Some School Changes

I have a prayer request regarding the beginning of the school year, mostly for Aiden.

Last week, we received his teacher notification. He had been assigned to the 2nd grade teacher we had been hoping for - the TAG coordinator who had been involved in the behavioral meetings, knew Aiden's TAG needs exactly, and had assisted us in creating an individualized education/behavioral plan for him. She knew his areas of struggle and what he needed in order to excel. We were ecstatic! Fist pump, did a little dance, and felt really, really good about this next school year. I felt like God had totally set this up for us.....and then it was ripped out from underneath us.

On Saturday, I missed a call from the school and over voicemail I found out that Aiden had been reassigned to another teacher due to "enrollment changes". A teacher that we have never met, who has never met Aiden, who has not been involved with the planning over the last school year, who knows nothing about him beyond whatever paperwork she's been given. I cried. I was angry, disappointed, and suddenly completely uneasy about the school year. The stress of the situation hit me like a ton of bricks.

After a little while, I decided to email the principal with my concerns. I knew that the likelihood of Aiden being switched back to the other teacher was low, but I knew I needed to be an advocate for my child and at least make sure the principal was aware of my concerns. Since I want the situation to be taken seriously and also want to be a team player with my child's educational system, I kept my email calm and understanding of sudden changes. I outlined exactly why I was worried and then asked simply to be reassured by the principal that they had placed Aiden in the best possible situation and that we would have access to any support we needed if we hit any bumps along the way.
He emailed me back promptly, with a compliment on the tone of my email - saying it was by far the easiest to read and respond to all day (which made me very happy that I had not panicked and sent an emotional email). He provided me with plenty of reassurances and promises that we could utilize him, Aiden's 1st grade teacher, the TAG coordinator, and anyone else we needed to help Aiden transition to a new teacher.

So, I feel.....better. I guess. I think it helped just getting my concerns out there to someone who is familiar with the situation and knows about the teacher. We know that she taught a 4th/5th grade combo class last year, which may make it easier for Aiden to get more advanced material. I am still nervous, but we have discussed the situation with Aiden and gone over how we expect him to handle the transition. Aiden had been very excited to get the teacher we wanted, so he was disappointed about the change and then nervous that his friends would not be in the same class. We called a few families and found that they had all been moved to the same class, so that was reassuring for him. He actually handled the disappointment very well and still seems to be excited for school to begin.

We did discover a few hours later that the reason for the change is that Aiden's original teacher had to be moved to teaching kindergarten, which means she's actually Nathan's teacher now. That also makes me a feel a little better since we will be in frequent contact with her and she can be familiar with us for TAG purposes that way.

This all may (and probably will) work out just fine. But it definitely threw a kink in things and we are hoping that it doesn't set things back significantly for Aiden. So just keep us all in prayer if you can. We have high hopes for this school year!