Homeschool to Public School #2 - meeting the principal

(I wrote this post on August 18. Since then we've been a bit consumed with our preparations and beginnings. We are on week 3 of public school, and I'm hoping to begin writing more regularly about my thoughts and our transitions.)
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This August is going to be different from all the other Augusts our family has experienced. For the first time, my 9yo and 7yo are going to school. After six years of homeschooling, our chickies are going to take their first test flight into a new way of life, and mom (that’s me – yippee) is going to get a sabbatical. Since there are so many things that I want to capture as we make this transition, I will capture many of my thoughts in a series of posts over the next couple of months.
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Last week we went through the process of registering the kids for school. They will be at different school buildings, so it took a little bit of running around. I wanted to feel sorry for myself about the number of forms I needed to fill out until I began to consider the number of forms that the staff at the schools need to process. They have no easy job.

Each school had a sweet welcoming atmosphere. It was such a relief to walk into each place and feel like 'we can invest and settle into this school'. Wow.

My highlight was meeting with Mrs. Trafford, Caleb's principal at the Albert Hall School. She met with us because I wasn't certain of where to have Caleb placed - in fourth or fifth grade. He is only days from the birthday deadline, and has really struggled with Math during homeschool. My goal is for him to have the 'winningest' experience he can have.

We took the results of the IOWA test results that I have administered the past three years and went to the principals office for an early morning meeting. After the meeting, I felt so excited to have a team-mate in Caleb's education. She looked at his tests, affirmed what we've been doing, answered Caleb's questions, and invited us both to call or email her when we have other questions arise. The result is that he will be in the fifth grade. Wow. I'm the mother of a fifth grader.

Not only do I have a fifth grader, but I have a son who knows the principal, and that she cares for him. And I have a principal that knows that I'm committed to the team. And we all know that this year is going to be a great adventure of learning and growth.