For me and the Big Man, our children are important and their schooling is the one thing we constantly thought about in our search for a house. One of the paramount reasons why we settled in Satellite Village was because of the "Blue Ribbon" schools here. First of all, every school we've driven by touts itself as a Blue Ribbon school, so I don't know how prestigious this moniker is. But supposedly our Unified School District ("USD") is in some top percentage in the state, not sure what but all the realtors would spout off some figure which I can't seem to substantiate. Maybe the USD is just average and I got duped. Coming from NY and believing up until a couple of years ago that I would be spending the next 20 years applying to private schools and filling out multiple applications for preschool/kindergarten/elementary/middle/high school, I was somewhat relieved about a good reputable public school. After all, I was a product of the public school system and I think for the most part I turned out okay.
Satellite Village's USD seemed relatively benign. Nothing to really complain about, yet nothing to really extoll to my friend's back home in NY who had kids. For what it's worth, it's probably a good USD considering the parental brain power here to start. So the first September we were here I enrolled Little Man in the local preschool, which is located on the grounds of our designated elementary school. Maybe I was being naive, or just lazy because this was public school. I admit I didn't do my due diligence about the preschool, but it seemed like a relatively nice school. Granted, it's no Kidville (where Little Man took early childhood classes while in NY) or the Ethical Culture School (where I was going to apply for Little Man if we stayed in NY), but it seemed adequate.
The preschool, like I stated earlier, is located on the same grounds as the elementary school. It touts itself as a touchy feely school where they allow kids to develop at their own pace in a "nurturing" environment, similar to a Montessori but not quite. Art plays a big part in the curriculum, which is somewhat useless for my Little Man since he's not an artsy fartsy type of child. But he enjoys a random project every once in a while. So to make up for the lack of academic rigor I had enrolled Little Man in Kumon classes when he was three and a half. He was reading and doing math before he was four. Though we stopped Kumon after a year (Big Man thought it would burn the Little Man out before he went to kindergarten), I continued to give him homework at home so he would be challenged and ahead of the state's minimum academic requirements. Like I stated earlier, I have big plans for my Little Man. And those plans don't include some UC Blah Blah Blah I've never heard of, or any state school. God forbid he goes to a junior/community/vocational school. He's smart enough to get into a private 4 year institution in the New England area.
Back to the preschool. The teachers in his classroom are wonderful. I will have to admit that they are kind well meaning women who really care about the kids. And I like them as people, they are just nice women. But the Director of the school...ugh...talk about a bad copy of a Passive Aggressive Stereotype. First of all, this woman comes across as a fake person. She always has a plastic smile slapped on her face and she never comes out and just says something to you. It's always in a form of a question. How are you today? Did you remember to bring snack today? Is Little Man signed up for Early Care? Did you park in the fire zone? All these questions when she's either watching me carry snack into the class, policing the Early Care room, or standing by the fire zone watching us all park to drop our kids off. If you know the answers, than just come out and tell me not to park there. I'm a big girl, I can take a directive. What I don't appreciate is this passive aggressive nonsense you like to spout off. I don't know how long she's been here as a Director of the preschool, but some other people have told me that she used to be really fat and lost a lot a weight. Ummm, what do I care? And what difference does that make? Bully for her, but that doesn't mean she's a better person. Oh, and that she goes to some local church every week. Yeah, well there are a lot of evil people who believe in God and go to Church. Being a practicing Christian doesn't automatically make you a better person. Seriously, are people here so small minded that going to church and getting gastric bypass is a free pass for bad behavior? Anyway, she's just a bad pill for me to swallow twice a day when I pick and drop off Little Man at school.
Because I wanted continuity for Little Man, I had to suck it up and deal with this farce of a human being for two years. Otherwise I would have just switched preschools to another place that treated me as an adult instead of a mentally challenged two year old that needs constant nagging for the simplest of tasks. I swear, this woman makes me rue each check I have to write out every month for preschool. That I'm supporting her and paying for the food that goes into her already distended belly just makes me resentful for all the nasty comments to me and the mis-identification I had to deal with for the first six months. Oh, I forgot to mention that she didn't know who I was for the first six months we attended this preschool. She kept thinking I was another mom, and would approach me and talk to me for a few minutes before I noticed her glazed expression showed confusion over my face. And she would also tell other moms I was someone else. They would correct her, and she would question them over the veracity of my identity. Basically, she is clueless and could do no right in my mind.
Every day at school I have to navigate fake pleasantries with her, when all I want to do is her to bug off and leave me alone so I can have a somewhat pleasant day without her mug in my face. It's bad enough I'm cutting you a check for several hundred a month, at least give me the courtesy of leaving me alone. I don't need to feel pandered to by you giving me a fake greeting every morning. Ugh, it's all I can do to just be civil to her. If there is one thing I can't stand is being fake. I won't be fake to you, either I like you or I don't like you (or I'm indifferent, which just means I'll ignore you since I have no feeling toward you at all). All I know is that when Little Miss starts preschool we will be going to another school. Though I love the teachers, I can't stand having to deal with this passive aggressive director twice a day. So I'd much rather find another school (preferably a Montessori) and send her there. I'll be sad to say goodbye to the teachers here, but I can't wait to never see this hag of a director again. I just hope I don't run into her anywhere in Satellite Village. I'm also counting down to June when Little Man is done with this place too. Than I'll never have to deal with this idiot again.
No comments:
Post a Comment