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.**
4 comments:
I totally understand those big schools. Tyson's is over 1300 kids, grades K-5. There are 10 2nd grade classes and he is in one of them. But the class sizes are not as big. They only have 21 kids, no aid, but very seasoned teachers who are wonderful. Sounds crazy out there. Hope you all are doing well. The girls are getting to be so big. I remember holden as a baby!!! Hugs to you all.
oh what a cutie! and i know somewhat about helping out classes with over 25 students (kindergarten, remember i was an aide way back when! lol)...it was crazy...so i can't imagine how it would be with more students and no aides... Congrats on the charter school, hopefully you'll find some carpool buddies!! (ps. holdyn ROCKS!)
Oh my gosh, Jill! How scary for poor little Holdyn on her very first day. I have to say that her mama was pretty brave too! How awful to have that many students to one teacher. I'm definitely pro charter school and hope that my little ones can get in one here. Kristen taught 3rd grade at a charter school up north and I loved that they had so much help (with the aide and the involvement of the parents). Must be hard sometimes to be so far from home and not know anyone. You guys are amazing!
Wow, they're getting big! Can't believe how fast time went by. Thanks for sharing.
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