Rules

We have apparently pinpointed the problem with Alison at school. Friday she was removed from the playground. Not forcibly removed, but told to go stand over by the school building until recess was over. Ali wasn't exactly sure why she was kicked off the playground equipment, but then apparently when she was over by the building she wasn't standing in the right place, so she got in trouble again. One of the girls that she was sent off with (there were two others) who was from her new school told her they should stand on top of some steps leading into the school. This was the wrong place and Ali got in trouble again. She never knows when she is going to turn around and end up breaking a rule.

I ended up contacting the principal to have a discussion with him about this incident. I got the details from Ali about what happened and I thought it was a little excessive to have her recess cut short. I actually only wanted to set up an appointment to talk to him, but I actually sat and talked to him for about 15 minutes Monday.

So my impressions, I think he is genuinely a nice guy, but I got the feeling that he thought I was nuts. He didn't know about the incident on the playground and couldn't understand why Alison would have been sent off. He explained to me the blue slip/pink slip procedure, which was fine, but then asked if I had spoken to Alison's teacher yet. When I told him no, I got the feeling that I was being brushed off. Almost like there is a chain of command and I am not following it.

I explained my concerns that Ali was a model student a Riverside and was never in any trouble, was student of the month six times, top of her class in testing even though she was the youngest, got a Pillar award for helping out... and now we have been at our new school for all of 12 days and it seems like every day there is another problem. So to make a long story short, he said he would talk to Ali, and try to calm her nerves, try to make sure that all the rules were understood in case she was worried. He was going to talk to her teacher and to the aide that removed her from the playground to try and find out what happened. He gave me an idea about what someone would have been kicked off the playground for, but I can't see Alison doing any of those things.

I suppose for now I am satisfied with the response, but we have to continue to monitor things I think. it sure seems like there are an awful lot of rules to follow here. I mean I am all for order, but they also need to let kids be kids a little bit, don't you think?