Well, the big day is finally here. [Or came and went since I'm publishing this in March instead of August] RJ started Kindergarten!!! Yay! Well, sort of...I'm happy that RJ is going to Kindergarten, but its been a bit of a ride to get here. In a way I feel we've been screwed and I'm hoping for the best. Back when we bought the house in 2008, we chose our neighborhood considering the school district. There are two elementary districts in Tracy - Tracy Unified and Jefferson District, each of which has several elementary schools. Unlike where I grew up, where each district was really just one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school, out here, the districts have many neighborhood elementary schools (each is set up so that children walk to the school in their neighborhood). Some have middle schools which pool from a few elementary schools, and there are three high schools that pool from the elementary and middle schools. Some of the elementary schools are K-8, some are K-5/6, which is why there are are few middle schools in the Tracy Unified District.
We're in Jefferson District, which was known for better elementary schools, particularly ours, which started in 2006. However, all children go to Tracy Unified Schools for High School (why there are two elementary districts when all kids end up in the Tracy Unified district for high school is beyond me). The other reason why we originally wanted to live within Jefferson district was because they had a traditional school year and being that I was working on a traditional school year schedule as a professor at the time, I wanted RJ's schedule to match mine. Tracy Unified, at the time, had year round school on a couple of different tracks where they would have 2-3 week breaks at varying intervals, which would've wreaked havoc with my academic schedule. Anyway, it's a moot point now, since that system is now gone and the whole city is on the traditional academic calendar again. That's the extent to which we looked into the schools when we moved back in 2008, and were happy with our decision. That is until RJ turned 4 and I started looking into things further. First, I learned that only half-day Kindergarten was offered by our neighborhood school, Traina, which I was disappointed about. Also, having been exposed to the options that other friends had in other cities (Turlock had several unique programs, as do many cities in the Bay Area, which isn't surprising, because EVERYTHING is better in the Bay Area), I was disappointed to learn that we basically had next to nothing in terms of magnet schools, charter schools, or duel immersion language programs, and while we were in one of the best schools in Tracy, it wasn't super outstanding either.
The one viable alternative I could find in Tracy was the Tracy Learning Center, Primary Charter School, which would've been a great program for RJ - full day, great program, and developmentally appropriate instruction. However, it was in the Tracy Unified School District. We were eligible to apply, but the lottery system that they used basically put us Jefferson District folks in the last hat to get picked from (First slots go to faculty/staff, then siblings, then Tracy Unified, then Jefferson and other outlying areas). We had pretty much zero chance, but applied anyway. The Kindergarten takes 60 children. We've been informed by the school that we're between 80-99 ON THE WAIT LIST. So basically the class would need to repopulate nearly twice in order for us to get a spot. We're going to keep RJ on the waitlist, but in the meantime, he's going to Traina Elementary, which is our neighborhood public school. I was on the ball with registration, because I knew that we wanted a morning kindergarten placement, but apparently it was not early enough, since we were stuck with afternoon kindergarten, which was about the very worst thing that could have happened with RJ going to Kindergarten since it's from 11-3, interferes with Logan's nap, and cuts into just about anything we'd ever want to do outside of school. Since we got the list, I had called the school several times to inquire about a wait-list for any morning openings that might appear, but no one EVER got back to me, so we were stuck.
But before I get ahead of myself, I know you want to hear about his first day. He was adorable. We made sure that his backpack was red, and he (quite surprisingly) was fine with a gray/blue "Life is Good" lunchbox instead of a Lightning McQueen one. I wanted to avoid a character bag, because I want him to be able to use the backpack and lunchbox for more than a year, and while the 3 years he's been obsessed with Lightning McQueen would indicate that the supplies might have some longevity, I would hardly think that an 8 year old would still want a Lightning McQueen backpack and lunchbox.
I am a huge dork and was super excited to make him his school lunch. We bought him a small bento box for his lunch bag, and I made him a Lightning McQueen bento for his first day. Lance thought I was torturing him by making the car out of a roasted beet, but RJ LOVES beets and finished the whole thing, and loved it. Daddy worked from home for the first day so that he could help walk him to and from school (we live .62 miles from the school and I refuse to drive and idle in the pick up line unless I absolutely have to), which RJ loved. Drop off was actually fairly uneventful and RJ seemed to go with the flow, more than even I expected. His teacher, Mrs. Lassell, let the parents walk them into the classroom, but very quickly had the kids wave good-bye and sent us on our merry way.
When we picked him up, he was in great spirits (although he was whining about how hot it was because it was boiling outside - completely oblivious to the fact that we had also walked TO the school while he was still in his nice air conditioned classroom) and rattled off a description of his day, which seemed to be mostly procedural stuff, like learning to raise his hand and the school rules. He also came home wearing a ladybug hat and a ladybug coloring sheet (Child Development people, don't EVEN get me started on the coloring sheet...that rant is for another blog post, which I'm sure is coming soon[Editors note: see my
Momma, Ph.D. blog for a homework critique, of which I hope to still do more]).
The good news is that while he spent his first week in PM kindergarten, by the end of the week, there was an opening in AM kindergarten, and my argument for switching him was convincing enough for the principal, so he began his second week in the morning class, with a new teacher, Mrs. Finton. It might have been a whirlwind start, but we're getting into the groove now, we officially have a kindergartner, and I'm sure we're in for quite a ride!
More pictures:
HERE
