Goodness Sakes!

Robby has attended daycare/preschool since he was a little over a year old. It was one of the hardest things for me to go back to work and not be a stay at home working mom. I'm lucky, as I own my own business and have some flexibility with hours. I know not every woman is so fortunate.

As you know, we switched schools about seven months ago. I have to say that I love this new school so much and I think we made the right choice. He has two certified teachers with him all day now and - get this - one of them is a man. This is the first time I had run across a male teacher in a preschool. Teacher Mike is incredible! Last week, the kids were lining up in the hall to go outside and one little boy was yelling and excited. Teacher Mike said, "Excuse me! Are you physically in pain?" "No." the little boy said. "Is the building on fire?" he asked. "No." the little boy said. "Did you just see Elvis?" Teacher Mike asked. "No." the boy said again. "Then there is no reason to be yelling in the hall!" Teacher Mike laughed. He is great with the kids and they adore him. He tells Robby he loves him when Robby leaves to go home every night.

The school also has a live webcam in all the rooms and playground. I can log in during the day and actually see Robby. That's been wonderful!

I guess my only complaint I have about the current school is security. Yeah, that's a big one. They have an electronic key system. Parents are given a card that will open the door when the card is placed in front of a sensor. The school policy is that if you lose your card, you pay a $10 replacement fee. Over the past few weeks I noticed that most parents do not use cards. They knock on the door until someone answers it. I've seen parents hold the door open for people that they do not know. They let strangers (without any kids with them) into the building without a thought. When this happens to me I always get a teacher and let the teacher let them in. I endure the glares and dirty looks from parents I don't know. I cannot for the life of me understand why they would be upset another parent is thinking about security in a building where their kids are.

I wrote Dumbledore (director of the school) an email letting her know that this was happening. I told her I felt it was a tragedy waiting to happen. I offered to help her find a solution at no or little cost. She responded with a one line email that said she would write a note to parents and thanks for my goodness.

Goodness? I see no goodness in wanting to make my kid and all the kids there safe. When you look at a mama bear growling to protect her cub, "goodness" is not what comes to mind.
She wrote a note to parents about 3 days later. A new note is posted on the door telling parents not to let anyone in they do not know. At least she did something.

Robby is downstairs in the school; far away from the front door. If he was in one of the upstairs rooms by the front door I probably would have pulled him out of the school.

Let's hope some things change now and every parent thinks about the security of their child rather than being late to work or getting home to cook dinner.