Holdyn's 1st Day Redo..... Sage Montessori Charter School

We feel fortunate to have had a friend refer us to this brand new charter school in Albuquerque!  

Holdyn was doing okay, at Chapparal, and it was just around the corner from our house....but I never felt quite calm after I dropped her off....or all day until I picked her up.  She loved her teacher, but I just never felt quite right about it.  We heard about this Charter school opening up this week and we rushed to their temporary office (they hadn't been able to move into their actual building yet) and got her signed up.

 I have a great friend that moved here about the same week we did and she was having similar issues with her kids at their new elementary school.  So I told her about it and she got her kids enrolled the next day too!  We were luck to have gotten them in.

 Holdyn had another 'first day of first grade' on Monday Aug. 27.  She was SO excited to have her friends at her school and Ian is even in her class.  Her teacher's name is Miss Jill ;)  so she has to be awesome!   The School Head Master is also an awesome lady.  There are only 250 kids at the school K-8 and she probably knows them all by name.  She is out in the parking lot in the AM and PM helping kids in and out of the cars with the other teachers.  It is such a wonderful feeling knowing that Holdyn is being taken care of!!  She is LOVING it!  (Of course Kimber still hates dropping her off and asks every 5 minutes if it is time to go get Holdyn yet...Kimber starts school next Tuesday!)

Here is a picture of Holdyn and Ian...her good buddy!  This is their classroom on the first day....they still didn't have everything set up yet, but there is a huge loft in the back right corner and LOTS and LOTS of hands on activities they get to do.  It is a great blessing to have her here!

The only challenge is that  the school is 10 miles away and can take awhile in traffic.  I have  the 3 kidlets in the car by 7:45 (so far we've done well...having Kimber's vest done and everything because her school also starts at 8:30) to be sure we are there on time....  I hope the cost of gas going 40 miles everyday (dropping her off and picking her up) doesn't sink us!   

**Stay tuned for Kimber's first day at La Petite Pre-K program on Tuesday Sept. 4.  Her teachers came by our house today for the home visit.  She is getting super excited!

Holdyn's First Day of Chapparal Elementary....1st Grade!

It was a very exciting Morning at our house!  Holdyn had been counting down days for school to start!  She was so excited!  Her school is ginormous (7-1st grade classes)!

 Kimber did NOT want to let Holdyn go without her!

 Kimber holding onto the backpack for her big sister.

 Two thumbs up for 1st grade!  She had to pose by 'Ben the Bear!'

 Here is her class lining up outside the school.  Her teacher is Ms. Cnossen.

(Ms. Cnossen is in the orange vest at the front of the class line.)

Here she is....we found her desk and she was all smiles for the first day of school.

*After school, Ben went to meet her at the parent pick up area.  Holdyn's classroom is at the back of the school and somewhere between her classroom and the parent pick up, she lost her class/teacher.  She said she followed some kids that she thought were in her class and she ended up getting pretty lost. She said she was so scared!  Meanwhile, Ben was waiting at the parent pick up for about 25 minutes with no sign of Holdyn and he was getting pretty nervous too!  I got a phone call from the office and they said Holdyn was in the office and they would walk her out to the parent pick up.   I was so glad she knew to go to the office.  Her teacher didn't seem to notice that she was missing....SCARY!  When she saw me at home she was still fighting back tears.  Poor gal!   She is one of two white kids in her class and we only know of one other member of the church that goes there....and she is in 3rd grade and a different ward.  She was so brave to go into this elementary school with over 1,000 kids all by herself, not knowing a soul!  *

**On another side note, her class is 32 students and doesn't get an aide. A good portion of her class is Hispanic and some only speak broken English.  Her teacher is bilingual and it is just the teacher in the room with them all.  Most of the kids in our ward/church (and Holdyn's friends) go to charter schools.  We started looking into those schools when we first moved.  Of course, they were all full and had huge waiting lists.  A great friend of mine called the other day and said there was a new charter opening up that still had space available.  Sage Montessori Charter School of Albuquerque begins classes on August 27.  I did get her in, and I really think it will be best.  It will be 40 miles there and back each day to drop her off and pick her up....we are hoping some friends can still get in that we can carpool with.  We do think this is going to be the best decision.   She is such a happy little gal and I know will 'bloom wherever she is planted.'  I am excited for the new school and what it will offer her more on an individual basis!  Her class will offer more hands on activities, plus there are 20 1st graders with a teacher and an aide in her class.**