A Brown Wolff and a Red Dog: Kindergarten

Maisy is in Kindergarten.

[Insert gasp of disbelief here.]

Not to be too dramatic, but it has been a significant change for all of us; right up there with adding a second child to the family. We left our tight-knit preschool community behind and joined a K-8 school with a student body of 400. There are two Kindergarten classes, with a total of 43 students from 41 families. Maisy's class is 23 children, only one of whom she knew before school started. Add all the school staff members to the mix, and that is a lot of new people!

Maisy is getting to know her classmates, her teachers, other school staff members, and some older kids, too. By way of example, here's how our morning went today. On the way into school we met her classmate Rachel who was being dropped off at the carpool line, greeted Ms. Allen outside, greeted Mr. Ramirez inside, and made our way to the Kindergarten area. Along the way we saw Maisy's classmate William T. and a fellow K'er from the other class, Eloise. Maisy's teachers Ms. Lewis, Ms. Radravu and Ms. Vera were all in her classroom welcoming the students; we also greeted Ms. Rudolph across the hall in the other K classroom. And then our neighborhood friend Leah, who teaches fifth grade, stopped by to say good morning and to invite Maisy to come to see her classroom upstairs! On the way to Leah's classroom, Maisy got a big hug from Shannon, the fourth grade sister of William M., a former preschool classmate and member of the other K class. That's a lot, and all before 8:30. Phew! I'm tired. I can imagine how Maisy must feel.

And so it's no wonder that the first weeks of school have included all kinds of emotions for Maisy as she adjusts to this new phase of her life. Thankfully, she is well-supported by the school, and so are we. Dave and I are excited about joining San Francisco Day School; we think we found the right school for Maisy, and the right community for our family.

In any event we will have a few years to see how it all works out (Maisy will be there until 2024, and then Lizzie until 2029)... :-)