This is the last week of my daughter's time at her local Waldorf school. We spent much of November scrambling to find a school that would take her mid-year. Officially, her current school "cannot meet her needs." This isn't an appropriate forum in which to go into why the school has decided this after over 6 years of attendance (2 years of parent-toddler class, 1 year of preschool, 3 years of kindergarten), but the House of Glee is grateful that our local parish school has a first grade teacher who is experienced with children on the autistic spectrum and teaches a small class of caring, compassionate 6-7 year old children.
There's a lot more racial and economic diversity at the new school, and it is an easy walk from our house. It's a small, struggling school, but all reports from people I've talked to say that the community is strong, and the older kids look out for the younger ones. What a refreshing change that will be!
Lucia enjoyed her visit to the new school, but is sad to be leaving her old school. I think it will ultimately be a good change, and in years to come, we will look back with relief. But still, we will miss the Waldorf curriculum, the festivals of Michaelmas, Martinmas, Winter Spiral, May Day, and Whitsun (White Dove). Lucia was the oldest girl in her class, and she would probably have been the girl who got to wear the crown of candles on
Santa Lucia Day. We will continue to celebrate those festivals in our own way, I hope.
