So here's the short of it, 
Our little leadership group in the special ed. department is going to go through a radical change.

And here's the long.

We have 5 people who will be retiring at the end of June from our lead teacher group.  And we have another 2 who are going to be applying for assistant principalships.

If we really do have 7 new people, I can't imagine how different the dynamics will be.  It's a long time til the end of June and we have lots of work to do in the meantime, but it's one of those indicators I think of being one of the "old timers".  I have been around a long time and I've seen lots of things come and go, and I've worked with some amazing people. And there are many younger people who are becoming amazing educators; I'm fortunate to have the opportunity to work with them.  So one of the things that I will benefit from is the chance to work with great people in a new kind of relationship. I imagine that I will really miss the old guard, but as my former boss used to say, I'll be able to see things through another set of eyes when the new folk come on board.