A Sudden Reprieve...

So today would have been Henry's first day of school! He was supposed to go to WCSA (Watsonville Charter School for the Arts) We went to the "Back to School Picnic", filled out his emergency card, even met his "new" Kinder teacher Miss Monohan.

But, no. Things have suddently changed. Yesterday morning, out of the blue, I get a call from Linscott Elementary.

For those of you who don't know, Linscott is one of the best public schools in the county. Someone said to me it's like a private school where you don't have to pay. Linscott was Matt and my first choice for Henry. Unfortunately Linscott was the first choice for at least 50 other pairs of parents! And even worse, siblings get priority and everyone couldn't help but point out that this was an "unusually heavy year for siblings". This meant that there were even less than the normal handful of spots for incoming kids like Henry. Matt and I signed Henry up for consideration, kept our fingers crossed, and pursued other options. Of course, the lottery for incoming kids came and Henry was not chosen. We then proceeded to get Henry into WCSA.

Then I get the call yesterday that lo and behold there's an opening. Long story short we jumped on it and Henry is now going to Linscott. I say he's got a "Sudden Reprieve" because Linscott doesn't actually start school till Auguast 29th! (For those of you interested) click here for a calendar.Even though this means Henry gets to enjoy a bit more vacation, it doesn't mean the same for me. If you peeked at the calendar you may have noticed School Clean-up Days.

One of the things that make Linscott unique is that they require a specific number of hours of parent participation. This has proven to not only help your child be a better learner but has also helped to create a closer school community. They require from us parents the following:

• One session in each childs classroom per week.


• One monthly 2 hour parent meeting per month per child


• Four hours of work per year on scheduled clean up days


• One classroom or school-wide suppport job or one school-wide committee per family or the equivalent per year


• Participation in one school-wide fundraiser per year.

Heh...it didn't seem like alot when we were trying to get him in... :P

Anyway, if you peeked at the calendar, you will see that the first scheduled "clean-up days" are this Saturday and Monday. I guess I'll have to roll up my sleeves this weekend! I've also met with Henry's teacher and I've signed up for a support job already. I am the official Kinder Classroom Photographer. It was either that or Snack Scheduler (aka snack lady).

Anyway, that's it for now...till later!

Swimming into the Fall...

Sorry I haven't had the chance to let everyone know what's going on lately. It's just been so busy!. Henry had his last day of swimming on Friday. Unfortunately, no actual swimming occured! First off, I and another mother (Maria), decided to plan a surprise "thank you" to all the kids who spent their summer teaching our kids how to swim. I wrote out a short note and Maria translated it asking for donations. We planned on getting pizza and cake for the kids. Parents were really generous! I expected 2 maybe 3 bucks a kid and some parents actually gave me 10s! I even got a 20 or two!! On Thursday I gave Maria the money to get the cake and I would get the pizzas. I would leave Henry at the pool and Maria would watch him while I get the pizzas.

Friday comes along, and right off the bat, I see something is wrong. I find parking really really close and people (including some of the instructors) were just milling around outside the pool gate. Henry and I get out of the car and I notice people are leaving . One of the parents heading back to their car asks me if we are still going to have pizza and I say, "I think so..why?" And as they are heading back they tell me, "because swimming is cancelled."

Sure enough the head instructors tell me that swimming is indeed cancelled because...someone in the class before threw up in the pool!

Threw up on our plans is more like!! Anyway, to make a long story short, I decided the instructors deserved their pizza (I had already ordered it ahead of time - 8 large pizzas). So we did indeed have cake and pizza! Luckily (sort of) the instructors had to be there the required time, so, they got their well deserved reward. A few parents and their kids stayed behind to share the food but, nothing like we had planned for.

In the end, I was glad that we got to give these great kids a nice "thank you" I just wish everyone was there. I felt bad having received such generous donations and not having those who gave actually be their to receive the thank yous. The instructors were really surpised. They so deserved it though. Henry had a great time swimming. He learned a whole lot!!

I can't believe Fall is already here. It sort of just took over. Henry is going to school so soon! I hope I don't cry!