Short on school, hopefully not on education

School's out for summer!

Given our kids' move from a European school (longer year, but more breaks), to a Californian  (fewer breaks, ends almost a month earlier), they've had the world's shortest school year.

While they may be a bit short on school work, they've been long on life experiences.   I am proud of the resilience and bravery they've demonstrated along the way

The back drop we started the year in….

Zoe entered first grade with a teacher she adored - Miss Kailyn

She had a slew of friends that were more vivid to her than her home country

(When we explained it was time to return to our home country, Zoe asked what it would take to become Ukrainiain citizens.  Having moved there at 4, Kyiv was the home she knew)

In San Francisco, Zoe was assigned to Sherman Elementary - a highly ranked public school many rave about

She reported the work was "WAY harder" - reflected in the sea of red that came home 

(Poor Zoe - in her defense, her previous school didn't work on spelling)

That plus a report that "there's no time for coloring at my new school", I was pleased that Zoe only deemed her teacher "really strict"

And thankfully, 1st grade girls are still friendly.   Zoe made fast friends at school & despite feeing behind, seemed quite happy at school

The boys also endured more than their share - cleaning out desks well before typical time

Most difficult - of course - saying goodbye to good friends

Xavier adjusted to being at his own school - assigned to Redding Elementary - a super diverse school that tends to get a lot of families new to the USA

He reported having no friends, but was often eagerly greeted upon arrival

And he lucked out with a fab teacher - Miss Slevin - who skillfully welcomed him into the class

Quincy, meanwhile, made a herculean effort to integrate into the last 2 months of a K-5 ride 

(most kids in his class had been together all 6 years since Kinder)

Sports helped…

A 5th grade graduation field trip to 6 Flags amusement park helped too...

And ultimately, he made it!  Even got a diploma to prove it

(With his teacher Mr. Harris at the fairly elaborate 5th grade graduation)

Friday marked the end of what was a wild ride of a school year


Here's to Quincy, Xavier & Zoe - for being resilient & bold AND to banking on life experiences making up for missed assignments

Happy Summer!