A Bitter Sweet Goodbye

Yesterday was the last day of school. For my younger kids it was time to say goodbye to the brand new school which they were excited about attending back in September. For my oldest it was time to say goodbye to the friendships that took her three years to build.

I remember the first day of school just like it was yesterday. Back then we had no idea that by June we would be planning on moving. Snowdon Elementary was opening it’s doors for the first time. The building was fresh, smelled new, full of vibrant and motivated teachers excited about the new beginning. Everything is state of the art in the new building along with a beautiful gym floor unlike any other gym floor in the other schools in the Cheney School District.

These photos were taken at the open house right before the start of the school year.

These photos were taken on the first day of school.

Snowdon Elementary is only a mile from where we live. I love the convenience of have my kids’ school so close. Although, due to the lack of sidewalks, they still rode the bus to school. At the beginning of the year I was concerned about Parrot starting a new school. But, after the first IEP meeting and his conferences I was so happy that I cried. At his conference back in November seven staff members were present. They all worked with him in some way during the school year. With him starting a new school again, my concerns from last May have returned.

These photos were taken on the last day of school.

I also feel bad for Goose because we are taking her away from a top rated high school and she has to start her senior year in a very unfamiliar place. Because of her Aspergers she gets terrified when in social situations with kids she does not know. It takes her a long time to get the courage to just say “hello,” to someone she does not know. I hope and pray that she will meet an outgoing, kind, friendly and caring girl at her new school who will reach out to her first.

This week Chris and I have been very busy looking at homes and communities online and packing our boxes for the move. I wasn’t able to take the time to comment on my favorite blogs as much as I would like, but hope that this week I will find the time for that.

While searching craigslist, homes.com and other home rental sites we are learning that housing costs in the northwest suburbs of Chicago are a lot more expensive than out here. This terrifies me because we have been spoiled with such a low cost of living here in Spokane. I have also learned that the further away from the city the less expensive the homes are, but the schools have a lower rating. I assume that the only reason why the schools are rated better in the more affluent communities is because they are getting more funding from the property taxes. This is sad and one of the reasons why our education system in this country is failing and needs to be reformed. But this is a topic for a whole other blog post.

In the meantime, we are going to continue to search for a home to rent in a community that we will feel comfortable living in, pack, and try to have fun during these last two months in Spokane.