Public School Again

This year we enrolled two of our foster sons in a school we had first tried out a couple of years ago. The school we'd been enrolling kids in got relocated to a new building farther away from us, so we returned to this one. It's a good school with supportive office staff. We were going to have two boys in one second grade class together, but two days before class started, one of the boys "Music Man" was moved to a pre-adoptive home.

"Spaceman Spiff" liked his class and his teacher, but we had some issues with him hiding his homework and pretending he didn't have any. The teacher and I had to stay in close contact. Then there was a substitute one day who ignored "Spiff's" requests to use the bathroom and made him wait until the designated break time. Of course, due to physical issues, he was a stinky mess by then, but she failed to notice and he was too embarrassed to tell her. He ended up finishing out the day and riding the bus home like that. I admit I wasn't exactly even tempered when I called to explain the situation to the school secretary. I'd taken the time before school began to explain all his problems and how to prevent them with his teachers and school support staff, but no one had bothered to leave a note for the sub.

I've never had a kid with as severe issues as Spaceman Spiff and I hope to avoid that level of special needs in the future. However, we did miss him when he was moved to a therapeutic home. He had a good heart and a sweet nature. We've also never had 3 boys, unrelated to each other, all with special needs at the same time. It was quite a challenge.