End Of The First Day Of Kindergarten

I forgot to add these pics after the first day of school.

Keaton's school is very secure! Nothing like the days I went to school, that's for sure. All kids line up outside the school until the first bell rings at 8:45. The kindergarteners are in one line out front, and the rest of the school lines up off to the side. No one gets in until the alarm rings. Once the bell does ring, the kids can all go in through the front doors; if a parent wants to walk their child back, they must stop by the front desk to obtain a visitors badge and wear it the entire time they are in the school.

Since kindergarten is a half day, and the school has such an emphasis on security, the kindergarten classrooms have an external door, and this is where parents pick up their child. So, parents sort of line up outside the door and when it opens the kids are also lined up. Each child comes to the front of the line, one at a time, and the teacher asks them (in Spanish) to point to the person that is there to get them. The teacher's gaze follows to where the child is pointing, she makes sure she recognizes the person picking up the child, and then gives the child a high-five on their way out the door.

I love this! I love that they look at me and not just assume he knows what he is doing. ;o) In preschool, I had to go inside with Keats on both drop-off and pick-up and wait in line to sign him in/out...secure but also a bit of a pain to do this every 2-1/2 hours! I like the kindergarten style much better.

You may also note the green papers wrapped around each child's wrist. When average-importance papers come home, they are placed in Keaton's backpack; when the paper requires immediate attention, they are stapled around the child's wrist. (side note: these green papers were actually entirely in Spanish...I could only understand that there will be some sort of test on the 21st; I asked the teacher if there happens to be an English translation and she went totally red in the face! They forgot to have English printed on the opposite side. Oh well...at least I know I'm not required to translate this early in Keaton's education! BTW, it is a hearing test on the 21st...)

Senora Stewart asking Keats to look around and find me...

...and giving him a goodbye high-five.