Start of the Great Experiment

At least an experiment is what this feels like, having Caroline starting at a great big public high school today.  One thing I had kind of forgotten about, why I don't know, is how sensitive she is to noise and chaos.  Today would be nothing but noise and chaos in the halls as all 1500 students try to find their classrooms at once.  Talk about overstimulation.  And the fact that she was having a lot of problems with getting her locker open yesterday because she kept forgetting the right-left-right sequence should prove interesting.  Poor kid.  Combine the memory issues with the processing speed issues and you've got quite a challenge when it comes to things like this.  She gets lost really easily too, turned around and confused.  I was praying that today would go smoothly though I am preparing for bumpy.  I wish she could have done what her sister did as a freshman yesterday.  The freshmen got to go one day early and were led around the school by friendly, smiling juniors and seniors.  

Speaking of her sister, this is the first time in a very long time, maybe twelve years, that Caroline and Jane have been at the same school.  I am nervous about how this will go.  I really wanted them to have their own high school experiences, and tried to get Jane into another public charter high school here, but she was wait listed.   Caroline does things unintentionally that mortify Jane on a regular basis.  Jane needs to grow in her maturity and give her sister a whole lot of grace, but at 14, I am not sure this is going to happen real soon.  And Jane has already made a dozen friends after yesterday's orientation and has after school plans to go with them to a yogurt shop.  Caroline will likely struggle to make and keep friends.  So this whole experiment may go as we hope and pray, or may turn out to be a bust.  But we are giving it our best shot.  Plan B is always in the wings.  There are many charter schools here and if Caroline needs a much smaller environment, we will look at these other options.  Private school is Plan C but the money would be an issue.

I hope that start of your child's school year will go really well, with very few bumps along the way.  But if it doesn't, you are in good company.  Hang in there, and keep advocating for your child!!  :)