School started on Tuesday, August 30th, and I think it is safe to say that all three kiddos were excited to get back to some level of normalcy. Taylor had been counting the hours until she started 7th grade in a new school. While Matty initially had some anxiety about his class assignment, he changed teachers after the first week of school and is much happier now. Brayden does not have any close friends in his class, but he is kind of a loner and needs to invest in some new friendships.
Taylor is now attending Cougar Mountain Middle School, a brand new middle school in our district. All children from Newcastle Elementary will now feed into this school, along with children from Cougar Ridge Elementary and some from Issaquah Valley Elementary. So while Taylor will see many, many new faces this year, she will still have her buddies from Newcastle. The construction of the new middle school is not yet complete, so on top of starting at a new school, she is now attending school at a temporary campus until the new building is ready later in the school year. I am super proud of her for rolling with the punches. She has a bounce in her step now that she is back at school full-time. She is in an Advanced Leadership class (elective) made up of primarily 8th graders, so she likes feeling empowered to make a difference at the new school.
Matty initially had Mrs. Binks for 5th grade. Mrs. Binks had a baby in August, so a long-term sub, Mrs. Cherry, is filling in while Mrs. Binks is on maternity leave. The strange thing is that Matty did not have ANY friends in his class. I mean NONE. Not only did he not have a close friend, he did not even have an "arms-length" friend in the class. It was truly bizarre. This is Matty's 6th year at the school and when he pulled out last year's yearbook to show me the kids in his class, I hardly even recognized anyone. The situation was heightened due to Covid. Classes are kept separate at lunch and recess, so Matty came home crying after the first couple days of school because he had to watch his buddies play kickball at recess and he could not join them. So, I did something I absolutely hate to do and reached out to the principal, Dr. Wood. Thankfully, Dr. Wood acknowledged that there was a mistake on his end - a boy from Matty's 4th grade class that was supposed to be in his 5th grade class moved over the summer. Since Matty had no boys in his class this year from 4th grade, as well as no close friends, Dr. Wood offered to move Matty into a different class. I gave Matty the option and told him to think about it for a few days. By the end of the first week, he said he wanted to switch. By the Tuesday after Labor Day, he was officially moved into Ms. Herr's class. Matty's buddy Blaine is in the class, as well as a few other "arms-length" friends, so he is much happier. Phew!
Brayden has Mr. Bland for 3rd grade. Mr. Bland is the only male teacher in the school, aside from the principal and dean of students. I've heard he is excellent, and I am super excited for Brayden. There are only 17 kids in Brayden's class this year, and I learned at Curriculum Night last night that those 17 students speak 8 other languages. Holy cow! My children are certainly growing up in a different environment than I did.
Below are some Back to School pictures. I pray they have the best year ever, despite the masks on their faces.
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