Class of 2015!

Yesterday Mike & I attended High school Orientation for Courtney. Just 9 years ago were sat in the multi-purpose room at Cayuga Heights elementary school for Kindergarten orientation. How in the WORLD did time go by so fast? I remember each second of that orientation 9 years ago. How is it that she is ready for High School already? To be a freshman? How is it that I am old enough to even have a child ready to enter that huge building and graduate in just 4 more short years? If I thought the first 9 flew by, how fast will the next 4 go? Will I even see it happen? Wow!!


I really enjoyed last night though. I am also, even more glad that I will never have to go back to high school again! Man, I could NEVER pass the requirements that these children now have to meet. Not only that, but New York State is implementing new Educational standards and our children , the Class of 2015, will be the first ones to try it out. The standards are being set quite high. Some things they are pretty sure that will be changing are the passing grades, up from 65 to now an 80 in most classes. This is going to be hard for those students who really really struggle. Also An extended school year and longer school days. This is nothing really new in our area, as charter schools now make up a large part of the WNY area, they have already implemented this into everyday routine. I personally think it’s a great idea. I am SURE the kids think otherwise. The way school has changed was amazing to me too. Although, coming from a City school, this could just be how things are in “burbs” I wouldn’t really know. But they have Link Teams, so the kids always feel welcome. Each group of 10 children are assigned 2 upperclassman who take the Freshmen under their wings so to speak, and invite them to events, do team building exercises with them over the summer & acclimate them to the change from Middle to high school. And this isn’t just for a couple of months, they have these leaders the ENTIRE year. They also have “freshman Academy” so they have a core group of teachers,that teach ONLY the freshman. The core classes are kept to one part of the school (math, ELA, social) to make them feel more comfortable, and only are the sciences and electives scattered throughout. The choices these kids have amaze me. I don’t know how I would ever be able to make a schedule with all the options that are out there! 22 credits are required to graduate, and the children are already coming into high school with 1 full credit thanks to the LOTE programs at the middle school level!

I brag quite often about how much I truly Love our school district. Since Courtney’s been in Kindergarten, to Caden needing special needs in another district to Colin requiring a special needs preschool, we have had the best luck. Mike and I have talked about moving out of state for a while. We know now, that we want to move to Colorado when that time comes, however, It will not be until our children are out of school. It’s noted that some of the best schooling is on the East coast. I’ve come across people who’ve left the west and come east for this reason. We will be sitting tight here for the next 12 years.

When you have friends and family tell you to enjoy those elementary school years for what they are worth…. Listen to them. One day, your going to wake up like me and wonder how your teenager ended up in High School!

The Cat Ate my Homework

Can you believe it’s already the 100^th day of school for the 2010/2011 school year? Caden has officially been in Kindergarden for 100 days. Of course, there was a pretty neat homework project to go along with this milestone. The kids had to come up with 100 items of any sort and find a neat way to display then. I thought we would make a “fish tank” and have a 100 days of “fish” school. So we went to the pet store and got the coral picture backing for a real fish tank and bought some colored Goldfish crackers. We gluded groups of 10’s to the picture and had ourselves a little fishtank! It looked adorable and we got lots of lessons out of it as well. The color of the fish, counting to 10, grouping in 10’s and counting by 10’s to 100 to name only a couple of them. Caden LOVED doing this. So as we went to bed Sunday night, we left the project on the counter to dry. Wouldn’t you know it when we woke up in the morning, Mason (the baby kitty -5 months) ATE a decent amount of them! There were crumbs all over the place and missing fishys everywhere! Bummer!! We ended up having to bring the project into school a day early and sent Caden with glue and fish to fix it, so the cat wouldn’t eat it again. In hindsight it really is quite funny! Mason, we are pretty sure thinks he is part dog. That’s for another story! But really… how many kids can say, and Mean,

“The Cat ate my homework?”