First Day of School. . .PSYCH!!

I got a call from Ben Holt on Friday that they had an opening for Josie to start school on Monday. She was very excited and we ran out and purchased uniforms on Saturday as well as the required 3" binder, etc. Emily is transferring to Lodi High and Gracie will be returning to Elkhorn--they both start on Tuesday. They neglected to tell me that Josie was entering Ben Holt on the sibling list and apparently they didn't realize the other girls were not attending there this year. After an initial mishap of Josie getting a 7th grade schedule instead of a 6th, she was all settled in and looked so cute in her uniform.

The girls and I went grocery shopping after leaving Ben Holt. Awhile after we returned, the phone rang with the office at Ben Holt wanting to know why Emily was not in school. I explained that I had been in the office the last week of school and put in her transfer papers to Lodi High. 5 minutes later the phone rings again. This time they want to know why Gracie is not in school. I explained that she had gotten back into Elkhorn and the GATE coordinator had said she'd call and inform them that Gracie would no longer be attending. I guess that message was never passed along between the secretaries. The head secretary got on the phone at this point and informed me that Josie would not be allowed to stay as she no longer had any sibs in the school. They had to open it up to a "real sib" of current students. I was told to come pick her up immediately.

I understand that mistakes are made, but there was no apologies for the fact that they didn't double-check their forms before getting an 11 year old's hopes up of starting in the school. They were actually very rude about it and acted like it was my fault. Josie was obviously embarrassed to be removed from school midway through the day and sad about leaving. Lots of tears were shed. I am very disappointed in how this was handled but I'd like to think that returning to Manlio Silva maybe was the best thing for her in the long run. I'm not sure I want her in a place with such poor communication skills throughout the office and with the students/families.

On a brighter note, she gets to have ANOTHER "first day of school" tomorrow with my other kids AND she got an excellent teacher for 6th grade at Manlio Silva. Hopefully, the rest of the year will go more smoothly and in a positive manner for her.