Merrit Starts Back to School

After a month off and a month of homeschooling, we got Merrit back in school (had to know our new address before we could enroll him). Today was his first day at his new school. His attitude going in was very positive; he was saying things like:

"I bet I'll have a nice teacher."

"I know I'm going to meet lots of new friends."

"I'm excited to go back to school! I've missed it."

In some ways, this school seemed a bit like school in England. It's a small school, with less than 500 kids, plopped right in the middle of a neighborhood, so there were lots of kids walking to school (aided by sidewalks, crosswalks, and crossing guards). Nice.

Our house will be right across the street and down about one block, so Merrit will be able to walk to school, which is great. Yay, no bus for him or carpool line for me.

There were some things that he told me at the end of the day that made me miss the U.K. school system. I knew, when we were there, that it was special. Not perfect, but they emphasized non-academic things as much as academic things that, I think, made for a balanced, less-stressful, healthier school environment.

Ready for my rant? Not to be a negative Nelly, just keeping it real.

Merrit didn't get enough time to eat his lunch. He said the bell rang and the teachers were shooing him out the door, but he hadn't finished his meal yet. Because he took all his time to eat, he didn't get to go out for recess afterwards. (No four playtimes/day like in England.) Oh this just made me mad; rush 'em through lunch or they don't get time outside when there's obviously not enough time to eat OR play in the first place.

He said the outdoor playground was for little kids. There weren't any balls out or field areas or games set up. I wonder what the kids DO when they're out there for their 10 minutes of post-lunch fresh air? I hope that this was just an off day.

When they gave him a snack in the morning, it was Goldfish crackers. (So long to whole carrots, pears, plums, and cucumbers like they gave the kids in England for snack twice a day.)

Of course I knew the lunches would be processed crap, so we packed his lunch. And predictably the hot meal for the day was crap: a pressed chicken patty on a white bun, tater tots, chocolate milk, and apple slices (score one point for the fruit, though it was probably doused in chemicals to keep it from browning). Merrit brought cut-up oranges, cukes, cherry tomatoes, and carrots with an egg salad sandwich on whole grain bread. He also had two Trader Joe's pecan sandies in there, too, so don't worry...he's not the kid with the totally weird lunch.

He had to go to the bathroom, but [not sure who] told him that his chance to do that was during recess, which he didn't get to do because he was eating. Poor thing, he held it for about an hour until I picked him up at 12:45 (Wednesdays are early release days); we got to the Rite-Aid for some school supplies his teacher told me to bring in tomorrow and he scooted into their bathroom as soon as we got there.

When I picked him up, his teacher felt compelled to tell me that he'd overheard some swear words at lunch and that he'd had to witness her "get stern" with those boys. I don't think he heard (or understood?) what it was that they said, but he was surprised that she got so "mean with them." When pressed as to why he didn't stand up and insist that he needed to go to the bathroom, he said he didn't want his teacher to get mad at him like she did with those other boys. Okay, so we had to have a conversation about that...an issue close to my heart since I was too "obedient" in fifth grade (two years older than Merrit is now) to insist I had to pee EVEN THOUGH we were getting ready to take that states-and-capitals test and...so I wet my pants...in the FIFTH grade. Horrifying. I told him that story and his eyes were as big as saucers! I told him he had a right to go to the bathroom, and that if the teacher got mad at him for it, we'd handle it.

Well, I'm sure all of this is his side of the story and I know he needs to get with the program re: how things are done here, but taken in totality alongside the crap food, the short recess, the swearing, the rushed lunchtime....I guess I'd have to say I was pretty disappointed with how his first day went.

If he had come home with a backpack full of heavy books and loads of busy work/homework, that would have been the icing on the cake, but thankfully, he had a skinny folder with a few looseleaf sheets of paper and an assignment to read aloud for 30 minutes by way of homework. Score a few more points for the school.

...end of rant...

On the upside, he said that the library was "awesome." And he was beaming when he told me he got his very own library card, could check out up to three books at a time, and could use the self-checkout scanner to check out and check in books. I think that library card was probably the highlight of his day.

I do like that every Wednesday is early release day. I am already thinking about all kinds of fun outings to do together with Ollie on Wednesday afternoons: the zoo, hiking trips, museums, the Seattle aquarium, the indoor climbing wall, the Ranger station near our new house, the park, and so on.

And I like that we can walk to school like we did in England.

I think his teacher was very attentive to him; she spent some time talking to me at pick-up time about how he did, she complimented his reading with expressiveness and reading for comprehension and said that she had spent some time observing his math skills and felt that, at first glance, he is up to speed with the rest of his classmates. His teacher is probably in her late 40s and seemed very welcoming and friendly to both Merrit--as well as to Mike, Ollie, and I when we all went in to drop him off this morning. I have a good feeling about her and I'll be interested to see how it all goes over the next month or so, as Merrit gets more settled in.

Academically, this is a school that ranks very well on their national testing scores and within the Bellevue school district. I'm sure that Merrit will do just fine with the schoolwork. I'm trying hard to disguise my disappointment with all the other nit-picky things I'm bothered by and just keep it positive for his sake so that he's psyched about school. We will just focus on the positives. And, probably join the PTA.

P.S. Miss the uniforms, too. Always loved those uniforms.