Ahh, the first week of school. A time of anticipation, new beginnings, fresh starts, boisterous enthusiasm, and a sense of satisfaction.
Or not. Have I told you the story of the boys' school? In broad strokes (and protecting the innocent), once upon a time, there was a little school started to teach the kids of employees (schools are notoriously hard to get into and there are not enough of them). Part way through that school's first year, someone decided, rightfully, that the employees' children were going to need a better school and the scope and focus of the little school were enlarged (made more international) and changed (converted into an IB curriculum) and rattled and somewhere in there the entire administration was either fired or disappeared (of their own accord, nothing sinister) or replaced or reassigned or all of the above, which was where we came in when we joined the school in January. But there was light at the end of the tunnel: a new director and new principals and new everything were hired and came on board during the summer and the school officially entered the IB approval process. And the angels rejoiced!
BUT, the start of school has been rocky, at best. There has been some gigantic email snafu so none of the school messages over the last few weeks have gotten to parents, which has resulted in a bit of pandemonium at school. We showed up this week on the first day to find E's teacher had been changed (over the weekend), J's schedule had been altered irrevocably, the drop off and pick up "routines" were very messy, and it appeared as if no one had any idea what was going on. Monday was slightly better, but J had an epic meltdown because he was so upset over this change to his schedule after all the hard work he had done last year to get caught up. So we started another year with the help of the new school counsellor and, thankfully, things are looking better for him, but it upsets me that all of this could have been avoided with a little advance notice from the school and subsequent advance preparation on our part. E could have been made excited about his actual teacher and J could have gotten used to the idea of change and everything could have been just fine.
I had a long talk with the powers that be on Monday and got many assurances that there is a plan, problems are being solved, and my input was welcomed, so I feel somewhat mollified right now. However, I ran into yet another unhappy parent in the hall later, and we basically agreed that we are going to give the school until December, the middle of the year, to show real improvement and substantive change or we are going to have to abandon this scholastic experiment and take our kids elsewhere. I really, really don't want to have to do that, for many reasons, not least of which is I believe in the school and know it has the resources to be not just good but great and I hate to quit something like that, BUT, I also don't want my children's education to be hurt in the process of an experiment that is just not working.
In the meantime, we had been working behind the scenes to try to arrange for a school bus to take the kids and others from our compound to school. Eventually, it was decided, after months of bureaucratic bedlam, that the parents would need to organize our own bus, which we were happy to do. And, of course, by "we" I mean "I" was happy to do it, since I felt like it was absolutely silly we were all driving all by ourselves every day to the same place. Negotiations on our own have been like pulling teeth, and another group of parents going to a different school has given up on the project entirely, but we are still pressing forward, hoping the transport company with whom we have been taking will hold up their end of the bargain. If the bus plan falls through, I may end up ferrying 7 kids to school and back every day myself...out of a sense of obligation...and lots of mom guilt, since I'm already feeling a ton of that about the whole bus idea to begin with! I can't win!
Or not. Have I told you the story of the boys' school? In broad strokes (and protecting the innocent), once upon a time, there was a little school started to teach the kids of employees (schools are notoriously hard to get into and there are not enough of them). Part way through that school's first year, someone decided, rightfully, that the employees' children were going to need a better school and the scope and focus of the little school were enlarged (made more international) and changed (converted into an IB curriculum) and rattled and somewhere in there the entire administration was either fired or disappeared (of their own accord, nothing sinister) or replaced or reassigned or all of the above, which was where we came in when we joined the school in January. But there was light at the end of the tunnel: a new director and new principals and new everything were hired and came on board during the summer and the school officially entered the IB approval process. And the angels rejoiced!
BUT, the start of school has been rocky, at best. There has been some gigantic email snafu so none of the school messages over the last few weeks have gotten to parents, which has resulted in a bit of pandemonium at school. We showed up this week on the first day to find E's teacher had been changed (over the weekend), J's schedule had been altered irrevocably, the drop off and pick up "routines" were very messy, and it appeared as if no one had any idea what was going on. Monday was slightly better, but J had an epic meltdown because he was so upset over this change to his schedule after all the hard work he had done last year to get caught up. So we started another year with the help of the new school counsellor and, thankfully, things are looking better for him, but it upsets me that all of this could have been avoided with a little advance notice from the school and subsequent advance preparation on our part. E could have been made excited about his actual teacher and J could have gotten used to the idea of change and everything could have been just fine.
I had a long talk with the powers that be on Monday and got many assurances that there is a plan, problems are being solved, and my input was welcomed, so I feel somewhat mollified right now. However, I ran into yet another unhappy parent in the hall later, and we basically agreed that we are going to give the school until December, the middle of the year, to show real improvement and substantive change or we are going to have to abandon this scholastic experiment and take our kids elsewhere. I really, really don't want to have to do that, for many reasons, not least of which is I believe in the school and know it has the resources to be not just good but great and I hate to quit something like that, BUT, I also don't want my children's education to be hurt in the process of an experiment that is just not working.
In the meantime, we had been working behind the scenes to try to arrange for a school bus to take the kids and others from our compound to school. Eventually, it was decided, after months of bureaucratic bedlam, that the parents would need to organize our own bus, which we were happy to do. And, of course, by "we" I mean "I" was happy to do it, since I felt like it was absolutely silly we were all driving all by ourselves every day to the same place. Negotiations on our own have been like pulling teeth, and another group of parents going to a different school has given up on the project entirely, but we are still pressing forward, hoping the transport company with whom we have been taking will hold up their end of the bargain. If the bus plan falls through, I may end up ferrying 7 kids to school and back every day myself...out of a sense of obligation...and lots of mom guilt, since I'm already feeling a ton of that about the whole bus idea to begin with! I can't win!
Good heavens.
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