Tomorrow will be rather crazy. We will officially begin having four kids all attending school. There will be buses to meet at 7am, 7:30, 11:00, 11:30, 2:40pm, 3:26, and 3:35. In the midst of all that I'll be attempting to conduct school with Danya, Gloria, and a little bit with Kevin. Since tomorrow is Miss Lady's first day in her new school I'll be driving her in to meet with the person who outlines the rules and gives a brief overview of what's expected of every student.Last week we had to deal with some craziness involving Miss Lady's school situation. I'd already filled out the enrollment paperwork to get her set to start school here locally. We had decided to drive Miss Lady to her old school Wednesday through Friday so she could have a chance to say good-bye and transition somewhat. Then Daniel gets a call from the caseworker saying that Miss Lady's school councilor wants to drive her to school and back everyday so that Miss Lady doesn't have to change schools. But it seemed that nobody wanted to make a decision or consider the complications that would cause. So first I had a talk with the caseworker to explain why it was a terrible idea. Then I spoke to Miss Lady's school councilor and principal to explain it to them.
It was agreed that the councilor would subject the school to potential liability if there was an accident and could not be available to pick up and drop off Miss Lady for all her medical, family, and court appointments. They asked if she could ride a public bus if they gave her bus tokens, but I pointed out that the bus wouldn't always be available at a moment's notice for all her appointments either. There was also the complication of family members who attended the same school basically giving direct access to the parents. The main confusion was that the school personnel (who all adore Miss Lady) thought that she would be going home or to a relative placement in a week or two. That's just not likely to happen. Once I explained that Miss Lady and Thumbelina may be in foster placement for at least a month, maybe longer, they realized that the best idea would be for her to attend a local school until she leaves foster care. I'm just glad I could get it all settled on Friday.
In a final note, we also took Miss Lady and Thumbelina for eye doctor visits on Friday. They are both near sighted and will be getting glasses sometime in the next two weeks.
5 comments:
Poor kid. Switching schools is really hard at that age, she must be crushed. It would really, really be better if they would just let you keep her home for the month, rather than bouncing her to another school! Give her a hug from me, someone who switched schools in middle school and knows the stress of it.
Well, the problem is that we have no idea how long it will take. It could be a month, or it could be three months. There's no way of knowing. It depends on what her family does and what a judge decides. We can't just keep her out of school indefinitely. I wish we lived in a county that allowed us to homeschool foster children. Then she could just learn at home until it was time to go elsewhere. I really think she'll be okay at this school. We took the tour this morning. I also am someone who switched schools for middle school. She'll be okay.
hey jess i was talking to miss lady at chruch and she said she was scared going to a new school and was to scared to tell you. so I just thought you might want to know.
Bless her heart. I know everything is so scary for her right now but this can be a great time for you to be able to witness to her. Encourage her to pray for peace and courage and God will grant these to her. It will be neat to see God work in her life through this time.
I am sure she will become more and more comfortable about talking with you about things and you will be able to help her know how to handle her insecurities and fears. She will adjust. It may take a couple of weeks but she will. Pray, pray, pray with her and for her. I will pray for her too.
I agree totally, Kelly. I pray for her and with her (with all of our kids, actually) every night. I feel like God has given me multiple opportunities to share my faith with her and so many teachable moments. I think she's like a sponge just soaking it all up. I'm very encouraged that God is clearly working in her heart. Ever since I became a Christian as a teenager I knew that God was going to use my life experience as an opportunity to witness to teenage girls through our common history. It's amazing to see that coming true with not only Sarah and Shannon (our babysitters for the past two years) but now also with our foster daughters. I can't say it enough: God is good!
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