First Day of School

Whew!  We made it through the first day at a new school! Let me just say, it was pretty terrifying.  Alison, who is a bit of a worrier, nearly had a heart attack worrying about how to find her way around and how to make new friends and what she would do if school was harder in Utah than it is in Idaho, etc.  Even Nicki, who usually stays pretty calm, was nervous and shy acting.  As their mother, I was nervous too!  I want SO BADLY for them to be happy and comfortable and safe.  None of us knew what to expect.  So, we did the only thing we could do.  We got up really early and packed great lunches and got super cute and headed out the door to find out what life is like at Creekside Elementary - home of the Comets!

4th grade!

2nd Grade!
 

 Our neighborhood gang walks to school together in the mornings.  On the very first day of school the mothers come along.  Josh and Bronson came along too.  It was fun!  Its a little less than a mile to our school, so it takes 15 minutes or so.  It was a beautiful, sunny morning, and the streets were filled with kids and parents walking to school.  Fun!  Dad even drove by and honked on his way to work.

All ready for our walk!
 

When we arrived, we all went to the back of the school, to the playground.  That's where the kids enter the school each morning.  The school is set up in such a great way!  There are 4 "pods."  Each pod is a collection of about 8-10 classrooms joined by a common area.  Each pod has its own bathrooms and drinking fountains, and each pod leads directly to the playground.  One pod is for kindergartners, another holds 1st and 2nd graders, another is for 3rd and 4th grades, and another is for 5th and 6th grades.  The teachers come get their kids from the playground every morning. 

Anyway, back to the first day of school.  Since we were so new, I took the girls into their pods and found their classrooms with them.  We went to Nicki's pod first.  Her teacher, Mrs. Evans, is a young, cute woman with tons of "you little sweetheart!" kind of personality.  I could tell right away that Nicole would love her.  I introduced them to each other and was surprised when I got a little choked up.  I wasn't feeling emotional, but looking at my cute little 7 year old practically frozen with fear, I almost lost it (but I pulled it together really quickly and I don't think anyone noticed). We left as the teacher took her into the classroom to find her desk.

Alison was next.  By the time we got to her pod, she was almost hyperventilating.  I wish I was exaggerating, but I'm not.  Ali's teacher, Mrs. Crittenden has been teaching at Creekside for decades.  She's older (like a grandma age) but very spunky and matter-of-fact.  She reminds me very much of Ali's 3rd grade teacher, whom Alison adored.  I took Ali into the classroom to find her stuff, but she just kept begging me to let her come home with me.  I gently told her no and assured her I'd be back soon (it was a short day) and started to leave.  She chased me out into the hall and started crying.  Yikes. Luckily for me, Mrs. Crittenden followed us out and had a great talk with Ali.  She said, "Are you nervous because you don't know anyone?  Guess what.  I don't know any of those kids either.  They all had different teachers last year.  Let's go inside and meet them together.  Here's your first assignment..." etc.  She walked Ali back to the classroom and I snuck away.  I felt bad for her - that's not how she wanted to start her school year.  I hoped she'd be able to get over it quickly.

Our girls and their neighborhood friends waiting for school to start.
 

I LOVE their school!  As I was leaving, the principal was talking to the kids over the speakers.  She was welcoming them all back to school, especially the new kids, telling them what was for lunch and reminding them of some of the rules.  One MAJOR rule at Creekside is to have a "buddy" that you walk home with everyday and to designate a meeting place where you'll meet after school every day.  I could just tell by her enthusiasm the way she spoke to the kids that she loves her job and that she's really good at it. Their school has music and drama classes, PE frequently, dance and choral clubs, good assemblies designed to teach leadership and self esteem, great teaching, daily emails from their teachers, etc.  It just seems like a great school. 

Right when we got home, Kristin and my mom came over for a day of canning tomatoes.  It was really fun and very productive, leaving me virtually no time to sit and worry about how the girls were doing.  In fact, I barely had time to toss up a sloppy, hand-made "Happy First Day Of School" banner (which both Kris and my mom mocked me over - "Don't over do it, Kelley!") and throw a few balloons around the house before school was out.

I went to the school to pick the girls up that afternoon.  Most of the kids in the neighborhood walk home, but I like to pick my girls up (for a number of reasons:  Its a bit of a maze to get home, they've already been gone long enough, I want to make sure they aren't lost right away - not a half hour later, and I get to hear lots of school stories in the car on the way home).  My mom always picked me up clear through high school and it mattered to me, so it still matters to me now.  Anyway, I was a little nervous to hear how the day went.  But all my fears flew out the window when the girls hopped in.  The first words out of each of their mouths was, "Love it!" and they really do!  Again, Whew!