end of the dilemma

Well folks, the great kindergarten dilemma is solved.

back story:

Mesa Public Schools over the last 4ish years has offered more and more full day kindergarten, but has usually maintained a 1/2 day class for the few die hard moms out there. With the budget cuts this year it was rumored that all K would be 1/2 day - yipee for me. At the last minute MPS magnanimously "came through" for all those deprived kindergartners and said "full day for all"! I was SAD!

Here is the deal, I like 1/2 day. It has been proven over and over that there is no great academic advantage to full day, the kids have a REALLY hard time with it the 1st half of the year because, let's face it, a full day of school is LONG even or big people, and from personal experience, the full day K I taught forever ago was a VERY hard class (tired, ornery kids).

For a while it looked like there were no real alternatives. If you really wanted 1/2 day you could come pick up your kid at lunch and have them miss whatever the teacher was going to teach every afternoon - what an option. Or you could go charter - not really my style and with a new baby I wasn't excited about driving to ad from school twice a day.

I especially wanted 1/2 day for Emily because she is so young - she will barely be 5 at the beginning of the year and lets face it, she is slightly high strung and I would miss that kid if she were gone all day. I need a weaning year.

MPS finally decided there was enough interest in real 1/2 day to offer it at some schools and bus everyone to those schools. So, it has come to pass that Diana will go to MacArthur for 1st grade and Emily will go to Hermosa Vista for 1/2 day kindergarten. I must admit I was slightly daunted by the neighborhood where Emily's new school is located. The homes are HUGE!!! One has to wonder what some of these people do for a living. There cannot be that many trust funds out there (or can there??). I fear Emily and her family will be the decided heathens of the class. At least our friend Sage is going too - her mom says she will represent the ragamuffins - Em will take care of representing the heathens.

I feel better now that this is all resolved - losing sleep over Emily's intro to education was been trying. She is a very sweet little thing and deserves a nice kindergarten.