First day…

This post is a bit after the fact since our kids have been in school for 3 weeks now but I’m still trying to get caught up! 

On August 8, our kids started school.  We’ve been on this new earlier schedule now for the past 3 years.  There’s good things about it and there’s bad things about it.  We get out before memorial day which is nice.  When the kids are in High School and Jr. high their semester ends at Christmas break which will be nice.  (I always hated it when my H.S. teachers gave me a book to read or a project to do over the break)  The downside is that we are still in the thick of Summer so it can be very hot.   Nevertheless, I was ready to get back to a routine and to have them back in school. 

Carter started second grade this year and his teacher’s name is Ms. Frei.  She seems very nice and he likes her a lot. 

Maddie is in 5th grade!  She has Mr. Perry who is an awesome teacher and seems like lots of fun.  He’s a young guy too, maybe 30. 

The kids looked so cute in their new outfits and new shoes.  There’s always that FRESH new feeling on the first day.  I remember it so well! 

I parked the car and walked the kids in to school (the one and only time I do that all year).  Here is Maddie outside her classroom.  By the time we got to Carter’s class he was a little late so I didn’t get a picture of him. 

As I mentioned previously we made the decision to transfer the kids to a new school this year.  It’s about a mile and a half from our home.  The main reason we transferred them was because our last school’s state test scores had gone down and they were put on a program improvement status.  We also had a new principal this last year and I didn’t really like the direction things were headed.  The new school they are going to has higher test scores and overall the parents are more involved and are educated themselves.  After going to back to school night I really got a good feeling that we made the right choice.  The parents seem very proud to be sending their kids there, the school has a lot of spirit.  (my kids thought the pep rally on the first Friday was a little weird, their old school never did that.)  It’s a great school and I’m a lot more confident that my kids are getting a good education there. 

So far the kids have adjusted VERY well.  They miss their old school sometimes and miss some of their old friends but so far no tears have been shed and little by little they are getting used to it.

I forgot to mention that Maddie just found out that she made GATE which is very exciting!  She will get to participate in some extra activities throughout the year since she passed the GATE test and scored advanced in all areas of her STAR test.  We are so happy for her, she worked so hard last year and it is paying off!