Noah's New School

On his first day at Haha'ione Elementary School, I had one nervous little boy.

It appears to be a cloudy day, but this school is in a valley and there always seems to be clouds over the mountains.  Behind the direction of this picture is the water and it was clear and sunny in that direction.  Oh, and the black clouds are not from rain clouds.  It's vog...volcanic ash blowing up from the big island with the Kona winds.

We arrived to school a bit early, as we had no idea who his teacher was or even where the third grade classrooms were located.

While waiting in the office, I realized I forgot to bring a copy of his birth certificate with me...so I had to leave him there and run home quickly to grab it.  Add to the nerves and watch the water well up in his eyes.  

Dang. 

Bad Mom.

When I returned he was still waiting patiently, with his brother, and there were two other new students waiting in the office.  Finally a counselor walked us to his classroom and off he went.

He was just another kid in class at that point.  Not sure if it was me being the worried, overprotective mother of my child's feelings, or the fact that he is getting older, but there was no special tours of the school.  No overly welcoming action of him into his class.  

The teacher barely paused to point out his seat to him.

The aide did let me stay and watch for a bit but after two questions to Noah about where he was from and what he did over holiday break, I knew it was my cue to leave.  Noah couldn't answer the questions....he couldn't remember.  He just kept looking to me for answers.  Aka, time for Mom to leave. He is an amazingly strong and smart kid and can stand on his own two feet...as long as I'm not around.

Needless to say, he LOVES his new school.  He has been handing out our address and phone numbers to all his friends and collecting theirs as well.

As for my opinion of the school, I think I like it.  It is less warm and fuzzy than other schools he has attended. They are very down to business as for the learning.  He comes home with assignments from his math text book each night as well as work in at least one other subject.  This week his Social Studies test covers community development in the US, from Native Americans to today.  That is a LOT...but he is on it.  He can tell you all about the Spanish, English, and French settlements in the Americas including the American Revolution and Civil War.  I feel like I am learning this stuff all over again.  Oh, and he has a report on England's government due next week too.  Holy cats.  It is nice that he has enough homework each night to keep him busy.  

The school, the textbooks, and all sort of remind me of my grade school Epiphany.  It is like taking a step back in time when you enter the school, but so far so good.

It's a good thing he gets his fair share of warm and fuzzy at home.  No time for that at school.

One last comment about the campus, which is always so different than those in STL....there are about 10 different buildings on campus.  The third and forth grade building (as I imagine all the other grades) is open air.  The classrooms have doors to close but the hall are all essentially outside.  Birds flying around and all.  And no a/c anywhere.  Just a cool breeze coming down off the mountains.  Pretty cool, huh?