Last Day of School and a Farewell to Carver

A few days after being Principal for the Day was the last day of 2nd grade for Ella (and 4th grade for Katie)!

Little did we know at that time, that it would also be our last day at Carver. The only Elementary school we have known! The school where Katie started at age four (back then they had a pre-school for kids with orthopedic needs)! A school full of friends and staff that felt like family to us! Where we would walk down the halls and hug and smile and wave everyone we would see! 

We LOVED Carver!!

 However, so did everyone else, and since it was not our home school and their Kindergarten was full (of neighborhood students), we found out at the end of Summer, Carter did not get a spot (even though the principal tried hard to make a spot for him, once the classrooms are full of neighborhood kids, there is not much they can do). 

Also, our wonderful Nurse Judy was going to a different school and they were no longer going to have a nurse (the reason why we originally started at Carver in the first place). 

So we made a REALLY hard choice, and decided (a week before school started) that it made more sense to switch to our neighborhood school! 

(More on that in another post. But it has worked out really well. Although we miss our Carver friends terribly). 

Ella with "last day of school" gifts for her teachers.

Ella with her sweet teacher Mrs. Farol and her best friend since Kindergarten, Bella!

Ella had an amazing second grade year surrounded by awesome teachers, student teachers, staff and friends!

 On the last day of school, we took Katie (who had been out of school for the last month recovering from hip surgery) to say good-bye to her teacher and friends, and again, we had no clue that we were not coming back, or it would have been SUPER emotional and tough to get through. 

 

Katie with Mrs. Hall. 

 I can't talk about Mrs. Hall without crying! She was placed in our life at the most perfect time! She is an incredible teacher, who takes her role as teacher very seriously. She believes in the children and sees their potential (even more than the parents do sometimes. I speak from experience). She helped make a tough situation a lot easier. She worked with us to help Katie stay up on all her assignments. Even though Katie had to miss so much school, Katie still thrived and got really good grades and reports during her fourth grade year and we owe that to Mrs. Hall. I will never forget when she had the class facetime Katie while Katie was in the hospital! It brightened our day SO much! She kept Katie up to date in all of the school happenings. Mrs. Hall came to visit Katie at home and brought her treats and cards from the class. She is such a gift and we will forever be thankful for the role she played in our life last year. 

We love you Mrs. Hall!!! 

Signing shirts and wishing her friends a happy Summer! 

 These friends have been close since Kindergarten! Such sweet friends who have always been so supportive!

Here are just a few of my favorite moments and memories from our Carver experience... 

I could go on and on and on about our Nurse Judy who has become like family to us. We ADORE her! She will never know how much she means to me and the gift she gave me years ago. I was so worried about sending Katie off to school without me there to help her with her care. But when I met nurse Judy, I had a feeling wash over me that confirmed that Katie was in the best of hands. From that day on, I was able to leave Katie at school in peace, knowing she would be well taking care of. Nurse Judy goes above and beyond for these kids (as you can see in the picture of her carrying Katie after a fun afternoon at the movies)! She is so special to us and we are forever and ever thankful for her. 

Mrs. Jarzomb, Mrs. Dowlen, Dr. R, Mrs. Ashcraft, Mrs. Rudd, the list goes on and on with the amazing teachers and staff at Carver! They love their jobs and they love their students and it shows! Carver embraced disability awareness month and not only allowed me to put on assemblies... but now they are continuing the tradition, even without us there! It means the WORLD to me that they are keeping going! So special! 

So thankful for Carver and the role they played in our lives. It was the perfect school for us to start our school journey with. I was so nervous about sending my kids off to school, and Carver made all those worries in vein. They not only taught our children, but they loved them like family, and for that, we will be forever thankful! 

On the last day of school, Bryant took the afternoon off and we took the kids on a fun afternoon adventure to celebrate a year well done! 

We headed to the Pike, ate at Islands and then went to the Aquarium and rode the big ferris wheel! It was such a fun way to celebrate the beginning of our Summer fun!