school orientation

We had Mac's school orientation this morning at Colegio Gran Bretana (there's supposed to be one of those little squiggly lines over the "n" in Bretana, but I just don't know how to add that in to Blogger). We'll call it CGB which is what everybody calls it anyway.

Here are the highlights:

1. Mac has a male teacher (his first ever) who is, in fact, British. His name is Mr. Ian Ahmet. I LOVE that Mac's got a male teacher now as there are entirely too few male role models at the elementary age.

2. There is no option as to whether to bring school lunch or to buy it. You can only buy it and that makes me very, very happy. They have a couple choices everyday plus a vegetarian choice and they always have baked chicken as a fallback. Additionally, they're provided 2 snacks a day in the cost of the cafeteria plan. It's a teensy bit expensive, but to know that I don't have to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every morning for the next 10 months makes me soooo happy. (Cafeteria is on the bottom floor of this building!)

3. The 7 year-old from the embassy that Mac's been hanging out with since we met him a week ago is in Mac's class. His name is TJ. They tend to bring out the worst in each other, so I asked the teacher to please seat them apart from each other. I can't bear bad behavior reports.

4. There are 20 kids in Mac's class (and just two classes in his grade). Although he's second grade in the US, he's Level 3 or Year 3 or whatever it's called in the British system. Mr. Ahmet told me there are something like 6-7 boys in his class this year and the rest are girls (naturally). This is the reverse of what he had last year so he anticipates a greater calming influence from the majority of girls.

5. The uniform is adorable. The social uniform is blue long pants, a white long-sleeve oxford shirt, a tie (!), a v-neck sweater, and black shoes. The sports uniform, which Mac likes a whole lot better, is a pair of really nice track pants (and shorts for when it's warmer), a white polo shirt, and a very cool jacket. Photos will be forthcoming on Tuesday.

6. CGB uses a co-curricular program where children get to choose two activities per quarter (I think I have that right). They have built in the time for these activities so that children don't have to stay late after the end of school. The choices change every quarter, but they include really cool things like horseback riding, rollerskating, different sports, music, drama, etc. CGB is also an International Baccalaureate (IB) school, which would be great if Mac were in high school.

7. CGB is out of town, which I may have mentioned is the only drawback. We'll find out what time the school van is coming for Mac on Monday (school starts on Tuesday), but the range we've been given is between 6:15 and 6:45am. YIKES! We're going to have to go to bed at 7pm! And we're praying hard that we're on the 6:45am end of things. (As a point of reference, even though the American school is here in town, the van picks up children in our neighborhood for that school between 5:45am and 6:15am so we're not losing any sleep by going to CGB). School gets out at 2:50pm and the vans leave at 3pm, so depending on traffic, Mac should be home between 3:30 and 4:00. And Fridays are early dismissal at 2pm.

8. CGB has a gifted and talented program for all their students where they promote children who aren't just gifted in academics. They provide opportunities for gifted children in the arts, sports and academics.

9. Starting at Year 3 (Mac's grade), the students get to choose the musical instrument they want to learn in the in-school music class (not one of the co-curricular activities). Last week at the interview they told us he could learn guitar which he's been super-excited about, but Mr. Ahmet said today that he wasn't sure guitar would be an option yet. But we do know it won't just be the recorder; they have clarinets and trumpets and all sorts of noisy instruments.

Part of the school gardens

We're very excited for Tuesday to get here!