Janelle's First Day of School

Today was Janelle's first day of Kindergarten at Carkenord Elementary here in Chesterfield, MI.  She has been really excited about starting kindergarten.  Ever since she went to preschool and Christ Presbyterian in Fairfax, VA, she has been talking about "when I go to kindergarten..".

We live, literally, right across the street from Carkenord Elementary, where she goes to school, but they put her on a bus route on the "apple" bus.  When we first started talking to her about going to school, she was excited about riding the bus.  Her excitement hasn't subsided, so we were going to let her ride the bus across the street this morning.  She was up, excited, and ready to go way before the bus, so Jeni put a cartoon on the TV but she was waiting at the ready.

We went out and waited for the bus at 0830, as directed, for the scheduled 0840 stop but by 0843 the bus hadn't come so Jeni walked her to class (school starts at 0855 and we didn't want to be late for the first day).

I am on leave, but I was going to a change of command ceremony in Warren today at 0930, so I headed out.  On the way back, I stopped in the office for a while and got home just before school let out (that becomes relevant in a minute).

Jeni told Janelle's teacher that she would be taking the bus home.  That thing hanging around her neck in the picture above is the name tag that they are supposed to wear for the first three weeks of school.  It has their name, their teacher, and their bus.  It's a pretty good idea for the little ones that may or may not be able to tell a teacher or administrator where they are supposed to be.

When school let out, we stood in the front of the house and watched the kids load the buses (we're just across the street, remember.  When we had that big storm and the trampoline blew away, it landed in the bus bay at the school.)  As the buses drove away  none of them turned in front of the house and let Janelle out.

Waiting on the bus.

After Jeni walked back and forth a couple of times trying to see if Janelle was on a bus, the crossing guard from the corner, 50 yds away, walked down and told us the bus that comes by here services the neighborhood behind us before it comes back by here to drop kids.

When Janelle got off, she had forgotten her backpack in the excitement and had to get back on the bus to get it.

She was crazy excited about her first day at school.

From talking to her, here's what I learned about her first day:

They went to the playground twice.  The same playground she has played on several times a week since we've lived here.

The lunchroom has a big window where you get your hotdog, but the hotdogs weren't that good (note: they were Turkey dogs.  She's used to all beef).  Several kids bring their lunch and she wants to also.

She made some friends, but doesn't remember their names.

The school bus goes around the circle behind us to let those kids off before it comes to our house.

The school bus doesn't have seatbelts.

She didn't learn to spell or to read!  Jeni explained that kindergarten isn't a one day deal, it's a process [channeling Nick Saban].


She's ready to go back tomorrow and ride the bus again.

I claim success on the first day of school.