School life

What an exhausting week! We had to give our first four-week assessments, which is a comprehensive assessment of the key standards addressed in the past month. For the kids, it's not a big deal in terms of points; I counted it as a weekly quiz. But we chart the scores and recommend those who are struggling to extended school day, where they will get extra help.

Then, parent conferences were yesterday. They went well, I think. I had about twenty parents/guardians show up, which isn't great but isn't terrible. There were some sad moments: One mother told me that her daughter's biological father shot himself. Another student, who is large and dark, showed up with this tiny white guy with blue eyes who looked to be in his mid-twenties. I was dying to ask their relationship, but being new, I didn't want to offend anyone. So I bit my tongue and answered questions. Later, I found out that the white guy is part of the Catholic Youth and my student receives much more love, attention, support, and structure there than he does in his wrecked home life. Thank goodness this sweet kid has someone looking out for him.