Transitions

After four happy years at the SEC child care center, we decided to move the children to a new school closer to home.   After Labor Day, Henry started in classroom 4A (preschool) and Vivian started in classroom 2A (toddlers) at St. Anthony’s Day School in Old Town Alexandria.  Both kids have been at the SEC since they were infants, so it was not an easy decision to switch schools.  But we were looking for a five-year-old Pre-K program for Henry (given his late birthday, we will likely hold him back a year), and St. Anthony’s came highly recommended.  Although privately owned and operated, it is modeled on the parochial school system (the children wear uniforms, say morning prayers, etc.).  Initially, we were only planning to switch Henry.  However, once Henry got a spot, Vivian went to the top of the waitlist with sibling priority.

We always knew it might be a tough transition, and in the end, it turned out to be just as hard, if not harder, than we expected.  Henry had a particularly rough time adjusting to the new environment.  He had been with many of the same children since he was a baby.  Vivian had an easier time, but even she had a tearful first week.  And it wasn’t just the kids: Bryant had to adjust to commuting to work by himself and no longer socializing with fellow parents during morning drop off. 

By the end of the first week, Henry was really unhappy and saying he didn’t want to go back.  We feared we might be facing a long adjustment.  St. Anthony’s has “nanny cams” in the classroom which allow you to watch the children from your computer.  Worried about our little guy, we spent many anxious moments monitoring Henry’s progress.  At one point, Elise called Bryant to say that Henry was sitting alone, looking sad.  We watched online for several minutes and fretted over what to do.  Then the child stood up, and we realized that it wasn’t Henry. At that point, we decided to take a step back and be patient with the process.

In the end, it wasn’t so bad.  Over the second week, things got much easier.  By Wednesday, Henry and Vivian had stopped crying during the day.  By the following week, the teachers began remarking on how loud Henry’s voice could be—the kind of feedback we were used to hearing!

A month into their new school, both children are doing great.  Henry is making progress with his letters and numbers and even surprised us by reciting the blessing one night at dinner.  Vivian also is doing well and has been adding new words to her vocabulary every day.  Thanks to her brother, she can say “spider-man” and “pirate ship.”  We’re pleased with the new school and enjoying the convenience of having the kids closer to home.  Fortunately, many of the children at St. Anthony’s go on to Kindergarten at St. Mary’s (our parish school), so hopefully the next transition won’t be so dramatic.

Below is a picture of Henry receiving a group hug from his teacher and friends on his last day at the SEC. We will miss our Harbor buddies!