Z is not for school

The last letter of the alphabet is for zoo. This past week, my school has resembled a zoo more than a school.

One of my students left last Friday. His mom decided that daycare would be better for him. While I am not against day care in general, I was slightly offended. I understand that people need to work and that daycares offer longer hours than a public school. I also understand that people act in what they think is the best interest for their child. However, the student has significant needs that cannot be met in a daycare setting. Mom told me about an before the end of the school day, so much for a proper farewell. Additionally, the mother indicated that she is not sure if he will be back in the fall. I feel bad and the student only started last month so I was still getting to know him.

Then another one of my students showed up after missing three weeks of school. I had called the parent several times during this period of time but I did not hear back from her. I assumed that the parent had started summer vacation earlier. So the mother and daughter paraded in this morning much to my surprise. I talked with the mother, who denied receiving any messages from me. She explained how ill her child was, how the child was feeling much better, and how she brought her in today so she could participate in our end of year celebration, which is not today but the mother did not know that because the child has not been in school.

When I took the child to the bathroom, I noticed a rash on her leg that looked suspicious. On our way to the nurse, i noticed a half dollar size bump on the student's wrist. The nurse told me that she couldn't look at the rash because she "can't just go around pulling down students' pants." I explained that I understood her concerns and that I would stay in the room while she examined the child. She refused. That is ridiculous to me, but she did decide to call about the bump. In the meantime, the student and several others went to speech therapy. A few minutes after the group left, they came back. The student who was out for illness was apparently still quite ill! So back to the nurse for this poor little girl. It took her mother an hour to get to school, and then she wanted to know details about the vomit, what it looked like, what the consistency was, and how many ounces. What difference does it male? The child is sick and needs to go home.

Finally, despite having 5 days of school left, many of my colleagues are already done. There rooms are already packed and students are sitting on the floor on small carpet squares. I have started packing things that students won't be using. My room is still functioning as a classroom. Yes we are starting to relax a little, but we are still learning. What are those kids going to do for the next 5 days? Oh, did you say run wild through the building? If you did then congratulations, you guessed correctly. Throughout the day today, the principal was paging runaway students back to their classroom. So instead of leaving the office to look for these students and supporting the teachers, he pages the students back to their classrooms.

This time of year is challenging for many reasons. I am struggling to keep my cool wit various adults. Currently, I am very thankful that today is Friday and I am hoping that Monday brings calm to the building and a little more peace to me.