Kindergarten!

Let the adventure of Kindergarten begin!  Maddy started Kindergarten at Vestal Elementary School on September 1, 2016.  During the summer Maddy attended several Vestal events, including Kinder Round Ups and a Science Night, giving her the opportunity to meet some of the other kids and get a feel for her new school.  Having attended these events helped the transition, as Maddy already had formed some friendships with her new classmates.

Maddy's teacher is Miss (Anna) DeVille and we love her already.  Right away she informed parents that she wanted to try using Appletree, an online sharesite for teachers to share updates, photos, videos and calendar events.  Miss DeVille posts updates regularly and we think it's great!  It's fun to receive real-time updates and it also helps us extract more information from Maddy about what she's up to at school (more than just the one word answers like "good" or "fine" when we ask how her day was).

The Vestal administration realized quickly that the Kindergarten classes (2 of them) were too full, at 29 students apiece, and happily Portland Public Schools granted Vestal a third Kindergarten teacher.  Classes were shifted, Maddy got to stay with Miss DeVille (yay!) and now class sizes are down to 19.  Whew.  That's much better for the teachers and the students.

Maddy's transition from ChildRoots to Vestal has gone smoothly.  We appreciate the groundwork laid by ChildRoots which taught Maddy to be a strong, confident independent thinker with the skills to handle new situations with ease.  Although she is pretty shy, she already had some new friends and had met Miss DeVille several times.  School ends at 2:15 and at that point Maddy goes to Y-Care, an after school program offered by the YMCA.  She really enjoys this program as it includes lots of reading time and crafts, two things she absolutely loves.  We have her signed up for year-round care, so all late starts, teacher in-service, conferences, breaks (including summer break) are covered.  This has been a good choice for us and Maddy, so Steve and I don't need to worry about her care and missing work, and Maddy really enjoys the program.  A win-win!

Maddy is also involved in extracurricular activities: swimming and gymnastics.  She takes gymnastics with her buddy Carson from ChildRoots which I think has also helped her transition to Kindergarten, as she still has the tie to her old friend too!  I have also signed up to be a Girl Scout Troop Leader (!!) so Maddy will also soon be a "Daisy" with Girl Scouts. 

 

First Day of School Drop Off

First day at Vestal Elementary

Ready for Kindergarten!

Proud Mommy!