Withdrawal

It was a HUGE weight off my shoulders to go over there and get their things today at lunch. I told her the kids wouldn't be coming back and I was there to pick up their things and withdraw them from the school. The secretary said she had anticipated as much when the kids weren't there this morning, and thanked me for being patient so long. She said that she knew it was too little too late, but that they had someone new, who would be starting on Monday and going through inservice training. Apparently after conferences last week they were just deluged with feedback from parents that mirrored what I (and one or two other parents) have been saying. I'm not sure what exactly that means for the current 4th grade teacher's employment status, although I suspect that he will no longer have a job.

I meant to also write that the new school has a classroom for severely disabled/low functioning students and they have a peer mentor type program, which I think is just fantastic. The district is supposed to be one of the best districts in the Phoenix metro area, so I'm pretty excited about all this working out.

New School Monday

The kids will be starting at the new school Monday. I found out Wednesday that the after school program at the community center filled their vacant position. I dropped off the rest of the registration forms for the school yesterday and did the community center registration last night. This is all good timing because yesterday afternoon I had my final straw with the charter school. The kids aren't learning anything there anyway, so I decided they just weren't going to go today. I'm going over there in about 20 minutes to pick up their things and notify the school they won't be back. God that's going to feel good.

I should know this afternoon who their teachers will be; the principal is considering placing Halle in their multi-age group (MAG) which I'm excited about. He said he feels he has a very strong teaching team at the 4th grade level and that two of his 4th grade teachers have been with the school for quite some time, so I’m hopeful regarding Tyler’s placement as well.

The kids are starting to get excited again; I told them a little over a week ago that it was almost a sure thing and would be happening in the near future they both got hesitant. After we went to the new school last week they seemed past the jitters and looking forward. Last night when I told Tyler he wasn't going to be going to school today he was disappointed at not saying good-bye to his friends, but Halle didn't bat an eye. She and two other girls were like the three musketeers at the summer camp she went to, and one of those girls goes to del Norte and the after school program at the community center. And they are definitely excited about being able to go to the city of phoenix after school program; they both always enjoyed that a lot.

Tyler's 'Big Brother'

Just a quick update... the meeting with Tyler's 'Big' went well. I'm not sure if it was a coincidence or if Al knew Tyler was interested in aerospace, but he brought him a book about different kinds of flight as a gift. They had their first outing on Sunday - went to McDonald's, swimming at Al's condo in the community pool, and then to Baskin Robbins. Tyler said he had a great time.