The Tuesday after Labor Day Bryn started first grade at a new school - Penn Valley Elementary. Nama came up the night before and hung out with Bryn, a nice diversion from thinking about the first day and all of the unknowns. Ken saw her off, too, and his being home in the morning meant that Bryn (and Luke) started her/their day with chocolate chip pancakes. Entering her class on the first day, Bryn knew two kids from her kindergarten class, our next-door neighbor (who has a record of bad behavior), and a good friend, Maya Silbert, who attended PVES last year for kindergarten. There are 8 other kids at our bus stop -- next door neighbors Drew and Trenton Davis; Jack and Cooper Driscoll; Bryn and George Rieke, Liam Rodgers, and a 5th grader Serena who's attendance at the bus stop is sporadic.
Luke, who in the first week of school is already complaining about having to wait for the bus, wished that he could have gone to Penn Valley, too.
Ken left work early to meet Bryn at the bus stop at the end of her first day, and I'm delighted to report that she said the first day was "the best day of [her] life." She said that when the buses first pulled up to the front entrance, some of the staff were playing with toy guns that shot out bubbles, and the principal was making bubbles with a ring as big as a hula hoop. What a terrific welcome and a wonderful way to convey the message that school is meant to be fun. Bryn's teacher's name is Mrs. Mignogna, pronounced "Min-yo-na." She worked at a Big Four accounting firm before switching to teaching. She taught in Paris for two years before joining Penn Valley where she's in her third or fourth year as a first grade teacher. Bryn likes Mrs. Mignogna, but Ken and I are a bit concerned about disruptive behavior that we have been hearing about. The first Friday of the school year, someone had placed a tack on Mrs. Mignogna's chair. Bryn's class had to reveal what was in their pockets -- guilty until proven innocent, it would seem. Bryn has been processing everything -- the new schedule, the new faces, the new teacher, the new classroom, etc., and hasn't been able to fall asleep before 9:30 each night. Bryn hasn't been challenged academically yet. I've heard that the schools get off to a slow start. Parent-teacher conferences aren't until November, but I may request to meet with the teacher in October to learn how Bryn will be challenged and how disruptive students are managed. But from Bryn's perspective, she's excited about school, and that's the most important thing at this early stage. So far so good.
The Tuesday after Labor Day Bryn started first grade at a new school - Penn Valley Elementary. Nama came up the night before and hung out with Bryn, a nice diversion from thinking about the first day and all of the unknowns. Ken saw her off, too, and his being home in the morning meant that Bryn (and Luke) started her/their day with chocolate chip pancakes. Entering her class on the first day, Bryn knew two kids from her kindergarten class, our next-door neighbor (who has a record of bad behavior), and a good friend, Maya Silbert, who attended PVES last year for kindergarten. There are 8 other kids at our bus stop -- next door neighbors Drew and Trenton Davis; Jack and Cooper Driscoll; Bryn and George Rieke, Liam Rodgers, and a 5th grader Serena who's attendance at the bus stop is sporadic. 
Luke, who in the first week of school is already complaining about having to wait for the bus, wished that he could have gone to Penn Valley, too. 
Ken left work early to meet Bryn at the bus stop at the end of her first day, and I'm delighted to report that she said the first day was "the best day of [her] life." She said that when the buses first pulled up to the front entrance, some of the staff were playing with toy guns that shot out bubbles, and the principal was making bubbles with a ring as big as a hula hoop. What a terrific welcome and a wonderful way to convey the message that school is meant to be fun. Bryn's teacher's name is Mrs. Mignogna, pronounced "Min-yo-na." She worked at a Big Four accounting firm before switching to teaching. She taught in Paris for two years before joining Penn Valley where she's in her third or fourth year as a first grade teacher. Bryn likes Mrs. Mignogna, but Ken and I are a bit concerned about disruptive behavior that we have been hearing about. The first Friday of the school year, someone had placed a tack on Mrs. Mignogna's chair. Bryn's class had to reveal what was in their pockets -- guilty until proven innocent, it would seem. Bryn has been processing everything -- the new schedule, the new faces, the new teacher, the new classroom, etc., and hasn't been able to fall asleep before 9:30 each night. Bryn hasn't been challenged academically yet. I've heard that the schools get off to a slow start. Parent-teacher conferences aren't until November, but I may request to meet with the teacher in October to learn how Bryn will be challenged and how disruptive students are managed. But from Bryn's perspective, she's excited about school, and that's the most important thing at this early stage. So far so good.
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