Get ma gun.
We went to a preliminary parents meeting at Em’s new middle school last night. It’s definitely a world away from her current school. At Em’s current school, the school population is more than half native Spanish speakers, so all the assemblies for parents are translated. A school official will speak, and then pass the mike to a translator who will repeat what they said then pass the mike back, etc. At her new school, I only saw one face that I would automatically identify as Latina, and there was no translator. I would never begrudge the translators – I definitely want ALL the parents to be as involved as possible in their kids education – but I do have to admit it probably sped the meeting up a bit.
At Em’s current school, there are box tops and soup labels saved for school equipment. There is a candy sale, a magazine sale, a book fair… any little way they can get money for the school. Because they really, really need it. At Em’s new school, they apparently dispense with the sales and tell the parents once a year, “Okay, time to donate to support the school.” They said last night that they raised $72,000 that way. I’d be surprised if Em’s current school made $5,000 last year. It’s only a few miles away, but it’s a totally different economic world.
I am absolutely not slamming Em’s current school. The teachers there are top-notch and bring their A-game every day. The students are kind, compassionate, smart and hard-working. I have no idea how that compares to the new school yet, but I am grateful every day that we have had such amazing people in Em’s life.
However, there is one definite change on the horizon.
At last night’s meeting, my husband spotted a rising sixth-grade boy glancing repeatedly at Em as we entered the building. Not glancing like, “whoa, weird kid.” Glancing like, “whoa, she’s really pretty.” Mr. Tvini, having been a middle school boy at one point, said he could definitely tell the difference. He took note of the kid’s appearance, filing it away in a “I’ve got my eye on you, mister” way.
I am her mother, so I am biased, but I do believe that Em is beautiful. Boy/girl issues cannot be too far behind. It may be time for my husband to take up skeet shooting.