Moving Schools

I was at the small Glenwood Elementary building in second grade. I wasn't doing well that year and my parents wanted to try tutoring. Throughout that summer my tutor and I went over math, reading, and more. Near the end of the summer nothing seems to be helping. School was going to start in a week. I overheard my parents talking about moving my brother and I to a new school, I wondered many things.

That day finally came and school had started. I rode the bus to my new school St. Albert. It looked huge because the elementary, middle, and high school were all together. I was lost in a sea of nameless faces and I didn’t know where to go. A girl named Madison walked up to me and spoke “I’m Madison, you must be new.” I responded “yes.” She asked me “do you need help finding your class?” I said “yes”, happily. I told her the name of the teacher and that it was a third grade class, she looked surprised. She answered “that’s where I’m going to!” I smiled and we both walked to class together, talking about our own personal interests and family members.

When we got there the teacher seemed very nice and helpful. I made many friends and we hung out during recess. My best friend was Masision. I learned a lot about her and we always played tag. We ate together at lunch every day, she introduced me to new foods and I ended up liking them a lot. I thought the school was strange because it was a private school, the girls had to wear plaid shirts and skirts. The guys had to wear plaid shirts and long black pants. We all had to wear the same thing every day.

That year I learned many things, my favorite was multiplication. Every Friday everyone from the school gathered in the gym and we did a church event because the school was Catholic. In the beginning, it was as loud as thunder, with all the voices of people. They taught me many prayers and I did pretty good at memorizing all of them, my favorite prayer was Our Father. The last day of school everyone was excited to start the summer.

The summer was filled with fun events, but it went by fast. Soon fourth grade started again. I was still at the same school, it was nice to see my friends again. I didn’t really like the way they taught things, you had to move to different classes for each subject. Months later I had a talk with my parents that I wanted to go back to Glenwood because I wasn’t getting good grades. It was a long talk, they finally agreed I could go back. It was depressing to move schools and go through that process again.

The first day of 4th grade back at Glenwood Schools was like everyone was watching my every move. Once I got settled in everything seemed to be normal again. The teacher and I had some struggles and accomplishments, I’m glad I went back. In the end I made even more friends and my problems went away. I had learned life is full of struggles and you must overcome them.

Reviews

[William Yasanari Harris]

Hi Ashley. This story reminded me of my childhood. I was a military brat and went to a lot of different schools. So I can relate to the subject.

I think--and understand it's just my opinion--that your story needs to be colored in with more details. Example: at the end of the first paragraph you mention, "wondered many things." I would like to know what she wondered.

Third grade at St. Albert's seems to have been a good experience--what changed when she went into fourth grade and what happened to make her return to Glenwood a much better experience?

In college, I had a creative writing instructor that told me the first write of fiction is like putting sand in a bucket and rewriting is the process of taking the sand and making a castle. You gave me a glimpse of the narrator. I want to know more about her. Keep at it.

[Ashley]

Thanks for the comment!