the East Penn School District, Shoemaker Elementary School and, as of Monday, the many new faces and names of students.

“I’m really looking forward to next week,” Radcliffe said in the hallway of the school in an interview with The Press Aug. 26.

Radcliffe’s official start date at Shoemaker Elementary School was July 1. He also visited the school in the spring after East Penn School District directors’ approval for the job, attending an open house and a student assembly, meeting with Shoemaker Elementary School Principal Jacqueline Vogel, who retired July 18 and informally meeting staff and teachers.

A principal, assistant principal and health and physical education teacher, primarily in the Allentown School District, Radcliffe comes to Shoemaker Elementary School from Luis A. Ramos Elementary School in Allentown where he was principal. Shoemaker, he said, is approximately the same size with a student population of about 625 students.

Radcliffe met with staff and faculty in small group and one-on-one meetings at Shoemaker. He also met informally with parents and families, including a “Popsicles with the Principal” drive-thru event in the school parking lot Aug. 17.

On Aug. 31, when parents meet their students’ teachers and tour the school during meet the teacher night for first through fifth grades, Radcliffe will be at the door to greet parents and guardians and shake hands. He wants the emphasis of the event to remain on the teachers and their students.

In the day-to-day life of the school, Radcliffe will visit with students in the halls and in their classrooms.

“That’s where the kids are,” Radcliffe said. He wants to hear what students want to tell him about what they are learning and also let them know he is there if they need to ask for help.

There are also many activities outside of the traditional classroom planned to encourage a school community, Radcliffe said.

Movie nights, school dances, a color run and a fifth grade picnic are on the event list with a plan for at least one school event a month. Some months may include several events.

“I want them to feel this is their school not just the place where their kids go to school,” Radcliffe said of parents and guardians. For example, meet the teacher night also will include information tables hosted by community groups and organizations to offer parents and guardians resources they may need.

Parents and guardians, faculty and staff and the principal are in a partnership to help students achieve at Shoemaker Elementary School, Radcliffe said. In a letter posted on the school website, Radcliffe presents his email and phone number with the closing invitation of “Please do not hesitate to stop by.”

On Sept. 2, he and his staff will be in the office in case parents need to drop off something for their student, have a suggestion or want to say hello.

“I’m very open to other people’s opinions and thoughts, getting the best of everyone’s brains, to tap into their knowledge,” Radcliffe said.