Montessori Children's School of Key West

Whoot whoot!  The littlest wee one is officially on the wait list for Montessori Children's School of Key West!  In classic mommy-of-my-one-and-only-precious-child fashion, I'm not sure if I should be anxious, sad, or guilty that I actually feel soooo excited, but our two-year-old tot is growing up none-the-less.  Sniff, sniff.  But let's face it, it's time to let little one spread some baby birdie wings of his own.

This specific school (MCS) is one that Ally and I visited during our recon mission last June.  Though closed for the summer season at the time, I had a particularly good feeling just standing on the perimeter of the property. The grounds were immaculate, and the building itself just as island cute as could be, the colors bright and cheerful.  Uh-huh .. yup.  Sucked right in.  Ha!  I promise, though ... I did much more homework than that!

At the basic level, the school certainly is licensed and meets all required accreditations.  There are no complaints or citations filed, and the staff boasts all the appropriate credentials.  Basic no brainers.  The curriculum is innovative, creative, and developmentally appropriate.  Love that, of course!  However, I'm equally interested in the "little things" - the guts.  I appreciate the director's time and courtesy while answering my many questions (don'cha just want to strangle the morons who refer you to their websites ... as if they had better things to do than answer pesky questions?).  I'm new at this ... don't shoot me please!  I am impressed with the professional quality, user friendliness, and currency of the main website.  Minor details maybe, but important in my humble opinion.  And I naturally appreciate the stellar reputation the school maintains within the community - word of mouth is oh-so-powerful!

To my great relief, I also admit that I very much appreciate having a variety of scheduling options, which is not always easy to find.  By now, most pre-schools have already closed their enrollment seasons and are filled to capacity for fall sessions.  Not knowing my employment status to date - full time teaching or working from home (or perhaps something else altogether!) - committing to a full-time program vs. part-time half days was tough.  MCS was one of the few which offers both.  By the time placements are made, I should have a better idea of our scheduling and can make adjustments accordingly.

Whew-whee!  Schooling for a two-year-old.  Who knew?

$8 Million & 41 Pink Slips

So this is how I started my day two-odd weeks ago:

41 pink slips issued

Teachers notified: No job next year

"Forty-one teachers have been notified they will lose their jobs when their contract expires June 10 as part of the Monroe County School District's proposed $8 million in budget cuts ... it's a very trying time for teachers."

Article from The Citizen: 

www.keysnews.com/node/31641 

Uhm.  Wow.  Wowwww.  I'm simply not sure there's a way to choke down this news gracefully.  Other than the job postings at Sigsbee Charter, I have not seen the remotest of hints suggesting any other openings in the Lower Keys schools to date.  Apparently this is a nationwide epidemic, and I am certainly paddling against the proverbial tide when it comes to my job search.  Not to mention that I'm swimming with 41 other very hungry fish!  The reality is that Chop and I may very well be moving to Key West without my teacher's nameplate.  Talk about popping the air out of my shiny red balloon!

Yet, do you ever wonder if there's a reason behind the madness?  Was this a test of sorts?  Despite the fact that I've spent the last year preparing to resume my place in the classroom, perhaps it wasn't really meant to be after all.  Perhaps there's something else waiting for me and I needed the year to discipline myself accordingly?  Not to worry ... I'm certainly not tossing in the towel quite yet.  I have a solid application in the system and consider myself a highly competent and qualified candidate.  Yet news of the budget cuts and pink slips have given me much to consider. 

So, you might be thinking .... why is she not freaking out right now??  Here's the thing, five years ago I was blindsided with my own pink slip and lost a job that I loved with a company I admired.  I learned in the years since that within my own heart and soul, I have the gusto it takes to survive and thrive.  The very day that Citizen article posted, Chop received an offer from his commanding officer that will allow us to continue pursing our goals regardless of my status.  Though the proposal was joined at the hip with his long-anticipated orders to Afghanistan, we now have a little bit of fortuitous (and much appreciated!) wiggle room that will buy us the extra time needed to secure my own professional fate -  not to mention that this assignment will have a direct and very positive impact in his unit's overall readiness level for mobility.  To say I am so very proud of my husband is an understatement, and I feel particularly grateful in so many ways.  Yet my heart goes out to the teachers on the receiving end of those pink slips right now.  Those classrooms belong to them.  Those kids are theirs.  For me to sweep in from afar and snag a slot seems selfish.

Then again ... I'm grateful, yes.  But I'm a hungry fish too!

After note:  I barely finished editing my post when I had the opportunity to speak with the Personnel department in the School Board's office.  Though I had called for clarification on something much more specific, I ended up in a very pleasant and informative conversation with one of the specialists.  Low and behold, the State is holding iron fists around the education budget and has not yet released its figures to the individual counties, including Monroe County.  While principals may know for certain that they have teaching positions open for the coming school year, they are not permitted to post announcements (thus interview!) for said positions until the budgets are approved and released.  Charter schools like Sigsbee are exceptions.  Though they follow state mandates, they are not funded by their counties' corresponding budgets.  This explains why Sigsbee postings are available now while the rest of the county is on hold.  It is estimated to be several more weeks before the budgets are released.  Weeks.

Wine, anyone?

For Sale, For Sale!

It's official.  As of one hour and twenty minutes ago, our house is officially for sale. 

Doink!

It's an odd feeling, I must say.  We've worked so hard to make this house as magazine-ready as possible, yet to look out the window at that sign .... wow.  What's that sign doing in front of our house??  I mean, what if somebody actually buys it?  Now?

Here's a quick tour to show off our efforts of late:

(1)  The master bedroom - the caddy-corner bed, as promised!  Note:  I have to admit, it's kind of grown on me over these last few weeks.  I kind of like the warm cross-breezes floating through the room as the temperatures finally warm up here in Virginia.  Cheesy ... but true!

 
(2)  The dining room table ... and I love this photo because it represents a simplified mini version of soooooo many wonderful, beautiful meals we've shared with our families at this table over the years.  The last of my lilac blooms are centered here, the sweetest scent on mother earth.

(3) The living room (sans the giant man couch!) - we removed the 20-foot sofa (kidding, but not too far off!) to open up the room wide, and it worked like a charm.  With a few minor adjustments, we made the room look twice as big ... cha-ching!

(4)  My office/den ... I can assure you it never looked this orderly.  Nor did I harbor a palm tree in here until three weeks ago.  That's my office chair, by the way.  I'm sitting in it now (just in case you're dying to know!).

(5) And at the end of the day ... a nice hot shower.  Aahhh. 

So we'll now wait and see what the market brings our way.  Our agent is the same dynamic, hard-charging Realtor who sold us this very house four years ago, and we put a lot of trust in her advice and expertise.  Thankfully, this part of the country has remained relatively market stable over the past few years.  So a toast to Lady Luck ... to getting this show on the road, dear lady!