1st day....again!

On September 28, Ellie re-started her 5th grade year at our neighborhood school, Spring Road.
The end.




Of course, there is more to the story.
The short story is that her old school was just not a good fit for her.
The longer story includes painful stats like:

• 1 time in 5 years, someone asked HER to sit by them at lunch.
• No one wanted to play with her at recess....they wouldn't say no (school rule), but would just stare at her until she left the group.
• In 7 years, only 1 friend brought a safe birthday treat...yet that same friend brought something "more yummy looking" for the rest of the class.
• While we had most of the girls over to play, never was she invited over to play at other girls' homes.
• In 7 years, she was only invited to "whole class invited" parties. Yet there was a time in which a friend had an "all girl Christmas party" and excluded her.
• Lies were spread about Ellie....and very hurtful words were spoken to her face, regularly.
• She was talked about behind kids' backs.

Bottom line was "It's too much...I can't take it anymore."....that was spoken to us through tears as she explained what it was like to not be included and be the target of hurtful words.

We couldn't let her endure it any longer. We did our part, she did her part....we gave it more than a good try and we still carry sadness about what we HAD to do...for Ellie's sake.

BUT...the story is not done!
Spring Road has been WONDERFUL for Ellie....it has surpassed any expectations we had!
She is thriving....she has friends...she is playing the flute...she knows neighbor kids now and even rides the bus home from school! She was invited to a birthday party...a party in which not everyone was invited! The smile has returned to Ellie's face and she bounces through life with new purpose--our Ellie has returned!

We recently attended her conference and the first statement her teacher made to us was "I LOVE having Ellie in my class!"

Thank you, God....all is well.
The end.

PS....the above picture was her 1st day at Spring Road...but it just so happened to also be "Pajama Day"! What a crazy day to start on...but it turned out to be WONDERFUL! It was also a 1/2 day and it was a great way to ease into a completely new environment!