We went to the appointment yesterday at the "ayuntamiento" and pleaded our case one more time. We even asked about holding Jonathan back and putting him into 2nd grade, since he had missed most of this year in Spain, and all his friends his age in the States are in 2nd grade anyway. We had talked it over with Jonathan and he was ok with that, if it meant being in the same school as his brothers and sister.
In answer to that, we saw the social system in full
effect yet again. They said that Jonathan cannot be held back unless
there are several years of not being able to keep up academically with
his peers. I asked her point blank, "So, we as his parents, have no say
in what we think is the best for our son?" She kinda blinked at me... I
think she was taken back by the strange idea of parents deciding what
is best educationally for their child. She said, "No. Not here." My
heart sank. Jonathan was crying in my arms at that moment.
So, from there, we decided to visit the school. As
we pulled up, we were all a bit disappointed. It was obviously a very
old school... crammed into the middle of the city with not much space
around it. There was an empty lot next to it, completely overgrown and full of trash. It took us forever to find parking, but arrived at the
school just as the kids were getting out for lunch. They go from 9-1
and then go back from 3-4:30. Although, the majority of the kids eat in
the cafeteria and just stay the whole time.
Anyway, we walked in the front door and felt like we
stepped into another world... the school looked run down from the
outside; but inside, it felt like a loving little family. We were
amazed. We met the principal and he was surprisingly young... well, our
age. :) hehe... but definitely much younger than any principal we have
met in the past. He was so genuine and listened to all our concerns,
empathizing with our situation. He even called the principal of the
other school, asking her to make an exception for Jonathan. But, again,
the answer came back no. They are already too full for the 3rd grade.
When he came out and told us that, Jonathan cried... The principal
checked the vacancies in their school and all of our kids had spots at
THIS school... but Weston and Nathan both were adamant about going to
the other school. Carolina, on the other hand, fell in love with the
school. I'm not sure why, exactly, but she was begging to go there with
Jonathan.
Well, we thought, maybe that was the answer to our
prayer. As we walked through the school and met the teachers, everyone
was SO kind and very welcoming. The school is 1/4 the size of the other
school... it really is tiny. But it made it feel like a family. It was
really neat. We met 4 of the pre-school kids around Carolina's age
that ride the bus from our area. There is a teacher on the bus with
them, so that made me feel better. They will both have to eat at the
cafeteria, but when Jonathan saw what they were eating, he was all for
that!... they get dessert with each meal. :) (We did ask if the kids
could bring their lunch, since Carolina has so many intolerances, but
it's illegal. Crazy, huh? The government regulates what the kids eat.)
As we were leaving, Jonathan seemed to have totally
changed. He was good with the school. We met his teacher, and she was
really sweet. There's only 16 in his class, so that's really good...
normal size classes are 25. As we left, Jonathan even told Wes that God
had his brothers in the other school to tell them about Jesus, maybe HE
was supposed to be at this school so that HE could tell them about
Jesus. It made me tear up. Thank you all for praying. I'm sure it
won't be an easy road, but at least Jonathan has a peace at this point.
I'm thankful that he is able to see it from an eternal perspective,
because as we all know... that changes everything.
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