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Thursday, August 24, 2006



Thirteen Schools


Since school starts on Monday, and my brain's been too busy to come up with a decent 13, here's a list of the schools my kids have gone to.

the list:

  1. Northside Elementary School, Ann Arbor, MI.
    Our oldest went to kindergarten and first grade here while Carl was in grad school. It was a very international population, mostly because the children from married student housing went here. The emphasis was very much on making kids feel good, more than on learning.
  2. Mark Twain Elementary, Heidelberg, Germany.
    Then we moved back to Germany, and she went to 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades here. It was a big adjustment for her, because the schools' philosophies were entirely different. Here, she had to actually put in a modicum of effort to get praise.
  3. Grafenwöhr Elementary School, Grafenwöhr, Germany.
    Fifth and sixth grades. Because Grafenwöhr didn't have a middle school, they stayed in elementary through the 6th grade. One of her teachers' husbands was a classical musician, and he adapted the opera Aida for them. I've got a video of their performance back home somewhere.
  4. Clara Driscoll Middle School, San Antonio, TX.
    When we moved back to San Antonio, the school district was our first consideration when deciding where to live. Dagny went to 7th grade here, then because it was so overcrowded, the district built...
  5. Barbara Bush Middle School, San Antonio, TX.
    She went to 8th grade here. The new school looked nice, but was apparently not that well-constructed, because they had a lot of problems that first year.
  6. Ronald Reagan High School, San Antonio, TX.
    This was also brand new when she started 9th grade here. The nice thing about that was that 11th and 12th graders who'd been at other high schools in the area were given the option to finish at those schools, so for the first two years, it was less crowded, and she was able to take some electives as a freshman that she normally wouldn't have been able to get into until much later.
  7. UTSA, The University of Texas at San Antonio.
    She's been at UTSA ever since, majoring in English with minors in German and possibly Spanish.
  8. Grafenwöhr Elementary School, Grafenwöhr, Germany.
    Our older son went to kindergarten and first grade here. He had half-day kindergarten, which was a good thing, because he fell asleep every day on the 45-minute bus ride home.
  9. Encino Park Elementary, San Antonio, TX.
    This was a nice change for him--we lived less than a half mile away. He went here from 2nd through 5th grades. Unfortunately, he was known as such a nice, quiet, trouble-free kid that twice when they added a new teacher after the start of the school year, he was picked to move to the new class.
  10. Tejeda Middle School, San Antonio, TX.
    No, we didn't move--it's just such an expanding area that they built yet another new middle school. This one was only a mile away. I suspect this is where he first got his interest in history--they had a big history fair every year.
  11. Ramstein American High School, Ramstein, Germany.
    Again, when we moved, the school district was our first priority in finding housing. He's gone here from 9th grade, and will be starting 11th here on Monday. We're hoping/planning on staying here long enough for him to graduate.
  12. Encino Park Elementary, San Antonio, TX.
    Our youngest son went here from kindergarten through third grade. He's the only one who had full-day kindergarten, and thankfully, he's also the only one who hadn't just turned 5 before starting school. I don't think his older siblings would have been able to manage.
  13. Ramstein Intermediate School, Ramstein, Germany.
    The response here to overcrowding wasn't to build a new elementary school, but to separate into elementary school (K-2) and intermediate school (3-5). In 4th grade, Cam earned the distinction of being the only one in the family to have ever gotten a straight A+ report card. This year, he'll start at     Ramstein Middle School, which is right next door to his old school.

What's not readily apparent from the list is how very, very fortunate we've been to have had, for the most part, great schools and truly excellent teachers. Of the over 30 years total our kids have been in school, I can count the less-than-stellar teachers on the fingers of one hand. I suppose it helps that we really won the lottery when it comes to kids. Which doesn't mean I won't be happy-dancing come 7:30 Monday morning.

Kudos and thanks to all the teachers out there.


Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
  1. What My Two Cents wants for her birthday
  2. Wystful One makes me feel old
  3. Doug's in black & white
  4. Things about Butterfly Kisses
  5. What Shannon really wants
  6. Buttercup's a world traveler
  7. About Just Expressing Myself
  8. School's already started for Kimmy
  9. Pixiepincessmom's love songs
  10. Ghost has a great husband
  11. Zeus's funniest comments
  12. Raggedy has advice from kids


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!




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// posted by Darla @ 8/24/2006 02:19:00 PM
Comments:
Wow, that's alot of schools, and alot of places!
# posted by Blogger K : 8/24/2006 4:08 PM
 
Hmmmmm, Texas (USA) and Germany. What a diverse and most likely an ideal way for your kids to be better educated. Wow, I'm impressed.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 8/24/2006 4:32 PM
 
Oh. My. God. Barbara Bush Middle School? Are they permanently scarred?

Mine's up!
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 8/24/2006 5:26 PM
 
LOL, Barb and her son (yes, that one) even showed up for the dedication.
# posted by Blogger Darla : 8/24/2006 6:38 PM
 
My hubby is in the air force and we are in a position right now where we can pick the next base we go to..because my hubby has to pick a new job and can find one posted at another base and choose that one. we are contemplating Germany and I see you are there. How do you like it?
# posted by Blogger Unknown : 8/24/2006 6:39 PM
 
Well, since this is our 2nd tour in the same area, and it was our choice, I'd say we like it pretty well. :)

Seriously, this is a great place to be stationed. It's fairly central in Europe, so it's convenient for traveling. It's the largest American military community in Europe, so there are a lot of services. The locals are in general very military-friendly, and nearly everyone speaks at least a little English.

I could go on....

Let me know if you want more info.
# posted by Blogger Darla : 8/24/2006 6:57 PM
 
I am so nervous aboout schools. You are so lucky!

Enjoy your Thursday!
# posted by Blogger Shannon : 8/24/2006 6:59 PM
 
It is worrying, especially when you hear the horror stories. I hope you have as much good luck with schools as we have.
# posted by Blogger Darla : 8/24/2006 7:07 PM
 
Hey, I went to school in Ann Arbor. Great town!
# posted by Blogger Buttercup : 8/24/2006 7:41 PM
 
Now that's quite a list.
My mind is spinnign thinking about all the packing and unpacking. Then again I bet you could write a book about how to do it asap.
Take care,
Frances
# posted by Blogger Frances D : 8/24/2006 8:19 PM
 
Wow! That's a lot. And you're very lucky to have had such wonderful teachers! Thank God for our teachers!!!

Happy T13! My list is up!
# posted by Blogger Kimmy : 8/24/2006 8:38 PM
 
That's a lot of schools. I think in my lifetime I only went to 5 different ones. 3 being elementary schools. I'm glad that your kids had good encounters at each place. Good teachers are hard to find around here.

Thanks for visiting my TT. have a great afternoon!
# posted by Blogger Pixie : 8/24/2006 8:39 PM
 
That is a lot of different schools! I am sure your children benefitted from the diverse education they received!

Happy Thursday! Feel free to visit mine if you get the chance!
# posted by Blogger Zeus : 8/25/2006 1:14 AM
 
Great TT
My TT is up
Have a wonderful day!
# posted by Blogger Raggedy : 8/25/2006 9:41 AM
 
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