Time has really flown by fast. I am amazed that Sarah actually will be starting Kindergarten this fall! Here in the US the kids start a year earlier than in Sweden.
The elementary school that is in our school "zone" is OK. It has a great academic track record. But, there are other aspects of it that Ken and I don't like. For instance, the buildings are looking really worn out and tired. I think it is important to have a nice environment to enjoy school. I worry that this place might have mold hidden in the walls. And they use portables, portable classrooms (like trailers) because they have run out of classroom space.
But the biggest negative about this school is the uniform requirement. We both dislike the idea of uniforms. I think practically it is a hinder, not to mention it stifles kids' individualities. Sure, it might make the turf more equal, but kids have to deal with peer pressure anyway.
A few years back our county started having an open school pick. You, as a parent, can pick any school in the district you would like. There is no guarantee that you will get your pick, but you have a chance at least. This enables kids with certain advantages and disadvantages to benefit from what another school have to offer. We have for instance, several so called magnet schools in our district. So if you have a daughter that is into drama, it might be a huge benefit to have her go to the arts magnet school.
We decided to go ahead and try to get another school for Sarah. There is one only 5 minutes away from us that will fit the bill. It was opened in 2003, does not have portables, and have no uniform requirement. And it is A-rated.
Yesterday we were out driving and decided to go by this school, since it is tucked away from the street and you really can't see it unless you drive right up to it. When we got up there we saw a lot of activity. It turned out a community church use the school on Sundays. We saw this as a great opportunity to check out Sarah's (hopefully) new school. We "crashed" the church function...
Their sermon was over, and people were walking all over the school, so we blended right in. It was awesome! We got to see the entire school, even the actual classrooms where Sarah would be in. The cafeteria, the playgrounds etc. The school is so nice and seems to be ideal for what we need.
When we were leaving the people at the front door practically made us stop for coffee, and we mingled a bit, talking to the nice church people. All of a sudden we were having Dunkin Donuts! We didn't intend to intrude, but we got kind of sucked into it. I am the least religious person I know, so it was a bit weird. But we got a great "open house" all to our selves. And Sarah is now super excited about going there. Hopefully she doesn't think they will serve donuts every day of school!
2 comments:
I'm registering the Daughter for kindergarten on January 22... can't believe how fast time flies. We have great public schools in our city - non require school uniforms. The Daughter's school is just a five minute walk away - embedded in our neighborhood - no big streets around. I love it! I just hope the teachers are great, and understand how bilingual kids process language... I'm actually a bit nervous about that...
Kul att ni har hittat en skola ni gillar till Sarah. Det är viktigt med en bra skolmiljö och bra lärare. Skönt att hon slipper skoluniformen på denna skola.
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