Back to it

School that is.

The girls both seem very happy to be back in school . Daughter #1 (8th) has advanced math, and has been invited to take a H.S. algebra class after school. Amazingly even though I couldn't get her to look at ANY math over the summer, she wants to take it!!!
Daughter #2 has the same excellent 3rd grade teacher #1 had, they should get along great. She loves school more than any kid I've ever seen.

School Politics: As of today, I'm down to one naysayer from the Local School council hubub I rambled about not long after I first opened this blog.
The details of this "battle" go back about three years, today was the next to last hatchet buried. A mom who signed a petition to request a new election after another candidate lost last year (only five people signed). The petition had been produced by my (now only) self proclaimed arch-enemy. This mom who had signed it came up to me and apologized for signing it. She said she had voted for me last spring, and was afterwards led astray by said "self proclaimed arch-enemy". I've known this lady for about 5 years and told her not to worry about it. I mentioned that I never held it against her, nor would I. I also related the experience of having many folks not talk to me for YEARS when we selected our current principal (who now everyone agrees... is the best principal ever!). Now that we've had two solid years of phenomenal test score growth and all the kids, parents, and teachers are happy, do we have the same number of "friends" down at school that we had before the hubub. There were a couple of the old council's elder statesmen who were feeding the "arch-enemy" with naysaying ammo (so they would not look to be counter-productive to the council by spouting it themselves). Fortunately, their kids have graduated, and they are no longer on the council. It took three years of being on the receiving end of many a cold stare and bit@# session to make it to this point. Every parent (who still has kids there) and teacher who griped to me (or the council), has since come up and said, that while it was a rocky start, this is the best the school has been in years, and many have thanked me and the other council members for doing what was right for the kids, instead of what the previous administration wanted.
Well.....every parent except one....she still has a lot of anger...for no apparent reason that I can tell. I've extended an open olive branch for three years to anyone with a gripe. Everyone else has come to there senses, it's time to just smile and wave.