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Sam's First day of School
8/23/04

Well, sort of.  He did have 3 years of preschool prior to his fist day of kindergarten on Monday (1 year at The Oaks and 2 years at LGPCW).  Sam had been excited for awhile about starting kindergarten and was up early with plenty of enthusiasm.  The whole family was feeding on his excitement, and of course, it was a heartfelt day for mom and dad.

A new routine.  No TV.  Start the day with pushups and sit-ups.  Mom was at the ironing board, and grandma and grandpa (Byron & Mary Anne) called to wish Sam good luck.  It was entertaining to see the sleepy neighborhood come alive with so many people flowing from the cracks and corners to converge on our local public school down the street.  It's about a half mile from our house, so we walked, but will ride the bikes also.

I'd met Sam's teacher, Courtney Vasquez on Friday as she was getting her room ready.  Pam & Sam had met her earlier.  She has been in the same classroom (room 10) for 20 years teaching kindergarten (starting her 21st year).  Sam's good friend Dylan Rief was her student last year, and she is highly recommended.  Sam took to her right off and she seems tuned into all her students.

Class size is limited to 20 students.  There are 6 kindergarten classes.  The school used to be K through 2nd grade, but kids now stay through the 6th grade.  Canalino school is still better equipped than most for younger grades, and handles some of our other local school's kindergarten students because it has more classrooms setup for that age group.  Each class has a Teacher and a teacher's aid, plus parents can sign up for classroom participation, so there are often several adults present.  The teacher's aid helps with Sam's class about 2 hours a day and works the other half  a day in another classroom.  Mrs Sharon Green is Sam's teacher's aid.  She started when her kids went through school years ago.

Courtney's classroom is thoughtfully laid out with attention to detail and functionality.  You can tell she's been there and it's our biased opinion that her classroom is the best.  In her classroom she has a couple of birds, a rabbit, play stations, work stations, and seasonal decor, contributing to her safe, engaging and interactive environment.  Tess loves the classroom but doesn't understand why she can't stay and play all day.  The room is on the NE corner of campus and faces south toward the snack area and playground.  The ocean is about a mile to the south.  Grades 1 through 6 are in another block of buildings to the West and SW across the playground.  The Carpinteria school district office is also on campus.

Pam stayed for the first hour on the first day, then he's on his own.  Sam was the first to raise his hand when Courtney called on the kids to answer her first question "why do we have rules for the playground?" Sam's answer: "so we can be safe".  For now, he's pretty good about telling us what he did during the day in the classroom, but based on past experience, that may change.

They start at 8:15.  Stop for a snack outside at 9:30, and do lunch in the cafeteria at 11:30.  The day ends at 12:15, but they'll move up to 5 hours starting in November.

:) Tom