First Day of School for Cade

We had very mixed emotions about the first day of school this year. Cade has been as SCPS for the past two years. Because I taught there for six years the staff, students, and parents there were like family! But realistically, one teaching and coaching salary doesn't cover a housepayment, feeding a family of 5, medical bills, yada,yada,yada, and private school tuition. Something had to give, and unfortunately it was Cade's tuition payment. But our school district has implemented some very good magnet programs in the last few years. Many private school kids have been pulling and trying these various magnet programs, so we decided to give it a shot. There are a limited number of spaces and all the programs are different, so I spent lots of time last spring looking at options and having Cade tested for each of these. He ended up getting a spot at Heard Elementary's Advanced Learning Academy. It's very different going from a school where everyone's known you since birth to one where you know only a handful of boys. (AND BOY WERE WE THANKFUL FOR THAT HANDFUL YESTERDAY!!!) He has two of his good buddies in his class.
I could tell he was really nervous. He gets hyper and talks more than usual (if you can imagine that) when he's nervous. He has a very sweet teacher and went right in and sat down and told me good bye. His Kindergarten class last year was half day, so it seemed to take an eternity for 3:15 to get here so we could go pick him up.
He liked it, I think. Cade's so hard to read. He said, "I like it and he was all smiles." But then as he retold the entire day he gave me an enormous list of negatives and prepared me for the fact that "he doesn't know the rules of this school, so please prepare myself and daddy for the fact that he may get in trouble."
His complaints included things like "there were so many people on the playground I couldn't find my friends." "I have 23 kids in my class (last year he had 9) and it took so long to call the names of the kids out that I almost fell asleep while the teacher was taking attendance." and "I can't remember where anything is and I need a map to get around that place."
So I think it may take a month or so for him to really feel comfortable and make more friends, but I think he's going to be challenged and I feel certain that he's in good hands. We'll keep you updated!