Decision Made
April 18th, 2006Another mail day and another letter arrived. But on this day there was an envelope as well. I big one marked from North Star Academy. I held the manila envelope for a moment.
We had been going back and forth about what school to send Jackie to next year when she entered sixth grade. Should we send her to the traditional middle school,h all her friends from Orion would be attending? Or should we apply for North Star Academy, the “academic” school?
I visited Kennedy. I thought it was a good school, but there was nothing that impressed me or made me go “cool.” Jackie also visited Kennedy and the visit didn’t impress her either. I could see why. Although many programs were good, the things they shared with her were not the things that spark her interests. So, she left feeling it would be “okay.”
Mike and I visited North Star. There were things at North Star that appealed to us – enrichment programs, smaller environment, differentiated instruction and parental involvement. All these things seemed to suit Jackie very well. We told Jackie about them and she seemed quite interested in some of the enrichment programs and the differentiated instructions. We were impressed enough to fill out the application, which including test scores, and letters from both Jackie and us.
Appling didn’t mean we would get accepted. Jackie was entering at sixth grade while most North Star students start in third grade. She would have to get one of the spots left open by a non-returning student. There would only be a handful of those spots. It would be a time to wait and see.
I opened the envelope and immediately the words “congratulations” leaped out at me. Jackie has been accepted. I took the letter to the living room with the rest of the family. Jackie seemed pleased but mostly relieved that a final decision had been made.
