Recess Drama

The transition to full day school was made less difficult by Robby's wonderful classroom teacher. Robby and I both instantly felt a connection to her. She has been able to strike the precarious balance between being kind and patient while still maintaining high expectations for her students. She makes learning fun, and Robby loves nothing more than earning her accolades.

She has demonstrated that her skills are not limited to her students. I fully admit that I was as nervous, if not more so, on Robby's first day of school.  Within the first few minutes she managed to calm my fears about the transition. Let's face it, dealing with my worrying ways is no easy feat!

As the year has progressed, my positive feelings about his teacher have continued to grow. When Robby was ill with Dengue Fever and couldn't receive visitors, she stopped by in the evening and left a package of letters from his classmates, a gift, and a balloon by the front door. I didn't even know that she had been to the house until she phoned on her way out of the development to tell me about the delivery. She emailed daily to check on his progress and, yet again, proved her stripes by keeping my worries about his academics in check.

Since Robby returned to school he has been "invited" to stay inside his classroom during his second recess. While his classmates are running around on the playground, Robby quietly reads with his teacher, practices his arithmetic and finishes worksheets.The quiet time has been a godsend as a means both to reserve his strength and to allow him to catch up academically.

I never imagined that Robby staying inside with his teacher would be the source of controversy. Unfortunately I consistently underestimate the petty nature of some individuals! Yesterday morning I dropped Robby off at school and inadvertently stepped into a meeting between the school administrators and Robby's teacher. I was surprised when I learned that Robby staying inside during recess was the topic.

Apparently a classmate complained to her father that Robby was receiving preferential treatment from the teacher. Rather than ask the teacher, the parent took it upon himself to skip protocol and called the administrators to file a complaint. Keep in mind, this whole controversy could have been avoided if common sense had been employed. After all, in an effort to avoid miscommunication and rumors, all the parents of Robby's classmates were informed when Robby was diagnosed with Dengue Fever. This parent knew how ill Robby was and that he had missed a lot of school. It certainly wouldn't be hard to conclude that he was staying inside to catch up on school work? Rather than ask and learn, the adult whined and complained.

Once the Administrators were reminded of Robby's absences and his stamina issues, they agreed that our recess decision was appropriate. In the same breath, his teacher was also forbidden to keep him inside during this time for fear of "hurting" the other students' feelings. Only in a school could this logic be used to make opposite decisions during one meeting!

I do not want to jeopardize his teacher's standing at her school, so I am begrudgingly going to abide by the dictate. I will go to his school every afternoon and work with him myself. It is a mixed blessing that the whiner parent is uninvolved in the classroom. While I feel badly for his child, I know that my only interaction will occur when we happen to pass in the hall as he drops off his child in the morning!