Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Ashleigh changes schools....


I swear, our lives never seem to slow down, something always seems to be changing. Today is another example of that. I had just come home from taking Ashleigh to school when I got a call from Lakeview Academy. It's a charter school about 1 1/2 miles from our house-in Saratoga Springs. I sent them an application back in February (along with 20+ other charter schools) and I did call them in July to see if they had any openings-which they didn't. well, today--3 days in to the school year they called to tell me that they have an opening for Ashleigh, she can start immediately and would I accept the offer?
I was about to say No, we will not be accepting, when something blocked that part of my brain from working and I blurted out
"I need to talk to my husband first."
*SHOCK*
I hung up, called Nick who immediately said--YES, lets have her go to that school instead.
I wasn't convinced so I called my sis-in-law Jana (she knows a lot about the charter schools in this area) and she also said I should accept the offer and I should send Ashleigh there.
I decided I needed to call my mom too...(for some reason I just needed further confirmation) My mom said that it's a no brainer and I should send Ash there.
I realized that I am too emotionally invested in her current school and that I needed to look at it more objectively--having her go to this charter school has a lot of benefits--in the long term I think it's best for her to go there.
After I pick her up from school we went to Lakeview to go on a tour and find out more about the school. It is 2 levels--serving grades K-9. Kindergarten thru 2nd grade is all contained in 1 area of the school called "Pods". They feel it's more secure that way--keeps the older kids away from the younger ones. It seems very secure and I really liked the feeling I had there.
Ashleigh is NOT happy that she will be changing schools, but she's 5, so she doesn't really get a choice. And quite frankly, I think she'll love it once she is there.
Her new teacher is Mrs. Wyatt and there are only 19 kids in her class! :) She'll also be going in the mornings--Mon-Thurs 8:05 am-11am and Fri-8:05am-10:05am. This will force us all to get up earlier--something I am not going to like much, but I will deal...

You can check out her school at www.lakeview-academy.com.

Here's the other thing--Ashleigh's current teacher--Miss Billings is pregnant. Due in 3 weeks. When another mother went to the principal to ask who would be taking over when she left to have her baby and to go on maternity leave, the principal basically told her that it is non of her business. That a Sub will be coming in and that's all this mom needs to know. I don't think that's aceptable at all!!! It's too much uncertainty for these kids. This other mom is looking around now for another school--or another teacher in the current school because she is so upset about this.
So, what do ya'll think??
We're going to shop for uniforms this evening. Ashleigh is excited that she'll be able to dress like Rory from Gilmore Girls--some of you know that is my all time favorite show, and so Ashleigh has watched it with me pretty much since she was born.

4 comments:

arah said...

i think you made a good choice. I would send Brinely to a private school if we could afford it. Her teacher is awesome though and won't ever be pregnant...he's a guy.

Nick and Meg said...

Just to clarify--it is a charter school--NOT a private school which means it's FREE!!! :)

Tamsen said...

Tell us how her first day was!!

Russ and Suzanne Ballard said...

Can't wait to hear how the first day went and if Ash cried today!! I think you made the right choice - esp when I hear about the pregnant teacher. The Alpine School District policy is to put a sub teacher in there until the current teacher comes back from maternity leave (I know, I'm a sub!) If she decides to NOT come back, THEN they'll put out a job posting for the position and take their time hiring while using a sub. It would be very disruptive for the students. Take a photo of Ash in her uniform!! Have her call us to tell us all about her first day, OK? Love you! mom