Yesterday, I picked up my children after school.  They attend a public school, an urban school with a gifted & talented program.  I love their school.  And it is a very urban school, and I mean that in the best sense.  It resides near downtown, which allows for them to take walking field trips, to plays, concerts and museums.  As with any other public school, there are all types of students.  Some might have issues at home-poverty, violence or absentee parents. Some students are more privileged and their parents choose to keep them in the public schools. Honestly, if our kids did not get accepted to this school, they might not attend the public schools.  We’ve seen a few first hand and it’s tough.

There’s a girl Mae has mentioned, I’ll call her “Jane.”  Jane  was in Mae’s class last year. Mae has talked about how she likes her, she’s a great writer and funny.  At the same time, Jane has been in some fights at school-behavior that Mae had not been exposed to before attending her school.  But despite this, Mae was never afraid of Jane. This year, Jane has had a hard time, by Mae’s accounts (my assessment though).  Mae has always shown consideration when talking about Jane and always, always mentions how nice she is.  It was recently that Mae informed me that Jane was no longer at their school, after some incident.  I’m not sure what the set-up is, but Jane rides the bus with the students from their school still.  I think, until yesterday. Continue reading →