I don’t remember whether I’ve blogged about this before, but earlier this winter, there were events at H’s school that led us to believe that the school would be shutting its doors in the not-too-distant future.  In December, many staff resigned and they were never replaced.  Students started leaving the center to go to other schools, and enrollment was never boosted in order to compensate for the attrition.  We wondered if the operation was being scaled back—we wondered if we should start looking for another school.  In the thick of winter, we decided to investigate other options just in case H’s school did end up closing.  We visited a preschool that is run at the local park, just a quick 10-minute walk from our house.  The preschool takes kids ages 3-5 (much better than the 2-5 age range at H’s current school).  We loved this new preschool and quickly got H put on the waiting list.  He has to be 3 AND potty-trained in order to attend, so we figured that being on the waiting list would buy H some time to eventually turn 3 and very eventually, potty train.

Yesterday, R picked H up from school, and there was a sign on the door saying that there was a mandatory meeting for all parents the following day at 5:30.  We sensed immediately that the school would be closing.  And then, this morning, this was all but confirmed when H happily announced over a bowl of soggy Cheerios “My school is closing!”  When I dropped H off this morning, the sign on the door was gone.  I asked one of the teachers if the meeting was still happening, and she said “You’d better talk to the owner.”  The owner told me that she made the tough decision to close the center; she had intended to tell all of the parents at the meeting later in the day, but rumors started flying and people were starting to hear second-hand.  I chuckled to myself, because I had heard second-hand about the school closing through Holden, and I enjoyed thinking about the part that he unwittingly played in spreading rumors about his preschool closing.  The center will be open through April 29th (and I am LUCKY because that is the last day of final exams I am giving).  After that, I have 3 weeks of collaborative meetings for which I must find childcare.  It’s not too big of a deal though, since I am leaving the position, and if I have to miss a few meetings, so be it.

So—Holden’s last day at his first school is April 29th.  He is moving onto his next school, his first academic migration of many.