Our First Day in Public School
My husband and I sat at the dining room table, quizzing our thirteen-year-old about his first day in public school.
“So what do they do in public school? Do the desks face forward? Do you sit in alphabetical order?” With each question I felt as if we were wizards questioning our son about his experience in the Muggle School. “Do you raise your hand? Call the teacher “sir” or “madam”?
Mark answered politely, “Yes, the desks face forward. They’re kinda hard to sit on. And yes, there is a seating plan, but I am going to ask if I can sit next to my friend Timmy.”
As parents who place educational excellence on a pedestal, allowing our second child to attend public school was a heart-breaking decision. We had no choice really. He refused to return to private school. Before last week, Mark’s entire academic career took place in a private school with small class sizes and individual attention. His older brother had thrived in the individuality offered by the same private schools Mark attended.
But already Mark seemed happier at public school. There were no reminders that his brother was away at college on the other side of the country. Mark was now surrounded by his own friends, not his brother’s. And he seemed to relish being lost in the crowd of public school students.
And he has learned an important lesson about public school – it’s all about the test! I hate this part but I’m getting use to it…sort of.
Perhaps it’s time that Mark learned how to handle the anxiety of test performance, learned how to handle the fact that few will care how best to reach or teach him, learned that he is not the only student in school who struggles with anxiety.
And so we begin the Year of Public School Education.
