The Second First Days of School

School, school, schools.  Sigh. Where to begin?  For anyone who has talked to me, emailed me, or been keeping up with me on Facebook since our move, you know that the school situation for our family has not been ideal here in Milpitas. We knew beforehand that we would be arriving after the school year started (first day was August 20), but figured it wouldn't be a big deal for our bright and confident girls to catch up and quickly fit in.  We didn't figure on over-crowded schools, however. We got wind of the situation before arriving and tried to let it inform our choice of rentals, but none of the school secretaries were particularly encouraging, so we just decided to choose a house and cross our fingers.

The day after arriving in Milpitas, my in-laws were still here and I left Gunnar and Holly with them at the house while I took Adah and Maggie to our neighborhood elementary school with all the necessary paperwork in hand.  That paperwork included your typical birth certificates and immunization reports, but we also had to have TB tests (we gratefully learned of that before leaving White Salmon and visited the doctor during our last week there) and TWO official proofs of residence.  See, lots of people try to cheat their way into certain schools in this district, and we happened to move into a very desirable school, so they really wanted to know we lived there.

Good news for Adah! The fourth grade had space, and in fact, there was one spot left in Mrs. Freeze's class which included a GATE (Gifted and Talented Education; it was TAG in WA) cluster. Adah was enrolled and scheduled to start the next morning!  Hooray! The second grade story was not as encouraging. See below.

All Milpitas public schools have uniforms. They vary a bit school-to-school (don't get me started on that right now). After finishing at the neighborhood school Tuesday morning, the girls and I went to Target (only a mile from our house--it's heaven) to start outfitting them. A few days, several stores, and lots of stress later, we finally had enough of the right colors and sizes to get them through a week.  Phew! Uniforms are way less stress on school mornings--no more drama over "nothing to wear"--but it sure was a pain in the beginning.

On Wednesday, September 5, Adah had her second 1st day of school. It was her first day as a 4th grader in Milpitas. She was missing the obligatory collar on her shirt, but we figured they'd overlook it (and they did) until all our shopping was complete.  She looked adorable in her little pleated jumper, though, didn't she?

 

Setting off down the path, excited and ready to go.

 

And here's a fuzzy (sorry) one in front of her new school.

Like many California schools, it's not a single building and there are courtyards and open hallways. Her classroom is on the other side of a courtyard behind the building where the bikes are parked.  A secretary escorted us there, where Mrs. Freeze greeted Adah warmly. She was so welcoming and accommodating, explaining everything to Adah and putting her right in a desk full of supplies.  I never cried when my kids went to their first day of preschool or kindergarten, but after the stress of the move and my anxiety over getting the girls into school and then seeing her in a totally new place, I teared up after dropping her off. I don't think Adah was worried, thank goodness, and she has thrived and loved every minute of school, just as she always has.

Maggie's school experience here in California has been less straight-forward, and at times, less pleasant than Adah's. The second grade at our neighborhood school was (and is) full, so Maggie was “overflowed” to another school in the district.  It took a couple days of waiting and calling the district office before we even got her new assignment, so it wasn’t until the Monday following our arrival that Maggie was able to start school on the OPPOSITE side of town from where we live. AND, the girls’ two schools both started and ended at the SAME TIME! Talk about madness. We had to drop Adah off 15 minutes early and then zip onto the freeway and drop Maggie off just as the bell was ringing (sometimes after--they were understanding, fortunately).  It was a 13-mile round trip twice a day and each trip took an average of 45 minutes. Poor Gunnar and Holly spend a lot of time in the car.

 

Maggie was excited to have her first day of school, but when she got in the car afterwards, and I asked how it went, she said, "Terrible." My heart broke. This school is piloting a new "20th Century Learning" program that involves rotating between different teachers and classrooms and doing computer work that is targeted to the students' level and abilities. It sounded interesting to me and the principal at the school was wonderful in his attention to Maggie during that first week. He gave us a tour of the school, walking us through Maggie's schedule, and then kept an eye on her during each rotation to make sure she was figuring things out.  Still, it was a lot to learn and handle, and her original assessment put her in classrooms well below her abilities. My usually school-loving kid was bored, very unhappy, and didn't want to go to school. She felt like she kept going to the wrong place or couldn't find the bathroom or didn't know how the cafeteria worked. It was a complicated school schedule to join mid-year, even if it was only 3 weeks late.

 

This photo is more about Maggie giving some cheeky attitude than her truly being unhappy at the moment, but it does represent some general frustration we were feeling. I gave the whole thing a week and then submitted a formal written complaint to the school district, going through our entire experience point by point and explaining that having the girls in 2 different schools so far apart was causing a financial and even emotional hardship on our family. I was trying to appeal the overflow decision and get my Maggie into our neighborhood school. No luck.

I had a meeting with a district big-wig who basically said they can't make any exceptions. Her sympathy, while heartfelt, was pretty hollow since she had no power to really do anything.  Well, anything except offer us a newly-opened spot at a school a little closer to home and with a different schedule from Adah's school.

Gratefully, a new friend from church was watching Gunnar and Holly for me during the meeting and agreed to keep them longer so I could go visit this new school. As I drove into the neighborhood and around the school (you approach it from the back/side and have to drive around to the front door and office) I really had a good feeling. It looked clean and cheerful (not that the other school was dirty; it just had more asphalt), and for some reason I just felt good. I met the secretary and learned that I could bring Maggie back that afternoon to meet her possible teacher and see the classroom. Because I wasn't convinced that this commute would be better than what we were already doing, I decided it would be Maggie's choice to move schools; after all, she would be the one who had to go there each day.

When I picked Maggie up that afternoon and told her that she could choose a new school, her first question was, "Would I just have one teacher?" She didn't want to move around. In her school in White Salmon she had moved for reading and even had team teachers in her homeroom, but now she craved the stability of a single teacher in a consistent space. I couldn't blame her. We met Mrs. Kim who is an energetic, experienced teacher that drew Maggie right in. Maggie decided to switch, after having one more day to say goodbye at her 8-day-old school.