Back to School!

Piper’s been back at school for a couple weeks now, and it’s going well!

I’ve been struggling with “coming out” with the details for this year.  So, I’m going to summarize to give a very “Reader’s Digest” version.

We moved in October of last year.  Piper started full-day, full-inclusion kindergarten in August.  She did great.  She was wonderfully supported and well loved.  She was known by everyone (students and teachers alike) by name. 

And then we moved.

If there was any way I could have transported her to her old school, I would have.  We moved into our neighborhood, in part, for the school, but we loved the old one so much.  New School is one of the best grade schools in the state.  I’ve never heard negatives about New School.  New School is HUGE and covers a large geographic area; I couldn’t wait to find out who else lived in our area.

New School had no desire, no willingness, and no attitude to serve my child.  In my naivety, I’d assumed that people would want my child to succeed.  I never, in my wildest dreams, thought people would push her to fail.

We’ll fast forward to the end of the school year.  We made the excruciatingly difficult decision to pull Piper from school and request a repeat of kindergarten in a different school.  We’ve been working to get Our Kid back since then. 

It’s been wretched.

But it’s time to move onward.  We’ve had a few “trust issues” at THIS New School (frankly for both her and I!), but things are going SO much better!  I hate the idea that Piper’s not at her home school.  I hate the idea that we now have major decisions to make about Addy’s placement for kindergarten next year (because we have to “apply” for kindergarten spots in January! YIKES!)  But, most of all, I deplore that Piper went through what she did last year.  But the new school is excited about having her.  They’re willing to take suggestions.  They’re willing to talk with the professionals we work with at Children’s Hospital.  Most of all, they see her potential, they see her intelligence, they see her worth. 

We have high hopes for a stellar year.  And I could not be more happy or more excited that Piper’s happy at school again.  Everyone deserves to be happy at school!