No More Kindergarten Spots

Well, it turns out that being on the wait-list at Penn Alexander means exactly what one would think it means: there are no kindergarten spots available, and so the only way in is if someone who has a spot leaves.  I had thought that maybe additional spaces would become available over time, or that the introduction of a fourth kindergarten class (courtesy of Penn's largesse) would open things up.  But kindergarten is full up, including that fourth class, and so Aaron is on the outside looking in.

At #6 on the wait-list, it is possible that six of the 70 or so students will leave between now and the first day of school, between moving from the area or going to another (private or charter) school.  But the odds are not with me; I started yesterday thinking we had about a 80 percent chance of getting in, and now I think we're closer to 20 to 30 percent.

To intensify the agony, while I was on site filling out forms, I had a great parent-teacher conference with Jada's teacher and student teacher, followed by a check-in with Jada's speech therapist.  It made me realize how far Jada has come academically as a result of all these good people, which only made me lament all the more that Aaron, who needs it more than Jada, might miss out for a year or more.  (As if on cue, when I picked the kids up in the evening, Aaron's teacher warned me he had a pretty big goose egg on his forehead, from running into a pole.  The poor kid can't even avoid large metal objects in front of him!)

Aaron's school situation is in the hands of the School District; having filled out a form at our home school, we are now at the District's whim to assign him to whatever is the next best school now that the school he is supposed to go to cannot admit him.  We hope it is Lea - it is two blocks away from our house in the other direction, and by all accounts a pretty darn good school in its own right - but it may not necessarily be. 

I am not looking forward to having to drop Aaron and Jada off at two different locations in the morning, or of having to deal with two schools' worth of meetings, fundraisers, and peer groups.  And I think Aaron and Jada will both lament not being in the same school.  But I trust that God knows best, even and especially in the important things, like where our kids go to school, who they learn from, and who they are friends with.  I will certainly be praying for an opening at Penn Alexander, but am trying to pray more for God's will for our lives and for our Aaron.  Perhaps being on the outside looking in at Penn Alexander is just a way of putting us somewhere else where we can be blessed and be a blessing.