We’re at the end of the first month of school.  The girls seem to have gotten a good grip on the year.  Dee Dee goes to the cafeteria most mornings for a second breakfast and sometimes Audio goes with her.  If Audio sees someone she knows or just doesn’t want to stand by me in the mornings, she goes in through the door for Kindergarteners and First Graders.  Most days, they get to school in good moods after easy mornings.  The girls’ mom was home for many days, and that helps get the day off to a good start.  On the days she has to leave for work, there needs to be quite a ceremony of hugging, saying “good-bye,” and waving though the window.  If it doesn’t go as well as Audio would like, there’s a bit of a momentary meltdown, but we get back on track quickly.  Like how last year’s mornings went better than the previous year’s mornings, this year is going better than last year. 

Dee Dee has been reading every book she can get her hands on and started meeting with what was called her “Special Reading Group” last year.  This year, a different teacher is running the group, and it’s called “Book Club.”  She does this because she was identified as an “advanced learner,” according to her test scores.  I’d really like to see Audio pulled out to do something a little more challenging.   At the start of last year, her score on her math placement test was literally off the charts.  The sheet of paper that showed her score displayed a small graph that went as high as 100 with Audio’s test score sitting above the graph at 125.  Both girls are smart, but I worry that they won’t know what to do with their smarts if the school doesn’t start giving them challenges and teach them how to teach themselves.  Talent in any field is useless if the talent isn’t directed.  Unfortunately, the girls’ school aims pretty low.  Their school motto is, “Good Enough is Good Enough.” 

Halfway through this school year, we will attempt to open enroll the girls in the neighboring city’s school district.  We planned to do it last year, but things came up that prevented us from turning in the application.  That ended up being fine because Dee Dee got the fourth-grade teacher that she’d hoped she would have.  There’s less of a chance that Audio would be able to enroll in the other school, just because they have less room for younger kids to open enroll.  But if we can get Dee Dee into the school next year, Audio would be allowed to move to that district through a sibling clause.  If Dee Dee can move to the other school next year, it would give her a year to establish herself and meet some friends before moving on to middle school.  We really don’t want the girls to go to middle school or high school in our district.  At first, we just thought the schools would be too rough, but now we see that the neighboring school districts are just better schools.  My girls deserve better schools.