The First Day of School

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Standing in front of the pick-up/drop off hut

Impressions about the first day of school:

Sophie:

“I felt really excited and nervous. First of all, I didn’t have any friends, but everyone looked friendly and I also thought I might get lost and not be able to open my lock for my locker.”

“I love school, my class and my friends. Most of my friends are from North America but have lived in Africa their whole life.”

What do I like? “So far, no one has been misbehaving in class and everyone is really nice.”

“My homeroom advisor/teacher is very friendly and she is good at teaching English and Geography. My favorite classes so far have been Spanish and Music. It was really nice to have my home room teacher give me tips on going from class to class. There are 17 kids in my class and another 17 kids in the other 6th grade class.”

Peter:
“I was really nervous about the first day of school because I wasn’t ready to change to a new school and was scared of getting lost because it looked way bigger than Lowell.”

“My teacher told me to go to French class and I was really nervous about finding the right classroom. When I got to French class, the other kids could all speak French – and I don’t know any French, so I didn’t say much.”

“I really like it here. And like the fact that there’s grass at the school (Lowell Elementary in Tacoma has only black top, no grass), two huge soccer fields, an outdoor swimming pool and a tennis court.”

There are 19 kids in my class and another 20 kids in the other fourth grade class. My teacher’s name is Mrs. Bicknell; she’s British and has taught at the school for 6 years but has lived in Zambia for 15 years.

According to the note sent home to the parents, “the units of inquiry will investigate Peace and Conflict, Body Systems, Economic Systems, Values and Beliefs, Energy Sources and Geographical and Historical Exploration.” Wow, all that for fourth grade!

About the American International School:
There are about 500 kids, grade K – 12 with waiting lists for many of the grades (so we’re extra thankful that Peter got in!). They are on an International Baccalaureate Program with both primary and secondary programs (we’ll go to a parent’s information session next week to learn what this means!).


The school is located about 10 minutes from our house. We drive past a small shopping center (think small strip mall), past a huge cemetary where there are always lots of people, past the BMW and Land Rover car dealerships, then on an open stretch of road. The school has guards posted at the gates to let parents in/out.


Ironically, the mascot for the school is the leopard, just like the mascot the kids had at Lowell!





What does it mean to have a housekeeper?

Never having had a housekeeper, I wasn’t sure what Virginia was supposed to do…

Tonight, when I got home from work it dawned on me what Virginia does every day: the beds are made, shoes put away neatly in the closet, laundry done with clean clothes folded and put away (this morning I noticed that she even folds the dirty laundry in the basket!), the bathroom is spotless, the kitchen completely clean, the tile floors swept and mopped and the outside walkways swept.

And this happens EVERY DAY!

We are all going to enjoy this while we can (we’ll be weeping when we have to do our own cleaning back home). I’m pretty sure the kids haven’t even noticed that their beds are made each day. And, just so you know that we’re not total slackers, we do wash our own dishes in the morning and after dinner (ok, not every morning...but most mornings!). Virginia generally works 8am – 5pm, Monday – Friday and half day on Saturday.

It’s been GREAT!