Sunday, August 12, 2012

School Starts This Week!

Can all of us parents say a collective, WHOO HOOO!

Yes, school starts and I couldn't be happier.  Now the teachers out there are going to say, "well what about us, don't we need a break, a time to recoup from teaching your kids?"  Yes, you do.  No one is questioning that at all.  I have difficult kids to teach, I do not begrudge any teacher who needs a vacation.  My girls require structure and a schedule.  You'd be ready for school to start if you went through that too.  And we had NO activities this year due to not knowing what would be required of me to settle my mother's estate.  The weather has been very hot this year, more than in the past couple of summers, so we were stuck inside a lot.  The first part of the summer BGA was able to watch a lot of tv and play her gaming system, as I just didn't have it in me after being at my mom's and clearing her place out, to do much other than veg in front of the tv.  I did it.  It happened and my kid watched way more tv than she probably ever has.  LGA went to summer school.  I am not going to apologize for it and so be it.  If my kid can quote all episodes of Shake It Up, Victorious, Good Luck Charlie, Pair of Kings (shudder) or Austin and Ally, I don't care.  So can I.  And in LGA's case, to keep the peace, I let her watch Spongebob.

Changes are a comin' this way for school this year.  LGA will go to a Magnet school, which is a very nice school, if I do say so myself (and I do).  We toured it last week and found it to be really nice (compared to BGA's school she has attended since coming home and LGA's school last year).  BGA BEGGED to go.  We will see.  I need to meet with the principal and counselor and see if it's a fit.  But I was told that we have a better shot at it because LGA is now attending.  LGA will be in the Special Ed day class.  Her teacher is an older woman whose husband is retired and helps out.  I liked them very much.  When I went to register, I bribed the girls to be quiet so I could fill out the forms (lots of forms, by the way, much, much more than a regular school).  They did for the most part, but they were taken by this school so ventured into the room where all the shiny trophies were while I filled out the forms.  I was at a desk with a nice chair by the way, a far cry from registering LGA last year to attend her new school in Jan when Dave and I had to sit in a cramped office on small chairs with people coming in/out.  This room was large and the office is inside the school not where you enter from the outside in.  The teacher came upon the girls and said hello, and we figured out it was LGA's teacher. She very kindly waited for me to fill the forms out and give them to the office staff before taking us to LGA's classroom.  It's really nice.  They have awesome desk chairs so they don't rock the chairs back.  LGA had her name, her ABC's and numbers.  The teacher and I tried to talk (LGA interrupted several times, which was annoying me but I tried to talk to the teacher and her husband tried to distract the girls so I could) and I liked her teaching style.  LGA will be in a modified 3rd grade class so she will not be at her desk all the time (which I think she will like).  We also discovered since we were moved due to zoning, that LGA will have some of her classmates that live in our housing complex, attending with her.  One of her first Special Ed teachers who she had in summer school, supposedly teaches at the school, although I could not get it confirmed.  But that made LGA feel better.  She ended up hiding behind me at first when talking to the teacher until she saw something that she wanted to investigate and went over to look at.  So I am hopeful for her new year.  She is closer to home so I can go down and volunteer, although they tend to discourage that in Special Ed day classes. But if I have to pull her for an appt, I can get there quickly rather than having to go 20 mins or more to the other side of town.

Now on to BGA's school.  Her school is a lower performing school.  We live in an area surrounded by some lower income housing, so the school is in the area where it's a very diverse neighborhood.  The school has been underperforming since BGA has attended, but always gotten their grants and been 21 students per class.  Free school lunches, etc.  This year they did not get their grant and the class sizes have jumped to 34 students per class.  Some teachers have left or been let go.  BGA has the teacher she had in first grade, when she first came home.  We like this teacher, LGA had her for first grade as well.  BGA will be in 5th and this teacher taught 5th last year.  She didn't really like it but this year she has been assigned 5th grade again.  She also has 43 students in her class!! So I think the first week will be hard on her and on BGA.  The bully boy is back, the one who put glue in BGA's hair while I was at mom's the first trip.  I was hoping he was expelled but he appears to be back.  I am hoping he might get moved as they will need to move students to other schools.  I would say they could move BGA to LGA's school as her teachers feel she could benefit from a change in environment and we feel the same way as well.  BUT......I would need to make sure it's a good fit for her.   So we will see how this year goes.  Dave was of the opinion we could keep her in the class as she knows the teacher and the teacher knows how to teach her. But now we are not sure.  This teacher is the one encouraging us to let her have a change of school.  I'm not so sure about BGA's school year.  We need to see how it goes.  LGA is bussed, BGA would need to be driven about 10 mins away and picked up.  There is time, etc., but then I don't want LGA to lose her bus pick up if we were to drive them.  I think we're going to wait it out for now and see how it goes.  BGA sighed a sigh of relief when she found out she had this teacher and became less stressed and worried. Maybe some of the problem kids will get moved.  We will see.

LGA's school is a specific type of uniform since it's a magnet so I have been buying a few things to supplement her wardrobe.  Luckily we had a few things since her school last year was uniform but more lax on the polo shirt colors and bottoms (jeans were allowed).  Uniforms make it so much easier to know what they will wear each day but a bit more expensive to buy.  When I went to buy polos at Old Navy since I figured they'd have a back to school sale and Target was out of our color, there was a line back to kids' clothing and I saw a woman carrying our color in a huge stack of polos on her arm.  I knew we were doomed. I ended up having to pick white as that was all there was left.  LGA and white do not exactly mix.  She's hard on her clothes so I'm trying not to buy anything expensive.  She's also growing in foot size and clothing and has caught up to BGA who is not growing either weight or height wise.

I'm happy school is starting as I will have some time again for myself, and to do some beading hopefully. I have missed it and yesterday picked up some patina paint to color in some of my brass and copper charms for some colorful jewelry.  I'm excited to learn this type of coloring and also hope to pick up stamping in the fall/winter season.  Stamping is hugely popular with stamped necklaces with charms, bracelets, etc.  I have saved some favorites on Etsy of styles of earrings, necklaces and bracelets I like so I hope I can make some pretty jewelry and increase my techniques.

Welcome 2012-2013 school year.  You started later, end later, and have some different break schedules than in the past, but I am looking on it as a good year hopefully. I told BGA's teacher I would volunteer if she needed help - she didn't answer me.  Hmmmmmmmmm..........I don't think it's me though, I think she's just a hands on, no help type of teacher, as I never saw parents in her class very much.  She will let me know what kind of help she needs. 

Wish us all luck.........let's hope this is a good school year for all. 

3 comments:

  1. 43 kids per class? Gulp. I don't even know what to say to that.

    there is something wrong with the system.

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  2. 43 kids per class...I DO know what to say...but not in a public forum.

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  3. Tell me about it. I like this teacher. She said some of them will be dropped, let's hope they can drop the bully. He should have been expelled last year. I'm just waiting to see if we are going to move her. 34 kids per class is a LOT when you go from 21 to 34.

    ReplyDelete