Why we are leaving a school we love.

I told the school today that Sarah would not be coming back and I fought back tears. It is very hard to leave a school as well as a community that we love and a place in which we have great memories.


These are the reasons we are leaving:


Sarah is close to a straight A student; however,  she struggles with reading and writing.  The school put her in Small group in third grade and it went down from there.  The small group allows her to get extra tries on answers, have everything read to her and get easier tests and assignments. It did not bring her up but held her back.


Her teacher assured me that Sarah was getting the same tests and assignments as everyone else. I found this to be untrue and had to confront the teacher. When a teacher lies to you it doesn't sit well..twice


I eventually spoke to the principal about my concerns after weeks of conferences and emails with the teacher. It took me three weeks to get a conference with him and he was 2 and a half hours late. I expressed my concerns and asked for some answers. I never received any follow up, that was a month ago.


The school has tracked Sarah and really doesn't seem to care. They have very low expectations of her which is why they feel it necessary to dumb down her curriculum  just so she can get an A. 


We have little or no homework. Almost everything she gets Sarah seems to be able to finish in class. They say she learns differently (slower) yet she has time to finish all her homework in class.


I feel like I will regret not giving Sarah the best chance to really learn if I keep her here and that would be really unfair. I need to see how far she can soar academically.


So that is why we are leaving in a nutshell. 


 Here is what we love and will miss.


We love the faith based education.


We love the k-8 model and how the middle schoolers interact with the little ones.


We love the discipline and the uniforms and the clear cut rules.


We love the structure and the history of the school and the involvement of the church and pastor.


We love the friendships we have made


We love May Crowning, the School Play, Fish Fry, Girl Scouts and all the way the principal addresses Sarah by name in the morning. 


We will miss all of these things but we look to school to educate first and foremost. I am confident we will raise a lovable, moral, christian, empathetic person with good values.  And let's face it ,many kids around this age do not act in a way that that is particularly christian.  I see a lot of mean, gossipy bullying children. This is everywhere and I am sure Sarah is not above some drama, in fact I know it.   If in the process of getting her to be a better reader, writer and thinker, we by pass some of the drama, all the better.


Of course I go back and forth but mostly it is my own insecurities because Sarah is excited about the next year and deep down so am I. Telling the school was a big step toward our next adventure into homeschooling and  I  am glad it is done..onward.