Hello Gang -
Well; the first day of school finally happened at last.
Austin goes to a school called East St. School...everyone was very nice to us and I even got a chance to meet the principle. He rides the bus to school now ( a huge change for him) but he seems perfectly content with it. In fact; he has been running around all weekend saying that he cannot wait until Monday to go to school because they are going to computer class on Monday and he likes to work on the computer. The school assigned him a partner who shows him around and they hang together all day...showed him to the bathroom, the lunch room and outside at recess. The teacher has a very cool reward system that helps the children to stay on their best behavior. They earn tickets every time they are "caught" being good and after 40 tickets; they earn a day of no homework. I love this reward system that focuses more on positive reinforcement versus noticing a child only when they are bad. I think that this will work well for Austin.
Raven goes to a middle school that has 1200 students. The 7th grade class has close to 470+ students. Her class schedule includes: French, English, Piano, Computers, Math, Science, Art and Social Studies. It's very much like a high school where the children move from class to class and have only like 10 minutes in between. She complained that all of the "black" people talked with accents(i.e Jamaican or Caribbean) and that she was the only African American that she met. This just proves to me that this is going to be a good overall experience for her. She is so used to everyone looking and sounding just like her...if she really wants to go to college in Europe; she has to learn to be comfortable in all types of environments. They have something in New York called Regents exams; where kids must pass Regents tests in order to receive a high school diploma. It starts at the middle school level and the standards are tough. Judging from Raven's syllabus; she will be working extremely hard this semester. She also rides the bus; but she did not like it so much. She said that it was too many to a row (3) and that it was HOT!!!
I am still setting up my computer so look for pictures next week of our house here in New York and pictures of our town.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
All set for the 1st Day of School (NOT!!!!)
Hello Gang...
Well today; I attempted to get the kids all registered for school. It did not go so well...first off; I fill out all of this paperwork just to be told when I got there that the kids did not have all of the shots required for New York....poor Austin has to get like four more shots and Raven has to get some booster shot or something before she can go to school. So; the lady at the registration office tells me that I can go to a walk in clinic to get the shots...of course I would have to pay for this out of pocket at this time and I refuse to do so when I have perfectly good insurance that I can use. I then rush home and jump on the Internet trying to find a pediatrician that will give me an appointment as soon as possible so that I can get the shots that I need. I finally find one and then have to take the appointment slip back up to the registration office so that they can see that I have an appointment to get the shots done. At this point; the office is so crowded with people new to Hicksville that I can't even see the registration officer and I have to give my forms to the secretary...this is not good because I needed to speak to the Registration office to see if the kids could start school tomorrow but because she is so busy...now I am unable to go. This sucks!!!!
So, now...we are in limbo land. The kids have appointments tomorrow for them to get the shots that they need and I am going to try and go back to the registration office to complete the enrollment process.
Everyone knows that school is important to me and I am super bummed about the kids missing the first day of school. However, it is not that bad in the grand scheme of things...it's only the first week of school and they should be fine after that.
However...lesson learned: Expect the unexpected!
Well today; I attempted to get the kids all registered for school. It did not go so well...first off; I fill out all of this paperwork just to be told when I got there that the kids did not have all of the shots required for New York....poor Austin has to get like four more shots and Raven has to get some booster shot or something before she can go to school. So; the lady at the registration office tells me that I can go to a walk in clinic to get the shots...of course I would have to pay for this out of pocket at this time and I refuse to do so when I have perfectly good insurance that I can use. I then rush home and jump on the Internet trying to find a pediatrician that will give me an appointment as soon as possible so that I can get the shots that I need. I finally find one and then have to take the appointment slip back up to the registration office so that they can see that I have an appointment to get the shots done. At this point; the office is so crowded with people new to Hicksville that I can't even see the registration officer and I have to give my forms to the secretary...this is not good because I needed to speak to the Registration office to see if the kids could start school tomorrow but because she is so busy...now I am unable to go. This sucks!!!!
So, now...we are in limbo land. The kids have appointments tomorrow for them to get the shots that they need and I am going to try and go back to the registration office to complete the enrollment process.
Everyone knows that school is important to me and I am super bummed about the kids missing the first day of school. However, it is not that bad in the grand scheme of things...it's only the first week of school and they should be fine after that.
However...lesson learned: Expect the unexpected!
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