New School

We've been thinking about moving Em to a different school lately--there has been a lot of teacher turnover at Gateway, and she just moved up to Pre-2 and has another new teacher, Ms. Monnica started.  Emily (for the first time ever) told me every day that she didn't like Ms. Monnica because she was "not nice."  It really bothered me, partially because I didn't really connect with her either.  The fact that we have to leave Em in day care for 10 hours a day is bad enough without worrying if she's receiving the best care with the best people.

I took half a day off to go look at another center near us that has terrific reviews, and just received a NAEYC Accreditation, which very few schools have.   It's called Rainbow Station, and we know several people who have moved from Gateway to there.  In fact, I saw Em's very first boyfriend (Evan) when I was touring, and another of her very early friends (Cameron).  I loved the school, so I decided to go talk with the Director at Gateway.  I found out that Ms. Monnica had been terminated, which was great...but that meant another new teacher...which wasn't great.  The decision was made.

Friday, September 21 was Em's last day at Gateway, and she started at Rainbow Station on Monday the 24th.  This was her first morning--we kept talking about her new school over the weekend, and she seemed excited.  Surprisingly, she wasn't nervous about her new classroom.  She was excited because everything was new--the classroom is decorated with owls, which she loves.  They have a color and a theme every week, and Fridays are "show and share" day, when all the kids bring in something in the color of the week to show their friends.  There's a newsletter, a PTA, and all kinds of ways for us to get involved, which is just what we want.

Another cool feature of the school is The Get Well Place, which is a separate wing of the school where full time registered nurses are on staff--if Em was ever sick and something happened where Mick and I couldn't take off work, she can stay there in her own room with someone taking care of her.  Granted, we hope we won't need to use that, but it's certainly nice to know it's there.

We're looking forward to the change, and think we've made the right decision.