Fretting about the next school year already...

Here is a link to our Hawaii pictures if anyone is interested: Aloha. Just a warning that there are about a billion photos.

Today, I asked Cars' teacher about class placement for next year (1st grade!) and I asked her to put him in a class that is a job share class. Now, I swore I would never, ever, ever do that to my children again after Jax's 2nd grade disaster but the 1st grade job-share teachers are both really good teachers and really nice people so I don't anticipate the same problem. I also specifically asked her NOT to put him in the class that Dex had because the teacher would not be good for him. She was perfect for Dex and exactly what he needed at the time but really not what Cars needs. He is more "advanced" than Dex was at this point in the school year so I think he needs teachers who will push him more.

So, I have these forms to fill in by Friday for class placement. Cars' teacher told me to absolutely NOT put any teachers' names on the form or the principal will literally rip it right up without looking at the rest of the form (questions like how does your child learn best and my child's strengths). Then she wrote on a sticky note the names of the teachers I wanted and pulled out a stack of cards she keeps in her desk with all of the kids' names and put it on Cars'). We'll have to wait until the end of August to find out.

Now, I need to work on Dex's teacher. I don't want him to have the same teacher that Jax had last year. No joy whatsoever in that class. Another teacher I have heard just sits and knits all day long (but this is who one of the teachers that I know at the school wants her dd to get so maybe that class is not so bad?). The third class is a job share (4days/1day) and the fourth teacher is mean. Just plain mean. Now, I know that Spy wants her son to get Mean Teacher next year because she is a tough teacher. But Spy is tough and can put her in her place (and has put her in her place when Mean Teacher was mean to Spy's dd). I would not be able to do that if any problems arose with Dex so she is best avoided altogether.

With Jax though, I am running blind because I know absolutely NOTHING about the 6th grade teachers. One thing I could do for Jax today though was send a note to the 504 plan coordinator at the school to find out if the 6th graders will indeed be in the portables next year and request an accommodation because there is no running water - how will Jax wash his hands before he eats without having to run all the way back to the school to use the restroom.