Finally!

Just in case you didn't hear me screaming yesterday afternoon, I am thrilled to announce that I have a new position for next year -- School Library Media Specialist at Frank Allis Elementary school! Like many of the best things in life, this is bittersweet. I've had this as a goal for over a decade, I am very ready for a change from classroom teaching, it is a position that will fit me well … but as it turns out, it means I have to leave my community at Emerson Elementary School, something that I have really resisted. After my initial elation, I sat down in my classroom and wept. Leaving my friends, the families with whom I've bonded, the children I've nurtured -- that's a big big deal. Emerson holds a large chunk of my heart.

I don't have a crystal ball to see how this adventure will turn out. My dear family and friends tell me that I will be a swell LMS. I'm a little daunted by the learning curve, but I think I am going to love it. I feel like I've finally been granted membership into a prestigious club, decoder ring, secret handshake, and all.

I've long declared that when I got a job I would buy myself a Bunny Rabbit puppet, like the one on Captain Kangaroo. I found a nice vintage one on Etsy today, and it's on its way. I also subscribed to School Library Journal. I think I might have to buy an iPad as well, so I can preview all the cool new learning apps. I'm so excited! (Ridiculous big grin on my face as I write this.)

Stay tuned.

Interesting

I find it interesting that this story made it into the New York Times. I know kids who have gone to the Conserve School, and it sounded like a neat place. On the other hand, anyone who reads my blog at all regularly knows how I feel about private schools. Wisconsin's public schools have been suffering for 16 years under revenue caps that have choked off resources; urban schools have been the hardest hit. I think the problem is only exacerbated when people adopt the "I have to look out for my child" mentality and flee to private schools. This quote was a hoot:

[One parent] said he sent his son to Conserve because he was gifted academically and “our public school in Whitefish Bay does not have a gifted and talented program for the high school.”

Ummmm, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Whitefish Bay an extremely wealthy Milwaukee suburb? I find it hard to believe they do not have AP or TaG classes.

I also wonder about the conflict of interest in a school with an environmental focus being run by a steel corporation. I assumed it was started on a shoestring by tree-hugging Euell Gibbons worshipers.

Well, it will be interesting to see how it all pans out. I just love it when the privileged fight among themselves.