Danny was excited, but not half as excited as the girls! We slept late because we were eating breakfast at he school. The morning was crisp and chilly as we walked over but it was warm in the middle school/high school library where we were headed. Caroline came to say hello, she has the friendliest face and personality ever. I also introduced Danny to mr. Lowry the MS principal. We sat at a table with a man who is a stay at home dad to 6th,4th and 2nd grade kids and his high powered lawyer wife. I will not feel inferior! The breakfast was lovely, fresh fruit, yogurt,croissant, juice,tea and coffee. Loads of staff were there, school nurse Cathy, head of school, asst. head of school, athletic director and his assnt., elementary,middle and HS principals, counselors and more. We heard from the welcoming committee and the parents booster club and other groups will speak at the second welcome coffee(!) on Wednesday morning. Is this the perfect spot for me or what?! Coffee EVERYWHERE! Karen, get over here!
After the general meeting, the middle school kids, Danny and a 6th grade girl named Maeve, were taken to the counseling center for further instructions and placement test. Danny later told me that he was given a math test and then the French teacher came in and just started tackling to him in French as her placement interview. He felt fine about that--Go Danny!
The girls and I stayed in the middle school library for another hour and used the wifi. The librarian was super nice and kept encouraging us to eat more of the food! I enjoyed listening to the elementary parents session, I wished I had younger kids to be a part of the fantastic sounding things they do at St. John's in the lower grades.
Charlotte was happy to connect to the internet, and put some new games on her mini. The girls both found books to check out, we can use the library as a school family, which is awesome. We then headed home for lunch and running and straightening of the house. I get a toe hold into Danny's room with hopes to finish later. Instantly it is 3:20, and molly and I walk back to school to meet Danny at the Lions Lair as planned. This is the hang out area outside of the gym, parents man a snack counter there every day after school and kids with activities can grab a bite and do homework while they wait to start practice or whatever. You will not be surprised to learn that this is where they sell spirit wear, only 2x/month, so it is ESSENTIAL that I get on that today! Ulla, a lovely Mom who hails from Ireland, is on hand to show us the goods. Also unsurprising to those of you who know me, I grab up the sale items--last semester's items, heavens,no! I had promised the girls a hoodie and I am happy to deliver! Photo to come. We run into the extremely tall Coach D in the lobby and ask about joining basketball. He is super encouraging and Danny could start right away. In spite of my nagging Danny does not want to come back to practice at 16:45 today. I will work on him for Wednesday's practice. First day is a bit overwhelming I guess!
It sure is nice being under 10 minutes walk from school. We are home in a jiffy. Charlotte is showered and waiting and we all convene in huge kitchen to hear about the D's first day. He pretty much started with lunch, after all the welcoming,testing,etc. He was assigned a buddy, Isaiah, who happens to be Principal Lowry's son, and he took him to the cafeteria. Danny said most kids buy lunch, but until I can get money on that lunch card, he will be bringing in his cool Star Wars lunch box he got for Christmas. He said a couple of kids commented on it, they thought it was cool! In the afternoon he had Art, French, Math and Social Studies. He thought they were fine. He felt like he was a bit behind in French, but didn't feel worried about catching up. The class is entirely in French of course! In math he was actually able to contribute, so he felt good about that. He has a rotating scheduling from day to day, and also weeks, something like A week,B week, day1/day2. My head was spinning! He also needs to choose his additional language, because in middle school you are learning at least two. He will choose between German and Dutch. May I go to school there please?! No homework tonight, just some forms to sign,etc. we shall see how the work load progresses.
After nice family meal of oven ready moussaka and carrots and then Danny and I spend an hour or so putting away his clothes, hanging posters, sweeping the floor, and suddenly his room looks peaceful and moved in. Yay! And so we enter St. John's school, Waterloo Belgium!
No comments:
Post a Comment