Too School for Cool

The biggest cultural differences so far seem to be showing themselves at Ethans school. Tonight we had the compulsory Academic Information evening strictly for parents only. We started off in one of the Second Grade classrooms with the three second Grade teachers, they were all typically American. blonde and perennially happy, they are Megan (Ethans teacher), Kricket and Katie. They are lovely and have some fantastic philosophies. I think Ethan is going to do very well and will love attending school with them. Next up was the intro with the school head, although she is more of a business type, lots of buzzwords like leadership etc etc in a busy auditorium complete with headset, sky high heels and big hair! We couldn't help but giggle through some of it but its just that USA vs UK thing which can be pretty entertaining and admittedly slightly annoying at times. I think the word 'Ahhsome' was used around 40 times (I stopped counting after 30). However i am well aware its just us being grumpy old brits, she is quite a dynamic and motivational person- just different from what we are used to! The school has great facilities, the huge auditorium, sports hall, fields, stunning music rooms etc. It also has outdoor classrooms, indoor and outdoor art areas and tons more. The classes are small, I think Ethan has around 12 in his class and they are well assessed into which class they should go in from academic ability to learning type and social interactions etc. The school is also careful with security, the parents having key cards and the doors being locked at all times. Although there have never been any problems at Aspen, plenty of schools close by have had more than their fair share of well published news. Tomorrow will be his first day, so more to be updated very soon I would suspect.

Oh we also had a giggle as each child had a head outline and quote on the wall outside their classrooms. The quotes ran from ' I know I am special as I have a family who loves me' to 'I work hard at Maths so I can get better and better' to Ethans... "I can tell really silly jokes"... Oh dear- what a start!!!