So we've been in the process of registering Ella for kindergarten. Now silly me, I thought this would involve going down to the neighborhood school and filling out some paperwork, and they would assign her to a class. Oh no.
In actuality, it involves filling out paperwork, and giving your first, second, and third choice for school. (They do open enrollment in this district - it is suppose to give you choice - choice of schools and choice of teachers.) Then we took Ella down for a "screening" to see if she is eligable for their summer school program (which is for kids that need a little extra help before school starts - Ella, being the genious that she is, doesn't qualify.) We then wait a month to find out where they will put her, even though we are suppose to be able to choose.
Well we found out last week that she was assigned to our third choice of schools - the one furthest from our home, in the worst part of town, with the highest number of low-income and special needs kids. (I'm not saying anything bad, good, or indifferent of these things - all I'm saying here is they do affect the kind of education the children get in the classroom.)
I was upset and worried over this, although there really is nothing we can do. We are 5th on the waiting list to get into our first choice of schools, which after learning a little bit about how they determine these things, there is a fair to good chance she could get in there before the start of the school year. But things are more complicated than that of course.
Come to find out the best kindergarten teacher in the district is at the school she's been put in. And because of the neighborhood, it is a Title One school, meaning they get more funding for staff, technology, and the like. After doing some talking with others there are many favorable things about the school she's been put in. Also come to find out the schools have kind of gotten sorted into the "haves" and the "have nots". (The school we wanted Ella in just happens to be the "haves" school.) So apparently a lot of the kids at the first school are snotty, and say things like "Do you know who my daddy is?", and "You can't play with us, because you aren't in the same class as us." (Yikes! NOT something I want my daughter around, of course.)
So I'm almost thinking getting into our third choice of schools was a blessing in disguise. For now, there is no action for me to take, although I have a meeting with the principal, and I will make a request of which teacher I'd like her to get, as well as discuss some concerns I have. But we may be faced with having an opening at our first choice of schools. At this point I almost think I may just keep her at Third Choice School, which incidently is where all of her friends got into as well. We'll see how things go.
You know it's hard enough for an over-emotional mother to send her first baby off to school. I didn't need all of this!
