New School

As much as I have looked forward to moving, the prospect of putting B in a new school was nerve-wracking at best. ACE was a complete unknown - we assumed he would be going to the larger Red Bank Elementary, but it turned out we were zoned for this tiny little school tucked back into a subdivision that half the people in Hamilton County had never heard of. Before the summer was out, we'd had a few people tell us B would do well there, but still - I didn't know a darn thing about it.

Tonight we went to meet his teacher, and a lot of my concerns were laid to rest. This school year will be much different than his previous ones. JES always kept the same class with the same teacher all day long. This time, he'll spend his day with all three teachers. Instead of kids being lumped together without respect to ability, they will be divided into groups according to how well they do. I think this is ideal for Braeden. Based on last year's scores, I anticipate him being put into the higher level classes. The kid needs to be challenged, and I think this setup is ideal for that.

Other things I liked: each teacher is doing the same subject all day long. This means she can concentrate on one thing instead of struggling with a zillion different subjects. Also, AR awards are given out every ten points, and an emphasis is placed on them that I hope will encourage B to read more.

Best of all (don't laugh at me) ....

He can take peanut butter to school!!!

Yeah. JES didn't allow it, and I have the pickiest kid in the world - one who won't eat much of anything, but loves peanut butter. Packing lunches him for him at JES was frustrating and expensive, because about the only thing he'd eat was pizza lunchables. Now the pizza can be a treat, and I will feel better sending him a healthier natural PB & honey on wheat, anyway.

So all in all, I'm feeling pretty good about this. I still don't like that he has a dress code (ridiculous in elementary, if you ask me), but I can tolerate that so long as I think he's getting what he needs.

Yep. I'm feeling pretty thankful (and relieved) tonight.