Middle School Orientation

It's official summer is over...do you know how I know? We attended orientation for school this evening...ACK! I think starting school the second week of August is absurd. I hail from a state (Florida) and a time when they did not begin school until after Labor Day. This did not result in us staying in school all summer, in fact we were out of school the first week of June.

Our teachers did not have (2-3) scheduled teacher work days per month, we didn't observe every possible, county, city, state and federal holiday. We were not required to go to school at 6:30 and not return home until 4pm and our teachers did not spend 85% of the school year teaching for a standardized test. We actually were taught the fundamentals of reading, writing and math. We had classes to assist with our hand writing and special interest and get this I attended public school and graduated with a sound...good even education.

Our daughter attends a private school a decision, which wasn't drive by choice but more of a necessity in the town we reside in. We were "scared" when we viewed the public school report cards when it came time to enroll her in school. They have made marked improvement in some areas but the environments in most of our schools is still scary at best! I just hope as time marches on we will be provided with more options than those we are currently provided.

While our daughter is excited about reuniting with her school friends, I am going to miss the slower pace of summer. Waking to the smell of coffee or the barking of our dogs vs. that of that wretched alarm clock. This school year brings with it the addition of a new hair cut and make-up for the first time this should make our mornings "Oh so joyful".

So for now I bid summer a fond farewell and I begin the countdown to fall break, which is only a mere (60) days away....yippee!