At the beginning of the school year I was so happy to see Aly was in a class with a great teacher and most of her friends. She was thrilled too! Deep down inside I knew that it could be temporary. I knew I shouldn't get excited because it could all change.
The first week of school was crazy. All the classes had high numbers. Kindergarten was at 34 and first grade was at 30. I went to the Board Meeting to hear what they would do about the high numbers. They said they would be bringing back a teacher to help lower the class size. I then hear there would be three different options for re-organizing the classroom. They gave us the student enrollment numbers at the Board Meeting so I was able to figure out what two of the options would be. I couldn't for the life of me, figure out what that third option would be. I knew if it was either of the two that I worked out mathematic wise Aly wouldn't be changed to another class. Unfortunately for us, they chose the third option that I couldn't figure out and Aly will have to change classes.
I got the call from the principal yesterday afternoon. My heart sank. I didn't want to loose such a great teacher that we had and have Aly loose all of her friends. They told me they felt it was in the best interest to move Aly to a first/second grade combination class because she was the highest student in her grade level and it would be a disservice to her not to challenge her academically. They told me who her new teacher would be and it was at least a comfort to know she is one of the best teachers at the school.
Honestly, I am not opposed to combination classes for my child if she is in a combination class where it is her grade and the next grade level higher. However, once I got to thinking about it I started wondering how many first graders would be in this combination class? I went to school early to pick up Aly and asked. This is when I got angry. They are only putting four first grade children in the class. The rest of the class will all be second graders. How sad is that for these poor little first graders? They decided to move two boys and two girls. The girl that they are moving Aly doesn't even really know. She was in a different class last year. I am not sure who the two boys are but it isn't her friend Nathan.
Aly was devastated when I told her the news. She was sad to leave her teacher and sad to leave her friend Nathan. Of course as a parent, it makes me sad too. School isn't just about academics. Shouldn't we be considering their social development too? How is this a good placement for these four children socially? Aly doesn't have second grade friends that she plays with.
We will be looking into our options. If they are unwilling to move her back then we will look at moving her to a different school. There are better schools in our area anyway! This is really making me question if I want to stay at such a small school where there are combination classes in every grade level because they don't have extra money. In the meantime we will let her try it and see how she adjusts. Bottom line is, I will always put my child's needs first!
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