Clay School – The BIG Change!

(pictured: Mr. Mannlein giving my girls fresh grown plums from his school garden)

In 2009, I did my student teaching in 6th grade at a nearby little charter school, Clay Elementary.  It’s a small country school with one class per grade, k-8th.  I loved the feeling there.  It was such a family.  Each child mattered.  And the principal (who is also the superintendant) would even stay after school to tutor children who needed it.  Everyone pulled together in a way I hadn’t seen in a school before.  Being a small school there is much more ability to do this.

This is a school that people put their children on the waiting list the day they are born.  Literally.  I never felt the need to do that because I’m supportive and fine with regular public schools (Clay is public, but functions much like a private).  But after my student teaching experience, I decided to put my kids on the waiting list sort of on a whim.

 

Well, yesterday we got the call “Hi Jamie, we have an opening for Jordyn in 5th grade this year.  We can’t get the other girls in right now, but the next openings will be theirs”.  My head spun a little bit. 

 

 

I had such a HUGE flood and range of thoughts.  But, on a VERY basic level bottom line, it came to this:

Pros:

High morals enforced

Dress code enforced

Jr high spent in this safe environment

 

Cons:

Leaving her friends since preschool

School is 10 minutes out of town rather than across the street

 

I brought it up to her and initially her reaction was “no way”!  I put 0% pressure on her because, frankly, I wasn’t totally sure what our decision should be.  I knew logically what I thought, but my emotions were interfering a little.  We talked a lot about it.  She called Grandma to bounce it off her.  And we went to the campus and had a tour from the (amazing) Principal, Mr. Mannlein.  One of the nicest people I’ve ever met. 

 

Jordyn ultimately made the decision that she wants to make the switch!  She feels sad to leave her friends, but happy at the thought of spending Jr. High there.  She understands the safe feeling at Clay and there are so many small perks (like they start the day out on the playground doing flag salute as an entire school, singing happy birthday to whomever may be having one, and having announcements…like a camp!).  I told her that, often, the best decisions are the hardest and that her sadness at leaving her friends doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the wrong decision.  We prayed about it and she asked for a feeling of peace about her decision (which I told her sometimes comes later).  I feel so impressed with the mature way she has handled this HUGE decision.

It’s hard, as a parent, to FEEL that you are part of a decision that alters your child’s entire future. This will change so many things for her, and I think they will primarily be positive.

 

For now, I will try not to stress about the fact that the other spots at Clay, for the other girls, typically happen mid-school year…when families move away. Which means I’d have to be prepared to possibly move my other girls to a different school mid-year.  Which sounds hard.  Especially when we have close relationships with their teachers.  But I’ll cross that bridge if I get there.