Is Homeschooling all that's left for us or does God have a different plan?

 

I left a message at a Christian Academy, where I stood outside the call box of a church/school office and talked in tears to the most kindest, faceless, man-and this was a baptist church. I have never been inside a baptist church before! He said, "Someone will definitely get back to you, Miss. Now you calm down, the Lord is going to take care of you and your son." 

 

I'm a new southerner, a teacher, and a mom. As of yesterday, it looked like I may  be combining all three--at home. As of today, the Lord seems to have a different plan, but we will see.

This is a true story. The facts have not been changed to protect the guilty. To be honest, I am madder than I have ever been, but, I will smile, I will persevere, and I will follow where the Lord is ultimately leading me to go.

So picture my excitement a few months back--my husband gets a new job here in Atlanta after some terrible losses and multiple job interviews all over the United States. I do early research and land myself a 5th grade teaching spot with the Atlanta Public School System. I do early research and assure that my son can get into one of the better public schools in Atlanta, (as long as we live within the Atlanta Public School System). I do early research and secure us a nice home in a decent area (for Atlanta) that puts us in the correct school system. We move here. We get our stuff settled, we do some touring in Georgia (see my Savannah posts) and we are even enjoying the rainstorms of Atlanta. Welcome to the South!

Week 1: Upon arriving, I go directly to the school board to register my son. I followed all the applicable instructions for the school of choice options. The lady at the desk raises her eyebrows as I hand her my completed packet. "Oh wow. Miss, I'm sorry. I'm gonna have to send you to Dekalb County." She slides the packet back to me, matter of factly. Confused, I asked, "Dekalb county?" "Yes ma'm, two weeks ago there was a thing called "redistricting" and your home is on the back end of the cul-de-sac. This now puts you in Dekalb County." I am now trying to clear my head, stop myself from jumping through the window partition and going postal. I think to myself, "Sheri, you are a teacher. Calm yourself." So then I asked, "If I am going to be teaching for this district, can't my son attend the school I teach at?" She smiles and says, "Only if there is room in his grade level and only if the principal allows it." Whew....is that all?

Week 2: I have a meeting with my soon to be new principal. I will not be naming the school, nor the principal, as I am a teacher, and I do not want to be unprofessional. I will say, my principal was very empathetic, but seemed to have her hands tied. "I am so sorry Mrs. Saluto, but 3rd grade is filled. We are unable to allow it because it would be seen as favoritism. I can give you some private school options and they will discount highly for military and teachers. This is all I can do." Great. They want me to teach at their school, but my own child is "out of luck....?!?!" I breathe deeply, smile and say, "I understand. I will see what I can do."

***Sidenote: The reason I will not send my son to the Dekalb county school that is near us is because it is not a equally diverse school. My son would be the 1% minority. As much as I'd like to think my son could handle this socially, with the recent diagnosis of mild Asberger's/High Functioning Autism, I am going to say this wouldn't be handled overly well by him. In addition, the school ratings were tremendously low.

2nd half of week 2: My son has now tested at one of the best private schools in the country. Its an International IB school. He tests out at 2 levels beyond his grade level, so this should be a no brainer. They tell me they will give me an acceptance decision shortly, as long as there is space. I breathe. Everything is going to be alright.

Week 3: No response. Admissions calls at the end of the week to let me know they are still discussing the scheduling with their teachers.

Week 4: I badger the private school with calls daily with no luck in a call back. Apparently, our $14,000 in tuition isn't worth it? Yesterday, I get a bad, gut feeling. I begin researching other options and make another frantic call to my principal. No other solutions or saving could be done on that end. Finally, at the end of the day, I hear the news. The private school is just going to be too full this year. But, they will definitely have him on the list for next year. Well, gee that is some good news.  (My other thought is that someone else who can donate their millions to the school is more important then the middle class couple who has to get on the payment plan to make the tuition).

My thoughts yesterday--I have no place to send my child for school. I am a terrible mother. What am I going to do? We race off in search of some other private school options that were on my list. Most were full.

I left a message for one school, where I stood at the call box at the outside of a church/school office and talked in tears to the most kindest man ever--and this was a baptist church. He said, "Someone will definitely get back to you, Miss. Now you calm down, the Lord is going to take care of you and your son."

I leave somewhat deflated. My son looks at me through the rear view mirror of my car and says, "Mom, you are a teacher. Can't you just teach me?" Now there is an idea. Why didn't I think of that?

Actually, I had. The idea was swirling in my head when I was fearing response from the private school on the top of our list. But this means I also give up being in the classroom. I have already been in subbing mode for the past 2 years. I really, really, wanted to get back in the classroom. And what will people think? (Wait a minute- never mind, I don't care what other's think)

Deep breaths. We get home. My husband gets home. We talk. Matthew was so awesome. "Just do what you need to do. Homeschool him."

So, all my teaching stuff comes out, my son looks a bit feared now (because he knows I am going to push hard as a teacher) and I call up the principal at my school. "Sorry this is such short notice. But it looks like I have no other options. I am not willing to sacrifice my son's education for a class of 25 other kids. I will be homeschooling him this year. Maybe next year will be different."

Today, was the first day of home school.

Last night, I set up a schedule. In addition to the high academics I have set out to have him achieve, I have him enrolled in over 4 extra curricular activities, to include TaeKwonDo, Gymnastics, Boy Scouts, Chess, and Science Club. Socialization is not going to be a problem, which is honestly, what I was worried about. The stigma with kids who are home schooled has changed so much from the time I was a kid. Where did I miss this?

At 7:30am this morning, we began. My assessments took most of the day today. Since I taught through Teach for America, utilizing high rigor content and solid assessments, as a teacher, I can say that it looks like my son will be jumping through the 4th grade common core standards instead of 3rd grade due to his outstandingly high levels. I'm pleased. Our day went well. We hit Language Arts & Math, breaked for lunch and some errands, came home and did Social Studies, Science, and writing. I am following common core standards and the reading materials that public schools are using (in addition to numerous others).

However---I got a call today, too.

Remember the private Christian Academy (K-12), the one at the Baptist Church yesterday where I blubbered to some man on a call box? Well, not only do they have room, but one of their teachers just had to quit last minute, so they need a elementary teacher too. The director called and said, "Can you come bring your son tomorrow and also bring in your resume? Our school year starts on August 30th...just a couple of weeks away. Maybe we can solve a few problems with one meeting!!"

Have I done my research on this school? Yes. Will it be a good move? Quite possibly.


Hmm....and so the plot has thickened. How the story continues has yet to be discovered, but I know, that no matter what, we are taken care of.

Tune in tomorrow....