It has been a very emotional few weeks. Bianca has been pretty vocal about not wanting to start Kindergarten. We had to say goodbye to her daycare/Pre-K where she has been for 4 1/2 years. Not easy for either of us. They have been her friends and teachers for so long. I've finally started to make some good friends with the other parents and I've watched all those kids grow up. I love them all so much.
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We went to Kindergarten orientation last spring and the school encouraged us to stop by in the two weeks before the first day to meet staff, see classrooms, etc. Knowing full well that I have a child who needs time to acclimate, I fully intended to take them up on that!! Worth mentioning that Bianca gets that trait from me.... :o) So I also wanted the opportunity to meet people and make myself, and Bianca, known. As a working Mom, it's tough to take time off but I'm blessed with an easy going and family friendly boss so I did take a few mornings to stop by. Each time I've gone, I've had a lovely conversation....with the secretary. Because she's the only one ever there. No teachers, no school nurse (who I needed to talk to about Bianca's minor medical issues & drop off medication to). Furthermore, we didn't find out who her teacher was until Saturday, this past weekend. So it's not like I could even show her her classroom!
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Once we got her teacher assignment, I went to the school Monday morning but there were "no teachers" in the school. They were all at a development meeting. Yesterday, I called in the AM so that I didn't waste another trip and was told, again, no teachers in the building. All in a meeting. As well as I could maintain myself, I told the secretary I realized this has nothing to do with her however....WHY tell the parents they are encouraged to visit when no one is here? Either they need to be upfront that we're not meeting our teachers til school starts or actually be here when they say they will be.
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Lovely secretary says to me "Mrs. is wonderful, she's warm and kind. Your daughter will be fine." Yes, thank you....I'm well aware that she will be fine once she gets used to her new environment. Is that a reason, though, to mislead me with expectations? And more importantly....this is MY BABY. If you think, for one second, I am handing her over to your care without ever having met the staff she will be with day in and day out, you have another thing coming. A HUGE 'nother thing coming. In more precise terms....no fucking way.
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I called my friend Jermaine b/c I know he has #1) been through this with his own kids and #2) has worked as an educator, albeit for college age. I asked him....am I unreasonable? I mean, I realize that she, and all her classmates, will all be fine at some point. Is that a reason, though, to not go an extra mile to actually WELCOME the kids and try to alleviate some anxieties ahead of time? Particularly at transitional years like Kindergarten? My dear friend says "Welcome to Public Academia..... And you've just learned a valuable lesson. You've just learned that Bianca's school is 'faculty friendly' as opposed to 'family friendly'." He guarantees me that the teachers were in the school preparing for class and that the secretary's job on those days is to shield them from the parents.
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Before I enrolled Bianca, I researched all the schools in the district. There are 14 elementary schools in my town. I am fortunate that Bianca is in arguably the best one, or at least one of the top two. One of the statistics I liked was 100% teacher retention for her school. Now I'm not so sure that's as good as I once thought. #1 - it does imply a "faculty friendly" school. I will keep my mind open to the possibility that it doesn't necessarily negate family friendly as well. And #2 - maybe it means the teachers have been there so long that they are "too comfortable" and don't feel the need to put any extra effort toward the families. I'm sure they are lovely, qualified educators. But perhaps they have lost sight of how big a role they are now playing not only in the lives of our children but in OUR (parents) lives as well. At this age, they are more than teachers; they have become a primary caregiver.
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So, I'm off to join the PTA/PTO and see if I can't drum up a little buzz around this. My friend Jermaine gave me many good pointers for my first interactions with her teacher(s). He said he will walk me through this step by step so that her teacher knows if she has only one shred of energy/time left at the end of the day, *Bianca's* Mom is the parent she knows she needs to get back to above all others. Heck, yeah!!!!!!!!!
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