I Left You Hanging...

OK, so I was revisiting my blog, and reading through some of the past entries, and realized that when we hit our lovely Easter spell of sickness and hospital stays, I completely skipped over posting about a few things...which are now old news, but worth sharing.

The first one was Samuel's first report card...I may have reported that for the end of school, he ended up with Straight A's (YEAH!) but for his first report card, he had all A's and 1 B, which was in math. We were really proud of him. The math that they do in his school is 1 grade up from the level they are actually in - so while we home schooled him first semester, we were doing K math...when he got there, they were WAY ahead and doing 1st grade math. He caught up very quickly (although I will NOT say painlessly) and ended up with a B for the first report card.

The second story worth telling is private school...and how to get in.

This is actually a Daddy story..and the things that one will do for their child.

To preface...When we moved here 2 years ago (wow...) we looked for a private preK program for Samuel. We wanted to make sure he met some kids and made some friends, and our neighborhood is just too spread out for us to have much luck finding the kids that lived here. Not to mention, we were the ONLY house at the side of our neighborhood with anyone living in it. We were very isolated. We knew we were going to home school, but for preK we really wanted to find something for him.

We were told that there were 2 schools in Conroe that had the reputation as being the best in town - the Methodist Church's private school (which goes through Kindergarten) and St. James Episcopal, which goes through 4th grade. The Methodist school was already full, so we went to St. James. We visited, Samuel was interviewed by the headmaster, we took a tour, they actually had a kid that just moved so there was 1 slot...and it was ours. So, we enrolled and while I was not very impressed with his preschool teachers, we liked the school well enough and made WONDERFUL lasting friends. We are very thankful for Samuel's time at St. James.

The headmaster of the school graduated at the end of last year, and a new headmaster was hired. Everyone had high hopes for this lady and what she was going to do for the school. Still being confident in the school itself, we enrolled Jacob in the 2 year old program for 2 days a week (half days). He was thrilled to be going to school and had 2 friends that were going to be in his class with him. The 2 year old teacher was well known throughout the community for her excellence, and we readily signed on for him to be in "Miss" Susie's class.

Long story short, we loved Miss Susie and Jacob did an excellent job in her class. The two teachers in the class adored Jacob, and he adored them. He was (for the most part) a good student and a ready learner. Easy to get along with, social, etc. One of the class favorites, I will admit. (Who can resist Jacob, though?) However, we were VERY disappointed with the headmaster and the direction she was taking the school. During the course of the school year, I lost all respect for her, had no confidence in what she or the school was doing and actually became concerned about the safety of the kids on the campus...were they locking doors? Was someone always present at the entrances to the school offices? Was there any security policing the campus during school hours? And it also became apparent that the headmaster would tell half-truths from time-to-time, which I have NO tolerance for. So, we decided that Jacob would not be attending St. James the next year, and started to look for another program, or he would just stay home. I hated to think of him staying home, as he LOVES school...even when traveling, he would say, "I wish to go to school today" and we would have to explain that he was out of school for a special trip...we just could not take this kiddo out of his social outlet.

Of course, the first place we looked? The Methodist school. Some friends and I all decided that leaving St. James was right for our families, and all of us were drawn to Methodist Day School. We each took separate visits and tours of the facilities and each decided it was an excellent alternative. However, to get in would take some doing. No interview as necessary for the 3 year old program, however there were only 4 slots available, after the two year olds registered, the church members registered and siblings of older attendees took slots. As we talked to people throughout the community, friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends, we heard over and over again that we would have to wait in line. And to get a spot in line we would have to line up before the doors opened. WAY before the doors opened. As in, 2 AM...

Wow.

So, Kevin came home from work around 11 PM. It just so happened that a cold front (as in we hit freezing) blew through, along with severe wind. He packed up some warm items and snacks, put on some layers, got his tent and sleeping bag, and around midnight, drove up to the school.

He was the first one there.

One of our friends arrived about 30 minutes later, and they headed up to the doors together to start the line. Just as Kevin was getting ready to pitch his tent, our friend decided to try the door. By the grace of God, it was OPEN! So they were able to wait inside instead of braving the harsh wind and freezing temperatures.

Not long after, the third person arrived. 4th in line was another good friend of ours, and by 2 AM, there were already some 30 people in line. By 6 AM? Over 50 people. Around 7:30 AM, they opened registration, and after waiting in line all night long, Jacob was enrolled in one of the remaining slots for the school's 3 year old class.

Seriously??? Is this what it takes to get your kid into private school these days???? Kevin gets some serious Daddy points for this one, and if Jacob doesn't leave the Methodist Day School as a rocket scientist, they will have some serious explaining to do...or I will. Either way, someone is going to be in trouble...

But he's worth it. Aren't they all?