Last night Dustin and I found out not only the kids school assignment for this year, but we also had student orientation. I'm glad we looked on the website or else we would have missed it. While the open house wasn't scheduled, I'm glad we went. We were able to get a lot of questions answered, gave the kids an opportunity to meet their teachers, and we were able to meet with the principle.
When we first got to the school we were instantly greeted by one of the teachers and Mrs. Whitley, the principle. Both were very welcoming and warm. I guess we had the deer in headlights look because we were instantly taken in. The principle even took us down to the office to get all of the unknowns figured out.
**Let me back up some so this makes more sense.** I came home and checked the mail. We were expecting to get the school assignment any day this week, so I was like a hound dog checking the mail vigilantly. I opened up the mail box and there laid a letter. "To the parent/guardian of Tracey." Wow. One letter down. I got really super stoked when I saw that it was from our #1 pick out of our cluster schools. I tore open the letter and it was like an acceptance letter you would get from a college. "Welcome to our school for the 2013-2014 school year!" I walked in the door and told Tracey and Dustin about the school. Since we didn't get Meagan's letter in the mail we had to explain to her that it was coming that we just hadn't gotten it yet. Deep down we were hoping that the kids were going to be split up.
Back to the open house. We didn't find out about the open house until Dustin called. We had looked on the website and the calendar showed open house, but it did not have a time.
We got to the open house and were directed to the cafeteria where we met the principle. After we got done in the office, getting the school supply lists, uniform lists, and their bus information it was time to meet the teachers. By this point the kids were super excited. They were a little shy at first but quickly warmed up especially when the principle gave each girl a hug and was asking about where they came from, were they excited, etc. Just super friendly.
The teachers were especially great. Tracey's teacher is younger and is new to teaching the 5th grade. She's previously taught 4th, so she was going to be experiencing a new classroom. Meagan's teacher was also very warm. She told us that her classroom is very pink. Dustin and I really appreciated how they took time out of the open house to explain the first week and what to expect. One thing, since the kids are bus riders that we really liked and was reassuring that I've never heard of before, was the fact that the teachers will ride on the buses with the kids in the afternoons to make sure that all the kids get off the bus at the right location.
Another new thing that neither Dustin or myself have ever had to experience was the paperwork. Oh the paperwork. There was consent to release forms, there were background checks, and student applications. While we were there Tracey even found out about the cheerleading coach. She's really excited that she'll be able to get involved with something school related. Something neither kid has been able to do before, along with school supply shopping and picking out new backpacks and lunch boxes (<-that is something they've never had before because the school always provided them with 3 meals a day.)
Right now I'm still super excited about this journey of being a step-PARENT. It all feels like everything is finally falling into place. Questions are being answered, we have a plan in place, and everyone is excited.
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