1st Grade

Unbeknownst to Collin, the decision on where to send him to first grade has been a topic of great deliberation and debate at our house for the better part of this year. Last fall, Bloomington Public Schools announced new attendance boundaries for all elementary schools following a year-long Elementary Neighborhood School Renewal Project (ENSRP) that were intended to balance student enrollment among elementary schools, create space for new and existing programs, and enhance overall program quality. Our neighborhood school was designated as Westwood, the school where Collin was attending kindergarten. Overall, we were ambivalent about our experience at Westwood; we all loved Collin's teacher, but had some concerns about Collin's social development. He frequently mentioned "fight club" and "gangs" (Mrs. Johnson's gang vs. Mrs. Otten's gang), and was despondent every morning about going to school. We didn't really know what was going on...but something just didn't feel right.

In January, we applied for an intra-district transfer, exercising our right to move from our designated neighborhood school. We had heard great things about Hillcrest Community, an elementary school that recently implemented an arts based curriculum called the Leonard Bernstein Artful Learning program. We also filled out an application for 7 Hills Classical Academy, a local charter school with a reputation of excellence in Bloomington that contributed to the "crazy" that surrounded Collin's first week of kindergarten. At the beginning of March, right around Collin's 6th birthday, we were informed that the district was unable to fulfill our transfer request and that Collin was #10 on the waiting list for 1st grade at 7 Hills.

Then...out of the blue, we were notified at the end of May that a spot had become available for Collin at both Hillcrest and 7 Hills. We interpreted the unlikely placements as a sign that it would be best for Collin if we pulled him out of Westwood. We scheduled tours of both schools with Collin. His assessment of Hillcrest was "boring"; by the time we toured, the janitors had already begun summer cleaning so the rooms were unkempt, there were no students or teachers in the building, and he determined some of the teachers were "mean" after examining their photos on the wall. He was very uncomfortable with the subject of changing schools, so Adam and I agreed to keep our discussions at a minimum. On his own, he started asking peers if they knew anything about Hillcrest. One day after Summer Safari, Collin came home and announced that Collin H. and Tommy went to Hillcrest, and said "it was a great school, with better teachers than Westwood". Collin wasn't entirely convinced, but at least he was no longer resistant to the idea of switching schools.

In order to prepare for his big transition, we went school supply shopping on August 19. We started at Sport Authority to buy Collin and new pair of running shoes, and to our surprise, his feet had grown from a size 3 this spring to a size 5. During the summer we also transitioned Collin from size 7 clothes to size 8. On September 1, we attended the Hillcrest Open House, where we met Collin's new teacher, Mrs. Blackwood and the student teacher who will be in Collin's room until Oct 27, Miss Jones.

Breakfast of champions, toaster waffles! Before we left for Kid Safari, Collin knelt down in front of the freezer to examine the "Today I Feel" magnet Adam brought home from work. He asked Adam if any of the faces said "nervous"; Adam pointed him to "stressed." After dinner I noticed Collin moved the purple square from "stressed" to "happy"!
On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, Collin boards bus 168 at the end of our block [at the intersection of Harrison and 109th] at approximately 8:47AM. The Hillcrest school day is from 9:10AM to 3:30PM.
He is scheduled to return on bus 169 at 3:59PM; however the bus drivers haven't yet found their groove. Today, Collin's third day of riding the bus, I made my second panicked call to Adam from the bus stop; the first was on Wednesday (Sept 7), because the bus was 20 minutes late. This afternoon the bus blew past Aaron, Nolan and I on our way to get Collin, who failed to disembark the bus at his stop. When Adam asked Collin why he forgot to get off the bus he shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know, we were in the back of the bus talking about fishing."

According to my math, our bus ridership success rate is only 33%. There is definitely room for improvement.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Collin attends Kid Safari; Mom drops him off on her way to work and Dad picks him up with Aaron and Nolan in tow from Jane's in Eden Prairie and then takes him to BAA soccer at Lincoln Fields. We are contemplating a an additional activity, chess club from 3:30 to 4:45 on Mondays beginning October 3 and running through November 14; however, I'm not sure how much more running around we can handle at the moment...

...and everyone just keeps telling me this is only the beginning.