1. The aid to whom we were introduced never returned to work with the kids. As a result, random adults were asked to "volunteer" their time in the classroom. These random people don't have clearances, certifications, or all of their brain cells for all I know! The kicker was that we were NEVER told about this; I found out through word-of-mouth. Unacceptable.
2. In addition to there being a different adult with the kids each day, I came to find that there is no such thing as a three-year-old program. I'm still not sure if this has anything to do with a federal grant that offers mucho dinero for combining certain age groups (are Catholic schools even eligible for such a thing?), or if the school is just severely understaffed. At any rate, two, three, four, and sometimes five-year-olds were all clumped together in one room at different parts throughout class. Turns out, Brady's classroom was basically a dumping ground for kids who were waiting to go to the restroom, to art class, etc. It was complete chaos all day, every day. Unacceptable.
3. No one ever, EVER told me what the hell my kid was learning. I never got a calendar, newsletter, crayon drawing--NOTHING. I went to preschool and I am a teacher, so I have high expectations here! And CM was not meeting them. In the few weeks Brady was there, he brought home a little sign that said his first day of school was GREAT (that I'm sure was made ahead of time because his first day was anything but!), and a little goodnight prayer on a card. Unacceptable.
4. It was no secret Brady was having a difficult time with the transition. In fact, his reaction to going to school got worse instead of better. He was waking in the middle of the night screaming, "I DON'T WANT TO GO!" and it got to the point that he was begging not to get out of the car as we drove to school. Knowing this, you would think the teacher would go out of her way to make him feel welcome or at least give me some reassurance. I got nothing. What's possibly worse is that people who know our family were stopping Zach's mom at the grocery store to tell her how sad Brady is at school and how "clingy" he is. Those are not descriptions I would ever use to describe my child. The school was changing him, and not for the better. Unacceptable.
5. Re-read #4 and tell me how you would react if, on the fourth day of class, your child's teacher welcomed him by the wrong name. I had to peal my poor kid off of my leg and as I did, I heard his teacher say, "Hi, Brody." Now, I know I should be patient and understanding about learning students' names; after all, I was in the same boat just a few years ago. But the fact that there were only to be 8 kids in "Brody's" class, and the fact the teacher had spent almost 12 hours with them, made this, you guessed it, unacceptable.
In addition to all of the aforementioned, I had a feeling deep in my gut that he wasn't in the right place. And I was right.
Enter: Kiddie's Korner.
On Friday at 3pm, I contacted KK's director; on Monday at 9am, Brady and I toured the place; on Tuesday at 12:30, I dropped Brady, who was all smiles, off at his new school. It felt right and, as I imagined, he loves it. He actually said, "I'm going to make one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight new friends!" Eight is the number of kids in his class and unlike CM, Kiddie's Korner didn't lie.
I actually went to preschool at KK and absolutely loved it. To this day, I still remember my teacher and sitting on a special carpet for story time, singing and acting out The Farmer in the Dell. The only reason I didn't consider KK for Brady is because he isn't potty-trained and that's a requirement for the three-year-old program. He is, however, "diaper trained," so I figured that, coupled with my disdain for Cardinal Maida, was enough reason to at least try. I was honest with his teacher, who is also the director, and told her that he won't participate in the potty breaks, but I assured her she would never have to worry herself with a diaper change or an accident. I explained to Brady that if he wasn't using the toilet at school, he would have to wait until he got home. And that's exactly what he does.
To date, he's attended exactly two classes at Kiddie's Korner and I've received a monthly calendar that explains show-and-tell, 2 fundraising brochures, a craft he's made each day, and feedback directly from his teacher on Brady's behavior and progress. A parent who pulled her son from Cardinal Maida and sent him to Kiddie's Korner actually told me that Brady looks like a completely different kid now. She said he's relaxed and happy, and he didn't seem that way at CM. And that is just another reason I love Kiddie's Korner; they brought my Brody back to life!
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