Transitions: Middle School Blues...The Roadrunner, The Mustang, and The Lion (Part Two)

"Maybe the decision has been made for you." G. Goring

Life Rewind

I heard the statement above came from a very wise sister. It was true, for the decision had already been made for us. A "Higher Power" had intervened, which finally put my mind at ease. When I last posted, we as a family had eliminated one school from the list. It was a hard choice, because logistically it was the best location to the house! But the main factor for not accepting the offer to enroll in the school was financial. I will reiterate by saying, " Thank Goodness financial aid and scholarships are available." All of the questions I asked in my last post are what we along with other parents are dealing with. These questions we will be revisited four years from now. Not to mention there is a sibling not too far behind.

So yes, the teen was offered a full scholarship to one school for her upcoming freshmen year this fall! She was also offered partial financial aid to attend the other school remaining! Although she was not offered a scholarship or financial aid from the eliminated school, she was recognized as an Honorable Mention Visual Arts Student. She fell into the upper echelon of the 2017 applicants who had applied for this scholarship, and that is a wonderful honor! The question was do we take the full scholarship or the partial financial aid leaving us to make up the difference? The answer seems obvious right? Yeah we thought so too, but we had some pondering sleepless nights!

The Lord really does work in mysterious ways! The remaining  two schools came down to the order of choice the teen had. One school was first choice on her list. It had the academic courses and sports activities she wanted. The other school also had the academic courses, but did not have the one sport she plays-tennis! Would she be okay with not playing on a high school tennis team? One school we had toured during Open House in the fall of 2016, the other school we didn't attend due to scheduling. One school the teen did a shadow visit for earlier in the school year, the other she didn't. So this is about the time the "Higher Power" of the Lord intervened.

The teen's third choice happened to be the school we didn't tour, didn't shadow visit, and didn't have a tennis team. The school also happened to have a later deadline for parents to accept and enroll their children. We didn't know about the later deadline, because we hadn't received the acceptance packet yet. So in the final third week to decide on the other two choice schools, my husband and I visited the third choice school. We managed to get a last minute shadow visit for the teen, and found out the school did have a tennis team once upon a time! We would just have to see if it was possible to have a team again. In terms of logistics, the distance of the school is closer to her current school. This means she won't be far from her little sister! This school also happens to be the school, in which she can attend with the full scholarship she was offered. Also based on the teen's standardized testing scores and grades, she was recommended to be placed in honor courses as a designated Augustine Scholar! Thank you Jesus for being our "Higher Power!" To Him I give all the Glory and Praise!!

The teen and little sister
representing! Photo by
K.S. Goring

Now Press Forward

The decision really had been made for us, and we just needed to accept that the Lord knew exactly where the teen needs to be this fall. My wise sister confirmed it for us. It has been a long middle school journey that concludes in a month. But a new chapter in this journey will begin this fall. We thank all three school administrations for recognizing and accepting our teen to attend their high schools.

The Roadrunner (known for Speed), the Mustang (known for Power), and the Lion (known to be Fierce) represent unique qualities. The teen has these unique qualities and more. She is known for her speed, power, and her fierceness! I can see why these schools were her choices. However, she can only attend one high school. This fall she will be FIERCE, and represent the school of the LION!

Kaisha
Blog post Copyright ©May 3, 2017
All Rights Reserved.

Transitions: Middle School Blues...The Roadrunner, The Mustang, and The Lion (Part One)

Life Rewind

 The day is February 17, 2017, and at approximately 3:00 pm the words (Photo to the right) and "Welcome to the Class of 2021" came through our phones via an email alert. It was the news we had been waiting to see since December 2016.  These past few months have felt like when I was a teen waiting to hear back from colleges/universities that I had applied to back in the day. When I last wrote, the family was stressed (some more than others-ME) about high school placement testing, filling out high school applications, essay questions, teacher recommendations, and financial aid forms. Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines! The anticipation became intense when we kept receiving emails from the schools stating that decision time was fast approaching!

Now as I have explained before, this whole applying to high school (a Catholic school) is all new to my husband and myself. Both of us have a public school educational background from primary, middle, and high school. The public schools in the bounds of our neighborhood (for me the military base) are where we attended. We chose the private school route for the children, because the neighborhood school (nine years ago when the teen was in kindergarten) in our old Northeast neighborhood was closing. Family friends told us about the Catholic school their children were in and recommended the school to us. After touring the school at an open house and the now teen doing a shadow visit, we made the decision to send her there. Our youngest was able to attend one year of kindergarten, until the school closed three years ago.

The Roadrunner, the Mustang, and the Lion are the mascots that represent each of the Catholic high schools the teen applied to. Given the competition among area Catholic high schools, we were limited to just applying to three schools which were ranked (in a sense) by first, second, and third choice. As a just in case, we applied to a prestigious public high school that she could attend by lottery because of out of bounds restrictions (not a neighborhood school in our Southeast area). So on  acceptance day February 17, 2017, the Roadrunner, the Mustang, and the Lion all wanted the teen to come join their school as part of the class of 2021!

Exciting!! The teen's current school had just dismissed classes at about 3:30 pm. As soon as she got in the car, we told her the great news! The teen could barely keep her composure sitting in the car reading all three emails! She didn't even give it time to sink in. Before we knew it, she was running down the sidewalk back to her friends gathered in front the school spilling the beans!! Hugs, smiles, high fives, and words of congratulations from her friends and teachers were in order. So we let her enjoy the moment.

So with that flashback, I must...

Now Press Forward

The moment would not last long, because what lurked around the corner was again deadlines, deadlines, deadlines!! By the following week, we received the acceptance packets from two of the schools with information about the registration and financial process. The deadline to accept and register for either school was fast approaching. Three weeks was all we had to decide which school the teen would attend in the fall. The decision was easy to make-right? She was accepted to all three, but only one school could reign supreme! Decision made-Right? Wrong. The decision only became harder when the reality of how are we going to pay the tuition kicked in.

We have always understood the challenge of being financially responsible for our children's education. The teen has been attending private school for nine years and the youngest for four years. Challenging may not be the right word at this moment, but it is right at this moment for some of us "Blues" parents. Whether your child attends a public, private,or charter school, the issue always comes down to M-O-N-E-Y! Then there is the thought of paying for college. If you have multiple children, then the cost for education is even greater.

Thank goodness financial aid and scholarships are available. What happens when you are awarded a scholarship or a substantial financial aid amount to cover part of the tuition? Are you financially capable to make up the difference? What happens if you don't receive a financial award or scholarship for your child(ren)? There is also the scenario of receiving aid for one school, but not the other. What if the school that you really wanted to send your child to, is the one that you didn't receive the financial aid for? These are questions some parents are dealing with at this moment as registration for freshman classes fill up at various schools.

So what is the right answer, and what did we decide? I can say at this point one of the schools has been eliminated. Whether it was the Roadrunner, the Mustang, or the Lion you will have to stay tuned for part two.

Kaisha

Blog post Copyright March 31, 2017
All Rights Reserved.