On June 17, 2010, Grace spent her last day as a student at Moiola Elementary. She will be a 6th grader in the fall at Fulton Middle School.
This was a bittersweet day because we had assumed all our children would attend Moiola from kindergarten through eighth grade. We imagined a happy, caring environment in which I could volunteer and be a big part of campus life. We liked the idea of all our children at the same campus for a longer time. We imagined everyone knowing our family and delighting in watching our kids grow in this safe, small, tight-knit neighborhood school. Trust me when I say that lots of people know our family, but I've had to mourn the educational dream I envisioned. I've had to realize that sometimes other situations are better for your children or for yourself.
So, instead of Moiola, the boys will continue with me at CAVA for third grade and then move to a traditional brick and mortar school in the years to come. And instead of Moiola, Grace is going to go to the middle school where hopefully she will have more academically appropriate classes and more opportunities for growth. She leaves behind so many wonderful friends (half her group is going to Fulton and half are staying) and the memories of many happy days. Moiola was a good place for Grace to grow and form lasting friendships and be in the classrooms of some pretty wonderful teachers.
Good-bye Moiola. Thanks for everything. You've set us on a new path, and for that, we are grateful.
Grace on her first day of Kindergarten. She's in her calm but confident pose.
Grace, standing on the front porch, which is our standard "first day of school" spot for pictures. She's wearing her favorite pink and brown Roxy surf outfit, complete with skirt -- yes, you read that right -- a skirt. 
My beautiful 11-year-old, with her yearbook and her glasses and her straight teeth and her new hairdo, ready to attend her last day of school.
Grace standing in front of Moiola's school sign. We are walking to the car after summer blast, after having friends sign her yearbook and after saying good-bye to some favorite teachers.
They were that little once. I miss their little smiles and sweetness.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry about your Moiola experience. It frustrates me because I feel like I should have done something. Strange huh? But that's the way I get when educators behave in ways that I do not expect them to. If you are an excellent educator, you are excellent all the time. Even the best make mistakes, but I've been very disappointed (and am dying to know why) about no one HELPING you. I guess Mr. W. was beginning to try, but I think you were pretty burnt by that time. Your experience has tainted mine a little in that there is a little shadow now about these folks that I thought were "excellent". Perhaps what happened needed to happen for you to get on the path of discovery you needed, but yuck. Why couldn't it have been a more pleasant journey. I guess we'll never know.