Ahhh Florida, the Sunshine State. Land of beautiful beaches, fun filled theme parks, and...the worst school systems EVER! Never in a million years did I think it would be so difficult to register a kid for school!
Registering Belle for Kindergarten in Seminole County was fairly easy. I don't remember stressing about it much. But when we moved from Seminole County to Orange County, the new school district wanted every shred of info ever written on my child. I'm surprised they didn't need blood work and DNA samples! But nothing compares to our most recent move to Osceola County.
Belle is away on a trip with her father right now, so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to withdraw her from her old school and enroll her in her new school. I went to the school, took a tour, met the Assistant Principal and all seemed well. I went home and gathered all the paperwork I needed for registration, which took a few days. So today, packet in hand, I arrived at the school to complete the registration.
The Principal happened to be in the front office at the time, and he asked to see Belle's previous report card. I gladly handed it over, proud that my baby has had good grades in every subject. He looks, pauses, says "hmmm." He and the office staff exchanged glances, like they were all in on a big a secret they didn't want to tell me. He asked to speak to me in his office and I knew it wasn't going to be good.
Starting a conversation off with "I know this isn't want any parent wants to hear, but..." is never comforting. Nonetheless, he continued by informing me that the Florida class size law limits each classroom to 18 students per teacher. A first grader had registered a few hours before I got there and ALL first grade classes were now full. I looked at him with my, "I know I might seem ignorant, but how exactly is that possible" face. And he continued on that Belle is not advanced enough to be considered for the gifted program, where one seat remained. So, that left two options. She could either be placed in a Kindergarten or 2nd grade "combo class." (Don't ask me how it's considered a combo when she'd be the only first grader...) Or she could go to another school. Of course, the only other school that would provide bus transportation is the Charter Academy a few miles down the street. We wrapped up the conversation, but I remained very uncomfortable about the whole scenario.
At that point, I decided it wouldn't hurt to contact the Charter Academy to find out of they had any open availability. Lo and behold, they had spots open so I raced over there to take a tour. I loved it! (Dino loved it too since a nice lady that works there decided to give her a homemade croissant. That kid loves her food.) Belle will be enrolled first thing in the morning and her spot is being held for us in the meantime.
The moral of the story is: Don't wait until the last minute to do anything related to your child's education, especially if you live in Florida. Thankfully everything worked out and I think Belle will be very happy at her new school. But I never want to go through that mess again!
Registering Belle for Kindergarten in Seminole County was fairly easy. I don't remember stressing about it much. But when we moved from Seminole County to Orange County, the new school district wanted every shred of info ever written on my child. I'm surprised they didn't need blood work and DNA samples! But nothing compares to our most recent move to Osceola County.
Belle is away on a trip with her father right now, so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to withdraw her from her old school and enroll her in her new school. I went to the school, took a tour, met the Assistant Principal and all seemed well. I went home and gathered all the paperwork I needed for registration, which took a few days. So today, packet in hand, I arrived at the school to complete the registration.
The Principal happened to be in the front office at the time, and he asked to see Belle's previous report card. I gladly handed it over, proud that my baby has had good grades in every subject. He looks, pauses, says "hmmm." He and the office staff exchanged glances, like they were all in on a big a secret they didn't want to tell me. He asked to speak to me in his office and I knew it wasn't going to be good.
Starting a conversation off with "I know this isn't want any parent wants to hear, but..." is never comforting. Nonetheless, he continued by informing me that the Florida class size law limits each classroom to 18 students per teacher. A first grader had registered a few hours before I got there and ALL first grade classes were now full. I looked at him with my, "I know I might seem ignorant, but how exactly is that possible" face. And he continued on that Belle is not advanced enough to be considered for the gifted program, where one seat remained. So, that left two options. She could either be placed in a Kindergarten or 2nd grade "combo class." (Don't ask me how it's considered a combo when she'd be the only first grader...) Or she could go to another school. Of course, the only other school that would provide bus transportation is the Charter Academy a few miles down the street. We wrapped up the conversation, but I remained very uncomfortable about the whole scenario.
At that point, I decided it wouldn't hurt to contact the Charter Academy to find out of they had any open availability. Lo and behold, they had spots open so I raced over there to take a tour. I loved it! (Dino loved it too since a nice lady that works there decided to give her a homemade croissant. That kid loves her food.) Belle will be enrolled first thing in the morning and her spot is being held for us in the meantime.
The moral of the story is: Don't wait until the last minute to do anything related to your child's education, especially if you live in Florida. Thankfully everything worked out and I think Belle will be very happy at her new school. But I never want to go through that mess again!
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