Clara's Starting Middle School

When I first heard about Impact Academy, I thought it was just another online school that was going to be predictable with teachers who were only there to pass the time and get paid. I wasn't really in too much of a rush to sign Clara up.
Then I kept hearing more and more about it. People were starting to get really vocal about praising this school and its staff. It kind of made me raise an eyebrow and start to listen. Y'all know how Clara's school years have been up until this point, with this last year being an especially difficult one for her. I got to thinking about it last night after talking to Clara's (and Mary's and Kathryn's) Pre-K teacher, and I wanted to come back and add that the exception to this was her year in Pre-K. She had the best experience in Pre-K because she had a fantastic teacher. If we could have kept Mrs. Russell as their teacher up through 12th grade, we would have. All three girls love her dearly and would take her back as their teacher in a second!
Clara is not your typical student/person. She is not a bubbly, girly girl, who talks a lot, is into gossip or drama, she doesn't like boys yet and still thinks they are icky (for good reason cause they are), she is not one to accept authority easily (no idea where she gets that), she is opinionated but keeps her opinion to herself, she doesn't participate easily in anything that isn't online.

She's not one to talk to people, at all, that do not live with her or that she doesn't trust whole-heartedly, (She won't even talk to her own doctors y'all and she trusts them with her life). She doesn't make friends easily because she thinks people are generally disappointing and she is extremely guarded. She is a perfect mix of me and her Daddy to say the least.

So she wasn't doing well in a public school setting. We decided on Impact for her when we realized she would be leaving elementary and going into middle school. (It snuck up on us too quickly)

There is NO WAY we are allowing her to go to middle school to be exposed to things that she shouldn't even know about at 11 years old. (The kids around here are waaaay too "mature" in their knowledge of "life"). She's just not there yet. Thank God! And we just do not feel like she is ready for that setting just yet. The teachers aren't too understanding about someone with her personality. She thinks outside of the box and that's not generally a good thing in public schools.

Well, today we went for her Open House at Impact. And even though we knew from our initial orientation that they were going to be different, we did not understand just how different they are...in a good way. :)

(Now I'm about to say all of this from our first impression today. I pray our feelings do not change toward the staff during the year. I don't expect any issues though.)

The Principal is amazing! He is not a stuffy ole suit with a power trip and control issues. He is friendly, smiley, happy, and genuine. These are not common traits found within the staff of many schools nowadays. And his staff is right up there with him. (At least the ones we were able to meet today). You know how you can just feel if a person is good when you meet them?

(Especially if you are a people watcher and have come to know and read body language really well.)

The science teacher, Mr. Formby is one of those people. I am excited about him this year. :) I know she is going to really enjoy his class.

And then her Spanish teacher just made my day today. I was so worried about Clara taking her class because of Clara's speech issues and the recordings part of the class. I told her about my anxiety surrounding this and she instantly eased my mind. She told us that she will let Clara do her pronunciation part of the course face to face with her! :) She said she had lots of experience with speech impediments and that there wouldn't be a problem. There was no telling me to get back with her through conference or e-mail, her answer was immediate.

I swear y'all this school reminds me of Saved by the Bell. :) I am so excited for Clara to start this school year! <3

#ImpactAcademy #MsBliss #SavedbytheBell #RealTeachers #TeachersWhoCare #ThatAmazingSchoolSmell