First Day of School ... Again!

Yes, that's right! Cam had his first day of school... again. :) If you scroll down to the original "First Day of School" post, I mentioned that we had been thinking about a new school for Cameron. After a week of an extreme disinterest in school (it literally plummeted) we decided to take his request for "looking" at a new school seriously. He had no interest in homework, and completely shut down when it came time to talk about what they were working on in the classroom. We decided that there needed to be some sort of a balance. The lack of social interaction with other kids his age was essentially starting to affect his attitude and interest in the classroom. By the time the second week of school rolled around, there were three 3rd grade boys - this included Cameron - and 6 girls. It was becoming difficult for us to send him to school in the morning knowing that balance wasn't there - he had nothing to look forward to during the day - and we didn't want to chance his grades or interest falling any more. So, I called one of the charter schools nearby that I had been researching and found out they were full, which was not a surprise to me, and that there was a waiting list for the 3rd grade. We decided to check it out anyway, and honestly hadn't expected to get in anywhere, for that matter, but figured we were just doing our homework for next school year if needed. We visited the school the next morning and found out that the 3rd grade waiting list was down to one. They learned the previous afternoon that the little girl next on the list had already started going to another school, so there was an open spot. This was definitely a lucky break. Bryan and I checked out the school, observed one of the 3rd grade classes, and then met another one of the three 3rd grade teachers. Her class was at music so we got the chance to talk to her for about 20 minutes or so and then found out she was actually the teacher with the "open spot." Another lucky break, because she was great! Very helpful in explaining her curriculum, where the kids were at academically, and how Cameron could possibly adjust to that type of classroom. There are 30 kids in the class, so this is obviously a huge adjustment. We decided to bring him back later that afternoon to find out his opinion. He met Mrs. Rodriguez, liked her right away, and after a little family discussion and comparing the two schools, he decided he wanted to make the switch. Well this was Wednesday afternoon, and he started Thursday morning at Benjamin Franklin Charter School. No wasting time here! If we wanted to enroll him, he had to start immediately, otherwise they would open the spot back up again. To make a REALLY long three days short, he had a pretty good first day. Loved the school, his teacher, class, made several friends, enjoyed eating a "hot lunch" in the cafeteria, and having a different teacher for P.E. and music. He felt a bit overwhelmed with the math format - they have their own math books - and this was frustrating fr him. After working on his homework and the realization that he actually could do the work, he was good to go. (This school actually teaches the kids a full grade ahead - so his class is working on 4th grade material, which is fairly comparable to where he was at with his old school.) At any rate, Friday was a fantastic day and he absolutely loved it. Could not wait for Monday. We went back to his old school, said goodbye to his class and teachers, (which was a bit emotional for all of us, actually) and called it a day. I struggled with our decision on Thursday night because he did have some tears, and he did go back and forth with the "well I'm going to miss this, and I'm going to miss that" but "I really like my new teacher and the stuff we're doing in class and I've already met some kids." I knew deep down that we did the right thing by pulling him out, more so because of some of the comments that we received from his old school somewhat bolstered our decision, but it was difficult to maintain that sureness when he was still emotional. It was no doubt an overwhelming day for him. The differences in environments are from one extreme to the other - he went from a 2nd/3rd split class with 10 3rd graders, to being one of 30, and two other 3rd grade classes. But he was all smiles Friday afternoon when I picked him up - he was one of the last three left in a spelling game they had played, he had a cheese enchilada for lunch, he played soccer at lunch, and he wrote his best story ever. He cannot wait for Monday. How could he not? They get meatball subs for lunch tomorrow and he can have chocolate milk every day if he wants ...