The bus is a success!
After months of the unknown and then weeks of frustration, we finally managed to hire a private transportation company to take the kids from our compound to school! We had many false starts, another group of parents (going to a different school) pulled out completely in frustration, we thought it was going to fall through at the last minute, the night before I thought it was equally likely the bus would or wouldn't show up, and then, miraculously, the stars aligned and it all worked out.
So now, instead of spending at least two hours a day in the car taking the boys and picking them up, I take them to the bus stop, make sure their seat belts are both on and tight (we are having to teach the bus attendant that seat belts are useless if they aren't snug, of course, but hey, we have a bus attendant besides the driver!), kiss them both goodbye, watch them drive away, and then pick them up at the same stop 200 yards away from my house at the end of the day. As another parent said with glee, "It's like a REAL school bus!" And it is truly amazing that we were able to pull it off, given how strangely everything works (or, more accurately, doesn't work) here. The parents are very happy, and the kids aren't spending any more time at school and in the car than they would be already. Win-win!
Not that this means I haven't still been going to school every day, because I have, first to get permission for the buses when I was driving anyway, then to coordinate the pick-up and drop-off procedures with the principal and assorted staff, then to follow the bus on its inaugural runs to make sure the procedures were actually going to work and the bus driver actually managed to find the school on time (not a given, here in the land of traffic and constant construction), then to refine the procedures with the principal and staff and the driver...in short, I'm still at school all the time, but at least I can arrive when I want and leave when I'm done!
So, now that that problem has been solved, I have been throwing myself into trying to help solve some of the other problems at our little school...and applying to another school, just in case. I think I may have blogged long ago about the school application process here, but since I am back in the thick of it again, let me just share with you what these applications entail.
First, remember that I am applying for next year for a second grader and a kindergartener. In order to even have my application read, I need to provide the following for each child:
--Two page application
--Non-refundable application fee of $135-ish
--School records, meaning the last three years of school reports, including samples of work, narrative reports, teacher conference reports, report cards, counsellor reports, transcripts, school profile, and anything else you can think of
--Signed school fees sheet (telling us about assorted other fees, of which there are so many)
--Student school history (I had to make extra lines to fit in J's two preschools and two kindergartens)
--Parent strengths and weaknesses questionnaire (rating the student, not the parents but I wouldn't put it past them)
--Passport or birth certificate copies for students and parents
--Passport photo
--Recommendation from former teacher/principal/counsellor (more of these if the students are older)
--Health questionnaire
--Health exam form signed by doctor
--Immunization records
--Letter from our employer
--Standardized tests scores if they took any anywhere
With all this, my packet for an entering 2nd grader is almost an inch thick. And even with that he may still need to be "assessed" on site to see if he is suitable for the school and EVEN THEN he may still not get in because the wait lists are so long. Ack!
If only this amount of paperwork were unusual. I think the subtitle of every expat's life is "my life abroad as I wade through reams and reams of paper."
After months of the unknown and then weeks of frustration, we finally managed to hire a private transportation company to take the kids from our compound to school! We had many false starts, another group of parents (going to a different school) pulled out completely in frustration, we thought it was going to fall through at the last minute, the night before I thought it was equally likely the bus would or wouldn't show up, and then, miraculously, the stars aligned and it all worked out.
So now, instead of spending at least two hours a day in the car taking the boys and picking them up, I take them to the bus stop, make sure their seat belts are both on and tight (we are having to teach the bus attendant that seat belts are useless if they aren't snug, of course, but hey, we have a bus attendant besides the driver!), kiss them both goodbye, watch them drive away, and then pick them up at the same stop 200 yards away from my house at the end of the day. As another parent said with glee, "It's like a REAL school bus!" And it is truly amazing that we were able to pull it off, given how strangely everything works (or, more accurately, doesn't work) here. The parents are very happy, and the kids aren't spending any more time at school and in the car than they would be already. Win-win!
Not that this means I haven't still been going to school every day, because I have, first to get permission for the buses when I was driving anyway, then to coordinate the pick-up and drop-off procedures with the principal and assorted staff, then to follow the bus on its inaugural runs to make sure the procedures were actually going to work and the bus driver actually managed to find the school on time (not a given, here in the land of traffic and constant construction), then to refine the procedures with the principal and staff and the driver...in short, I'm still at school all the time, but at least I can arrive when I want and leave when I'm done!
So, now that that problem has been solved, I have been throwing myself into trying to help solve some of the other problems at our little school...and applying to another school, just in case. I think I may have blogged long ago about the school application process here, but since I am back in the thick of it again, let me just share with you what these applications entail.
First, remember that I am applying for next year for a second grader and a kindergartener. In order to even have my application read, I need to provide the following for each child:
--Two page application
--Non-refundable application fee of $135-ish
--School records, meaning the last three years of school reports, including samples of work, narrative reports, teacher conference reports, report cards, counsellor reports, transcripts, school profile, and anything else you can think of
--Signed school fees sheet (telling us about assorted other fees, of which there are so many)
--Student school history (I had to make extra lines to fit in J's two preschools and two kindergartens)
--Parent strengths and weaknesses questionnaire (rating the student, not the parents but I wouldn't put it past them)
--Passport or birth certificate copies for students and parents
--Passport photo
--Recommendation from former teacher/principal/counsellor (more of these if the students are older)
--Health questionnaire
--Health exam form signed by doctor
--Immunization records
--Letter from our employer
--Standardized tests scores if they took any anywhere
With all this, my packet for an entering 2nd grader is almost an inch thick. And even with that he may still need to be "assessed" on site to see if he is suitable for the school and EVEN THEN he may still not get in because the wait lists are so long. Ack!
If only this amount of paperwork were unusual. I think the subtitle of every expat's life is "my life abroad as I wade through reams and reams of paper."
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