Thankful for Our Village At Sarah Winnemucca

 

First day of elementary school

Last day of elementary school!

Josh officially ended his time in elementary school today.  Because he started in preschool, he has been attending elementary school for NINE years - most of his life, and more than most of us stay at any one work place these days!  I was so scared to send my tiny, vulnerable, three year old to this enormous school building - his backpack weighing almost more than him as we passed by the upper grade kids who looked like giants.  That first day, I just didn't know how in the world it was going to work at all.  I am thrilled to say that this first, and biggest, chunk of school has gone great:  we have seen him grow so much in every way - physically, emotionally, academically, socially - and it's largely thanks to the village of adults at the school.  So this post is an ode to all of Josh's elementary teachers and teams, with all the reasons I think you're great!

First, we've been so blessed to have great general education teachers every year who come up with creative ideas that make the kids want to go to school and want to learn.  These teachers have done everything from guided art drawings to a passports around the world project to read alouds with great books that the kids can't wait to hear what comes next in the story to making the classroom a town with its own economy and everyone has jobs.  I've loved Josh's teachers so much each year that I always request to get them for Zoey too (and they've been great in teaching her too! - I could write a whole separate post about what a help and encouragement they've been in developing her love of reading and writing - but for today, I'm focusing on Josh's experience).

Second, we've had an IEP team and administrators who have given him a robust IEP that supports all his needs without making it a fight.  I've talked to tons of families both in and out of our school district and know exactly how rare this is.  All the support has been a huge blessing to him, and the without a fight has been terrific for me :).

Third, the school staff really got to know him.  Everyone knew the kinds of topics and books that projects that would be of most interest.  As an example of this:  there were a couple years where Josh was really into bridges, and the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse in particular.  This bridge collapse from the 1940s was caught on video and is sometimes used to teach college engineering students about aeroelastic flutter - Josh enjoyed watching it and could tell you all about the physics behind it.  Anyway, the school used to do science days, where students would go to different classrooms throughout the day and learn about different science related topics - one of the presentations on offer that year was his favorite, the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse video.  Josh came home so excited, and I'm not sure exactly which teacher or staff made this happen, but what a wonderful thing.

Fourth, they believed in him and they operated from a growth mindset.  They started where he was at, but also saw where he could go, and consequently, we saw great growth.  It would be easy to go through the motions and provide services without any heart, not really believing in the student's ability to make progress.  We never had this - we always had team members that cared, that believed growth was possible, and we consistently saw progress.

Fifth, the school really prioritized treating everyone with kindness, and consequently we had really good experiences through the years with both staff and students valuing and including my kid.  The former principle deserves huge credit for setting this tone, along with all the teachers and staff for living it out day after day.

I can easily imagine a different school experience where any of these things weren't true - where we had to deal with bullying, or fight for our kid to get the same kind of education as others, or where school was just a miserable thing.  I am extremely grateful to all the teachers who put in the extra care and extra effort (even in challenging covid years!) to make these elementary years so great.  Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.  There really aren't words to adequately convey how much this means to me.

I hope you all have an awesome summer!  Maybe we'll cross paths in the Sierra Nevadas!  I wish you all the best.