I can't believe it. I mean of course I can, but to put a number on it just makes it so real. This week was kindergarten round-up at Turtle Lake Elementary School and Paige was invited!
Jeff and I talked to Paige about it every day for nearly two weeks getting her ready for the big day.
Well it finally came, we picked her up early from preschool on a very cold afternoon (8 degrees!) and headed over to Turtle Lake Elementary. On our way into the school Paige wanted to hold both of our hands walking in as she was filled with the excitement of the unknown! When we walked through the main doors we were greeted right away with "Welcome to Kindergarten!" and Paige was handed a bright blue and gold pendant showcasing her new school. She happily took it from the nice lady welcoming us and we headed down the hall. We were directed at each turn on our way to the gymnasium by the 4th and 5th grade volunteers and they did such a fantastic job throughout the night. The little kindergartners really look up to them so it was nice to see how excited they were to be helping out.
After our walk through the main halls which were so welcoming with all of the artwork and belongings of the existing students, we arrived at the gym. As each family made their way in we were given a color coded folder which divided us into four assigned groups for the orientation. Once we all found our seats the school orchestra played many childhood songs like "Winnie the Pooh" and "It's a Small World", they were really fun and Paige loved them. We could hardly get her to sit in her seat because all she wanted to do was stand and watch the kids play their instruments. I think Jeff and I enjoyed the experience just as much as she did...maybe more! I mean, so many of our memories are from elementary school, junior high and high school...the teachers, the classrooms and the gym! Really, the whole experience was just pretty cool. I still remember my lunch lady, Darlene, and how she used to walk around the cafeteria at lunch time with her fingers on each hand raised high in a peace sign. This was our final warning to SETTLE DOWN or we would find ourselves at the naughty table. I wonder if they still do that? Probably not. Anyway, we all chattered the whole time about the ropes she would one day climb and why there were so many basketball hoops, what a scoreboard is and where the stage was...Jeff and I of course bored the life out of poor Paige as we told her all of the things we did in our school gyms. I swear, I saw her eyes glaze right over. As everything finally got underway each of the kindergarten teachers as well as the schools principal took the microphone talking about everything from how we could trust that our children would make it to and from school safely on the bus without us.....to the news that they no longer allow birthday treats at school because of food allergies. Lame. Oh well, if my child were to have an allergy to food I would totally appreciate this.
After the grand introduction we broke into our various stations. Our first station was registration. This was an easy one as we just stayed in the gym while everyone else filed out to their own assigned places. I had already filled out all of Paige's paperwork so I left Paige and Jeff to check the gym out while I stood in line and turned all of her papers in. We opted to put her name in to the hat for full day kindergarten rather than have her in an after school program for half of the day. We had to put down a deposit for it since they work on a lottery system. We will find out if she gets a spot near the end of March...fingers crossed!! During registration they also had a table where we could buy shirts and other items with Turtle Lake on them so of course I took Paige over to pick one out. She chose a blue shirt, rather than the hot pink one and put it on immediately over her existing shirt. She was so proud and excited. I actually overheard several other children commenting that Paige got to put her shirt on right away and they wanted to too. I guess they had mean Moms and Dads that made them wait. Kidding...just kidding...a little bit.
Our next station was a ride on the bus! For some reason they said only one parent per child which was odd because out bus was nearly empty. But anyway, Paige and I went on the bus ride which really just circled around the block and dropped us back off at the school. Paige wasn't too impressed with the bus ride as she has been on them many times before for field trips with her preschool but still, it was fun. I was actually surprised how little everything on the bus looked from what I remembered, I also pointed out to Paige the best seat on the bus...the one about four seats from the back that has the heater under it...I was always so bummed if someone else took it! On a side note, I later learned that Paige thought we were dropped off somewhere else when she was in a panic that there were no buses outside when we left to go home. She didn't understand how we could get back to our car, and was even more confused when she saw our car was parked outside It took me a bit to understand why she was so upset and confused, poor thing! She thought the bus brought us to a different school than our car did. I wonder why she wasn't confused how Jeff got there if he wasn't on the bus. Hmmm. Well back to the bus ride, as we got off of the bus the older kids again stepped up and greeted each of the kindergartners with a bag of fruit snacks. And not the little ones, these were big! Like check-out aisle at Target big! Super cool, Paige was smiling ear to ear.
Next we headed into the school and has the opportunity to tour all six of the kindergarten rooms and meet the teachers. The rooms were so warm and welcoming as were the teachers. Some were full day, some half day but all very similar. Jeff and I already secretly hope for one particular teacher named Mrs. Voss, we will have to see! She just seemed so warm and nurturing. I really enjoyed seeing the artwork everywhere and I mean it was everywhere. The funny thing was that a few of the art pieces were ones Jeff and I remembered making in elementary school! Ahhh, nostalgia....
Our final stop was a trip to the library where the kids all gathered to listen to a story on the "story steps". The library was fantastic and of course full of books. The story was read by the librarian/art teacher/gym teacher/health teacher. It was very fun, but the kids were all ready to go home. It had been a long day and it was closing in on dinner time so once the story was over, we headed home. After working through the confusion of the missing bus of course...
It was a great welcome. Thank you to the Mounds View school district and cheers to the class of 2024!!!!
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