how did we get so lucky?

One of the things that worried me most about homeschooling was the reaction of the school. I have heard so many horror stories on the subject that, frankly, it had me quite rattled. Talk about an instance of worrying over nothing! The people at Annie's school have been nothing short of wonderful!

Annie's teacher called a couple evenings ago. She was so sweet. She obviously had very mixed emotions about it all (a feeling we're quite familiar with). Annie had already told me that her teacher cried when she read the letter we'd written her to let her know that Annie wouldn't be back next year. And in our conversation, she admitted she was very sad. But she said that at the same time, she was very happy that Annie would have a chance to grow and be challenged. She admitted to me that not only is Annie way beyond what is in their 4th grade curriculum, she's also beyond what will be offered in the 5th grade. She told me about the wonderful opportunities that Annie would find when she starts middle school in the 6th grade. That was very reassuring to hear, as that is what we'd been hoping for. We talked for more than half an hour. It was a very positive conversation. And we promised to keep in touch.

I mentioned that the principal had called last week, and that he was extremely gracious. Rich called him back yesterday to let him know that as much as we appreciated his offer to discuss things, we were going to stick by our decision to homeschool Annie for the coming school year. He not only said he respected our decision, but he apologized to us. He said that he felt that he had dropped the ball in not staying on top of Annie's needs. We were frankly quite amazed that he was taking that responsibility upon himself, especially since we had never once approached him with our concerns. He let us know that if we should ever change our minds that Annie would be welcome back with open arms. And he even told us to feel free to contact him if we wanted to borrow any of the school's resources. How incredible is that?!!

I honestly cannot believe that we are so blessed! There will most definitely be a letter in the mail to the superintendent within the next few days letting him now what a wonderful principal he has at Winslow Elementary!