Last Day of School Blues

Today was our last day of school (four snow days, plus two full weeks off at winter break will keep you in session until June 24th). It was a sad day for us. Long time blog followers will remember that at the end of last school year we packed 70 boxes and moved to a new building (well new to us, the building itself is 100 years old).

Unfortunately we are doing the same thing at the end of this school year. Our classroom is part of an educational agency and rents space in public schools. This year we rented space in an large, urban district in a building that was being used almost solely for special education. The people in the building were wonderful and I came to adore many of the students. I found myself tearful several times distributing "good bye" gifts with my students today.

However the physical facilities at the 100 year old building were challenging and we are being moved to another (brand new) school in September. The classroom staff, the students and I are going to dearly miss the friends we made. My students became much closer in a short year to the folks at this school, staff and students alike, than we did in five year at our previous school. Some of my students were close with the secretaries, others with a particular guidance counselor, others with certain students and still others with teachers or even the principal.

On top of our sadness to leave our friends is the confusion some of my students felt. Our speech therapist approached me a couple of weeks ago and told me one of my students was concerned that I was moving to a new school and leaving her behind. This lead to many class wide discussions about the difference between moving and graduating and how we will all, students and staff, move together.

I have to go back to the building a few more times to finish some paper work and to pack more boxes, but school will not be in session and it will not be the same.

We will miss you, friends!