All Systems Are Go!

We headed out on the cold and blustery day yesterday to turn in our school enrollment forms. We were greeted warmly at the Ruth Fox Upper Elementary School by the principal, secretary and counselor to take a tour and meet the ladies slated to be Fox's 6th grade teachers. A lot of information was provided and Fox took all in without much show of emotion. We met the band teachers Mr. & Mrs. Eahart which was very ecouraging and exciting for Fox to know he will be able to have band every day instead of only two days a week which will help him progress at a faster pace with his trumpet. When we got to his classroom to meet Mrs. Mitchell and Mrs. Murphy they were very energetic and upbeat and I like them immediately. Mrs. Wood thought this would be a good environment for Fox because they are a very organized teaching team and help the kids keep track of assignments in their planners which also provided a constant link of communication between parents, students, and teachers. Hoping that there was someone in the class that Fox would already know I was of course looking for boys. Suddenly a young lady called my name and ran up to the classroom door. "Julia! Is this your class!" She nodded, smiling ear to ear. "This is my neighbor Julia," I told the teachers as I hugged her. How cool is that, now Fox will have someone to help him with the initial unloading and loading of the bus and finding his classroom in all that before and after school busyness. I know when I was a kid at school that was some of the most anixous of times, trying to get all your stuff together and not miss the bus. Even though Fox doesn't know Julia well, I thought it was another confirmation that the fates are working with us through this transition.

Next we went back over to the Elm Creek Elementary School. Mrs. Hosner the principal had already given us a tour last week and figured out which classes Ben and Ethan would be in. Both boys have a buddy in their class that they already know from church and baseball. Mrs. Montgomery is the teacher Ethan was assigned to when I had him in school for 3 days in 2007 but then freaked out and pulled him out again. I wasn't ready then to seriously take the plunge, but I am now. It was as if the fates were telling me to finish what I started. Awesome. She is a very strict teacher but the bottom line is academically, she gets results and I've been told prior to this that she is top-notch when it comes to reading, which Ethan tends to be reluctant at. When we came to Mrs. Bodnar's room she took one look at me and said "I know you!" Indeed she did, since we attended the United Methodist Church in town together before we made the move the Faith Christian Family Church. My only concern with Benny was that we hadn't started working on cursive writing yet and I know they usually introduce that in 3rd grade, but Mrs. Bodnar explained they had just started working on it so he really wouldn't be behind at all.

The new facility is absolutely wonderful and I'll post some more photos of the building another time. So, everything is in place and next Monday at 8am they will get on the bus and head off to school. I am getting more excited as the day draws nearer and feel the load lightening as each moment passes. It is truely a blessing to have a school district that is so welcoming to homeschoolers, whether bringing them in, taking them out, or just having them come to the school for certain subjects or specials. The bottom line is they are there to help provide a safe and encouraging educational enviroment for the children of our community and I whole heartedly commend them for all their efforts.