graduation day

June 01, 2013

graduation day

Ready for the ceremony!

Technically there are two more days left of school. But since Punk has 8th grade skip day, and then half a day on Tuesday, it's relatively moot. Kooka has her village project and then a school-wide carnival next week, so in reality, today was her last day too.

But I wish it weren't.

If I could keep her there through 8th grade I would. If they had a high school curriculum, I'd be in. Heck, if they had a doctorate program, I'd make sure she got her PhD in SOMETHING. I love this school. It's not perfect - no education system can be everything to everyone, but it has been an absolutely beautiful nest for my middle child to stretch her wings, nurture her natural curiosity and develop deep and heartfelt friendships.

I'm also slightly in love with her "graduation ceremony".

It went like this: The fifth graders lined up for their procession to the playground (a quaint, but spacious outdoor, wooded space) as all of the teachers they've ever had serenaded them with a grand march played on kazoos. Each child was called to the front, introduced by their teacher of the past two years and lauded for their individual contributions to the school. Of course Kooka's teacher basically heralded her as the Elle Woods of the school - a valley girl stuck in a Nature Valley commercial, but it was all in good fun (and completely true - in a school where kids can be seen wearing pajamas to school on a daily basis, Kooka never misses an opportunity to match her shoes with her nailpolish, started a student council, and wears dresses whenever she can). After the ceremony, the kids pass under a trellis of flowers into the "tunnel of love" - a London-Bridge type hallway made of parents and teachers and alumni cheering them on and wishing them well as they start their new adventures. It was lovely, it was sweet, it was totally different from Punk's 5th grade graduation (you can read about that one here).

Here are some of our favorite moments: