1st Marking Period

I always enjoy parent-teacher conferences.  Even though scheduling so many can be a logistical challenge: 6 each for the older kids plus a longer one for Asher can be hard to pack into an already crammed calendar.  But it's great to meet the people that spend the day with Jada, Aaron, and Asher, and who are trained and ready to help them grow academically and socially.

This first marking period of the 2021-2022 school year represents a particular poignant moment, since it is the beginning of the first school year after a year and a half out of the buildings and apart from each other.  Jada's now a junior year, taking three AP courses and seeing a noticeable ramp-up in the degree of difficulty in her classes.  Aaron's a freshman, trading the school down the street where he'd been for eight years for the much bigger school two subway rides away.  And Asher's in 1st grade and in a school building for the first time.

Behaviorally, habits-wise, and in terms of grades, all three are a bit all over the map, which is to be expected.  Parent-teacher conferences provide useful background to the marks we can review on their report cards, flagging areas where we can provide extra support and offering general assurances that all is well and things are on the upswing.  

I'll leave it at that for now.  Parenting in the era of COVID, in a big and diverse city, is a far cry from what Amy and I remember from our school days.  As parents, we're just trying to do our best to make room for our kids to grow up, safe and healthy and stimulated and stretched.  This 1st marking period check-in gives us some indication on how our kids are doing and how we're doing, for which we're thankful.