School's Out For Summer!

Well, we are two weeks into summer vacation, and everyone is still alive, some missing a few privileges, but that is to be expected I guess. Before it gets too far out, I wanted to get some pictures up about the boys' last few days of school.

Every year the third grade at Reagan Academy does a big end of year program all about different cultures they have learned about during the year. And I mean big! There was singing and dancing and all the kids were in costume! I cannot imagine how much work it took to put it all together! It was over an hour long, and was totally amazing. Josh learned an African tribal war dance, and he was totally into it. I don't know how to post video, but I'll have Joe put the video on here sometime. Here are a couple pictures. Josh is in the bottom left of the second picture.

As for Ben, he had a fabulous Kindergarten year. He learned so much and I can hardly believe he's going to be gone all day in just a couple months! I am really going to miss him. Ben had a great teacher, Mrs. Miller. She is an older lady with 14 (!!!) kids of her own, so she knows how to handle a classroom of crazy 5 year olds! He had a program on his last day, where they each talked about the continents and the US presidents. Ben's lines had to do with the continent of Europe. He did a great job. (Again, hopefully video will come soon.) Until then, here is a picture of Ben all graduated from Kindergarten with his teacher.

Finally, I just have to say how much I LOVE their school. Josh and Ben have learned so much, they have been challenged, and the atmosphere there is just special. The teachers go above and beyond, and I know they love my kids. When we switched from our neighborhood school a couple years ago, it was difficult. Josh had to be the "new kid" and that was scary for him. I worried that I was expecting too much from a school, and what we were experiencing at his old school was just how it was. And I worried that I was being a whiner. I never had a choice about what schools to go to growing up, I just went to the school I was supposed to. And I think I got a great education, from mostly great teachers. But I just couldn't shake the feeling that my kids needed more than they were getting. That I wasn't expecting too much, the school was just expecting too little. So we switched to Reagan. And I have not had a single moment of regret. It is everything I thought a school should be. My kids are learning so much and discovering new things. Josh loves art now, due to an AMAZING art teacher. He had a self-portrait chosen to display at an art show at BYU last year, and even won an award for another piece at their school Fine Arts contest. So thank goodness for Charter schools, ours has made a huge difference for my kids. Hooray!