Pomp and Circumstance

It's official - my daughter "graduated" from pre-school today. She was pretty sad on the drive to the sitters when I told her that she would never be going back to pre-school again. She's concerned that she won't see her friends never ever again. I tried to explain that when she starts kindergarten in the fall she's probably going to have at least one of her pre-school friends in her kindergarten class. I then told her that even if she doesn't have any of them in her kindergarten class, she'll see them at school.

Several years ago our elementary school district did grade siting. I didn't care, I didn't have a kid in school at that time. The only real problem I see is that if you live across the street from the school and your kid is too young/old for that school, they have to go across town. Big deal.

So, what does grade siting mean? Well, the school my daughter will be going to in the fall has 4 kindergarten classes, 2 junior first grade classes (for those not quite ready to go from kindergarten to 1st grade) and 4 1st grade classes. That's it. One school with nothing but kindergarten and 1st graders. As a parent, I think it's a great idea. It pretty much stays like that through all the elementary grades: another school has all 2nd and 3rd grade, another has all 4th and 5th and the junior high has 6th, 7th and 8th. They also make sure that at recess and lunch time you are only with your grade level, so all kindergarten classes eat lunch at the same time, have recess at the same time.

Do you remember when you were in kindergarten and had recess with 4th graders? Didn't really matter then because things were sooooo much different (damn society today). Now we've got grade schools with metal detectors and more kids in juvi than anyone wants to admit. They even made a school that has nothing but "trouble" kids, around here it's call the BD School - Behavioral Disabilities. Get a grip! A kid packing heat in grade school isn't a disability - it's a lack of parents that give a crap!

But, I digress.

So, my daughter has taken her first big step in the process of becoming an adult - she graduated pre-school. How cool is that?