Education First

Fact from Aidan's school's website: The average SAT scores for our students is over 300 points higher than the Texas State average as listed by the College Board, and the vast majority of our graduates finish high school in the “top ten percent” category for admission to Texas Universities.

Aidan's school is a darn good one and we are beginning to really see the results now that he is in a classroom that he can enjoy. Each day they have a different letter and other activities. If we ask him at dinner, "What letter did you learn today?" He gets irritated and tells us he doesn't want to talk about that stuff. But I continue to be amazed by what comes out in his play.

Last night he told us that he learned the letter "T" and then he drew it in the air with his hand to show us what he was referring to. He recognized several objects and items that formed the letter "T" and just had to point them out to me. His tracing of letters is quite legible these days as well. They must also be learning states because I named several states that he shouldn't have known the other day and he was quick to tell me that I was referring to states.

Given that there are public schools in the city performing below national average that have been labeled "unsatisfactory," we are very happy to have an opportunity to send Aidan to a school that is working for him. Granted, we were hoping for more diversity but sometimes there's a trade off (unfortunately).

Aidan reports that he has several friends and that he enjoys his new teacher very much. They get candy and treats for learning activities (although I'm sure he would never tell us how much since that might cut down on his treats at home). I think that's probably his favorite part. We're told by locals that the teachers who really want to make a difference teach at the private schools here in Lubbock. They make less money (or so I'm told) but they have a greater impact, better students, involved parents, and smaller classes. I'm scared to think of Aidan in a classroom of 40 children!

All in all, he's in good hands with this teacher and Jason and I are both very happy with how readily he goes off to school. And then he brings home a bag full of coloring and letter tracing activities-- he's such a big kid now!