First Day of 10th Grade
Anna is 16 years old and starting her sophomore year in high school as a 10th grader. She had a fantastic summer, completing ESY and CampCAMP without any major incidents. We met with transportation yesterday to introduce Anna to her new driver and aide. They were wonderful as was the new routing specialist and I’m happy they were able to find a route for Anna at all. Since we transferred her to Canyon Lake, finding a bus was going to be challenging. I didn’t mind driving her to school but it doesn’t help her with her future independence. But the bus creates so much anxiety for her. Anna is the 5th one picked up at 7:06 a.m., then they pick up another student, then they drop off the elementary kids at the elementary school, then they go pick up three more high school students, then go to the high school, arriving around 8:35 a.m. It’s a long drive. (They’ve changed the secondary school hours this year and school starts at 8:45 and gets out at 4:15.) They really need to add a route just for the secondary students. Anna started texting me from the bus about 20 minutes into the drive, then she called me an hour later crying. Ugh. I got her talked down and she seemed okay when we hung up. I showered then dashed over to the school to drop off her mid-day meds for the nurse before I went to my dentist appointment. I got there at 9:25… and Anna was standing outside the building with Ms. April… she still hadn’t gone in. Double ugh. I know in my heart it’s going to be a good year, I know it is. I just wish the start of it wasn’t so hard on her. I may end up driving her in the mornings if they can’t fix the schedule. We’ll see.
Nikon D750 | 85mm | f/1.8 | 1/250 | ISO 800
First Day of 8th Grade
Dominic is 13 years old and starting his last year in middle school as an 8th grader. He also had a fantastic summer, completing Boy Scouts camp and Duke TIP camp. And he leaves this Friday to go to Harry Potter World with his big sister and brother-in-law! He is taking 4 pre-AP classes this year (US History, English, Science, and Algebra) and he has a really good core group of friends (and tons of support from the administration and staff at Church Hill). Dominic is the most stable I’ve ever seen him. Organization will be his big challenge this year and staying on top of turning in assignments (and not staying up too late!). I hope that he sees his strengths and can start believing in himself more this year. He is a great kid!
Nikon D750 | 85mm | f/2.8 | 1/250 | ISO 200
I am so stinking proud of my children. They work very, very hard to manage their complicated genes and challenges. They deserve happiness and we are doing everything we can to help them find some. Our village of friends, family, neighbors, educators, doctors, and therapists all help us. Here’s to a great school year! Hear hear! Thanks for looking.
