SCHOOL DAZE!

Here is a brief summary of our school visits. There are many, MANY more details that I'd love to share, and I might in a later post. But for now, I'll just hit the highlights!

American School in London: 40 year old, well established, well endowed school. The admissions director had his act together and led us through a very concise, but packed with information, tour of the upper and lower schools. There is a heavy focus on fine arts here (in general, not just at this school), and we saw state of the art equipment and facilities. Their lower school library had 17,000 volumes, 20 computers, and touch boards (like the smart board). The kids were very engaged and seemed happy to be at school. One negative: no uniform. We have decided that the general atmosphere of the school changes when you don't require a uniform. The kids, especially upper school, were a little too comfortable at school! ANother negative: we knew it would be "secular," but this was amazingly indifferet to any faith, as far as we could tell.

Woodside Park: Older school, new headmaster (sound familiar?), enrollment is down because of the direction he's trying to steer the ship. He actually moved from Houston to take this assignment, but he is a native of England. His wife, the registrat, led us on a VERY thorough tour that lasted about 3 hours. We loved the IB curriculum and the lower school, but the upper school didn't seem to have its act together. The school has 41 countries represented and is extremely diverse. We can't decide if it might be a bot too diverse for us.

Southbank International: The admissions director looked like a 20 year old kid. He did not sell the school, even though he is a former student back there to work. That surprised me. They are also an IB school, with 60 countries represented. NO UNIFORM. Two separate campuses for Ross & Chloe that are about 25 minutes apart. Again, the diversity might be a bit overwhelming for our kiddos. Not sure.

So, ASL might have space for Ross, and Chloe has been wait-listed. Woodside Park practically begged us to come, and SOuthbank didn't show their hand at all ( they want the $300 application fee before they commit!).

We ate at a fabulous steak place last night, La Pampa Grill, with one of Joe's colleagues, Amy. We have also visited the Tower of London and are thinking of taking the train to Paris tomorrow for my birthday! How many gals can say THAT?

I spoke with Nahnee & Pookie tonight and all is well at home. They have been swimming every day, and Emmy is going under water in the spa all by herself! Miracles do happen! My dad got in a little negotiation with her before nap time yesterday when she insisted on wearing her princess nightgown. Ross' play went well. Chloe made it to gymnastics on time. Everyone is happy and cooperating. Thank you, Jesus!!!

More later - must go get ready for the house tours!!!

Kate