Here we go again.....

We seem to get a variation of the same letter from Evergreen Public School every year……The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001….blah blah blah….. the required 100 percent pass rate for reading and math was unrealistic…blah blah blah…… more and more schools were not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress……blah blah blah……. Few school could meet these goals.  We received this annual letter yesterday.  My favorite part of this year’s version?  “Because Congress can’t agree about how to fix this failed policy, our kids are once again caught in a system of requirements that fall short of supporting real learning.”  Yawn, what's new?

The purpose of this letter is to give the parents of identified schools (of which Marrion Elementary, our school, is listed) the option of allowing their children to attend another district school defined as a “School Not in Improvement” status.  I gotta say, I’m tempted. 

There are so many things I love about Marrion.  I love love love the teachers.  I love the rest of the staff.  The people in the office know me (& Presley) by name and pretty much let me in wherever I want to go.  It’s super close to our house.  Teague went there.  Grandma & Grandpa live just down the road. 

There are also things I absolutely do not love about Marrion.  It’s old…..really old.  The carpool pickup process is a joke, not to mention dangerous.  It’s overcrowded and has been for years to the point the children do not have a lunchroom and are forced to eat in their classrooms.  Yay for the teachers, right?  There are no common hallways, but the classrooms are laid out in pods.  Most transportation to elective classrooms takes place outside (not that safe and usually in rain) so in order to reach one pod, one must go through the library and the computer lab just to enter their class.  Also, this year Maddox’s classroom is in a portable…..I’m not excited about this at all.  The average household income is so low that breakfast is provided to every student for free and distributed at start of the day taking up class time and forcing teachers to clean up their rooms after yet another meal.  These poor teachers don’t get a break!

Today I drove out to Fisher’s Landing Elementary which is the listed school we can attend as an option.  It’s far….really far.  It’s also really beautiful.  It’s nestled in an adorable community with gated neighborhoods.  It didn’t help that I passed the brand new Crestline Elementary that had been rebuilt after suffering a fire 18+ months ago.  The district provides transportation, but being so far away pretty much squashes any desire to volunteer in the children’s classrooms.  Plus, the boys don’t notice these unsavory & petty grievances I seem to fixate on so they wouldn’t really understand why I’d want to move them.  Maddox has already been accepted into the Reading Club.  I’m piloting a Class Parent program this year and the convenience can’t be beat.  It doesn't make sense to move.  

This is all just a rant, I guess.  I just want the best for my kids, but a lesson in succeeding under overpopulated conditions is better than fostering their outlook that everything brand new is best.  Another lesson I can learn from my kids.