Watch them grow! (Triplet update, vaguely Valk related even!)

[Serk]

So, the triplets are 11 years old now, and started 6th grade today, first year of middle school in our school district.....

Got 'em up, dressed fed, prepped and down to the bus stop...





Blake and KK's bus is scheduled for 7:21AM (For school that starts at 8:50 at a school that's 2 and a half miles away.... c'est la vie)

Their bus was more or less on time.....



Since we had almost 40 minutes to wait until Brian II's bus was scheduled, we walked home. With Blake and KK going to one school and Brian going to a different one, we've been trying to make him feel "special" to avoid odd man out as much as possible, so I offered to take him back to his bus stop in style.....



Once back at the bus stop, I got a Twitter alert (Because that's the formal method of communications schools use now. Wanna know if your kid's bus is running late? Better sign up for Twitter!) that Brian's bus was running 60-90 minutes late.

Quick call to mom for an ATGATT deviance waiver and off we go, he'll get to be dropped off at school in style instead of just the bus stop!



I swear, the backpacks always look way too big for the kid..... But there he goes...



Unfortunately for me, since I was only planning on riding to the bottom of the street and back, not only did I not wear a helmet, I didn't put my hair up in a pony tail. It's gonna take me forever to get all the tangles out, but oh well.... totally worth it!





.....and thus the next chapter begins...

Oh, and while I'm babbling, yesterday I crammed in one last adventure of summer, took the train into downtown and went to the top of Reunion Tower...





(Funny thing was, I'm not sure what they were more excited about, going to the top of the tower, or their first ever Uber ride!)




I let them play in the splash pads at a park in downtown.....



They couldn't understand why the water on the ground was bubbly.....

I explained why later..... (This was not the only homeless person using it as an open air shower. At least they remained clothed, and the water was not being recycled)

[carolinarider09]

An interesting start to the week. 

I was some what lucky in that I did not have to use he school bus much after the fourth grade but......   

[Jess from VA]

started 6th grade today, first year of middle school in our school district

For me (and many), 6th was the last year of Elementary (and one teacher), 7th the first years of Junior High; (also called middle school) (and different teachers every hour, and gym class).

So in their 6th, do they get multiple classes/teachers every day?

This was a big deal for me.  I had great elementary school teachers (all old ladies with decades of experience and know how; and little did I know they would turn out to be better than most of my teachers for the rest of my life, with a few exceptions).

But I liked the idea of different teachers and rooms, and moving around all day (instead of the same room and the same old lady all day, except for recess).  


I suppose a roll of quarters in a sock in each backpack is out.  

[RP#62]

Holy moly they got big.  Its been fun to watch them grow.

-RP

[cookiedough]

tad confused on why the boy gets a different school than the girls especially since only 2.5 miles away from home.    Is it a safe enough neighborhood for the kids to ride bicycles 3 miles to school, is not that far?   I would think 5th or 6th grade on up would be safe enough in town bicycling if they stick to sidewalks where NOT busy traffic, if that even exists in your area of the woods....

2.5 miles is a tad bit far to walk to school though IMO.   Much over 1 mile away and IMO is too far to walk to school taking too long.  However, considering the school bus route takes way way way too long (I would be complaining for sure) walking might be a better option?   

school starts mighty early in TX vs. WI, but probably get out earlier as well in TX by a few more weeks?

[Serk]

So in their 6th, do they get multiple classes/teachers every day?

Yup... They overdo it a bit IMHO, cramming 8 periods into a 7:20 school day... But they'll settle into their groove and find their way...

tad confused on why the boy gets a different school than the girls especially since only 2.5 miles away from home.    Is it a safe enough neighborhood for the kids to ride bicycles 3 miles to school, is not that far?   I would think 5th or 6th grade on up would be safe enough in town bicycling if they stick to sidewalks where NOT busy traffic, if that even exists in your area of the woods....

2.5 miles is a tad bit far to walk to school though IMO.   Much over 1 mile away and IMO is too far to walk to school taking too long.  However, considering the school bus route takes way way way too long (I would be complaining for sure) walking might be a better option?   

school starts mighty early in TX vs. WI, but probably get out earlier as well in TX by a few more weeks?

Two boys and a girl. (But the shorter boy, Blake, is used to it, and perfectly okay with being mistaken for a girl, he likes his hair long like his daddy's and wants to keep it that way.)

Not only the distance, but also the weather (it was >100 on the commute home) but also their route home goes along a fairly busy highway (Not freeway) and crosses several major roads. And also, the whole concept of magnet schools was to avoid forced bussing in the court ordered de-segregation era. The idea was to put the "best" schools in the "worst" neighborhoods, encouraging white parents to self-integrate their kids into the "bad" neighborhoods, so I prefer they be in a bus...

Evidently the local school district still has 40 openings for bus drivers, if they manage to fill 'em the bus ride time should hopefully decrease, they're evidently having to stack multiple routes together right now.

When I become emperor of Texas, it will be added to the state constitution that there will be NO public school for mainline students in the months of June, July or August. But for now, school starts August 8th and ends May 26th. Last year was way worse, I almost didn't make Inzane because their last day of school was just a few days before IZ in mid June!


Anyway..... They survived their first day. Mostly enjoyed it, a little shell shocked I think. Made new friends, re-met old friends, etc. Kaelynn is following in her big sister's foot steps and taking up the Bass in orchestra; same teacher even.

[Serk]

Oh! Almost forgot! Our school district is VERY big on the whole magnet school thing, not only for the "Keep the lefty courts happy" bit, but they also have different schools with different curriculum aimed at helping each individual kid do the best they can.

Blake and Kaelynn are in the "gifted" program (>90th percentile in all subjects. Blake was recently accepted into Mensa, KK is >< this close to qualifying.)  Their entire school only has 30% "neighborhood" kids, and 70% kids from across the district who scored 90th percentile or above in all subjects.

(It makes the courts happy, but it's actually kind of sad, the "neighborhood" kids are handled almost as a school within a school, they don't have the same classes, same teachers, anything. But I digress)

Brian's school is the "Classical Center" which concentrates on a classical and art based education, offering stuff like dance, gymnastics, latin, piano (Which Brian is taking), etc...

[john]

a fine look'in crew ya have there            

[Jersey mike]

Good looking kids and they look happy. Congrats to you and your wife and I hope they move on to excellent things in their future.

[scooperhsd]

Bass ?!?!  Why - I'm playing in a community orchestra now, after having not played from my sophmore year in college until after we got back to KC. I'm also taking piano lessons, and the wife percussion (so she can join the orchestra).

[cookiedough]

wow, your school systems in TX is surely different having separate schools so close together.  Putting them in bad neighborhoods would not be good IMO though.   Surely beats the K-12 schools around me where everyone in the small towns go to same school system and everyone knows everyone and what they do, which really sucked as well.   Having 22-45 kids per entire grade IMO growing up was too small, not enough diversity and not enough class scheduling diversity, you take what they have basically.  Then again,  I would not like say over 80 kids per grade either, too big for me.

[Serk]

Curious. No e-mail, no phone calls. But I happened to notice on Facebook and Twitter that Brian Jr's starting his school year off with some excitement:

"August 9, 2022
Dear Brandenburg Parents:
Today around 10:30 a.m., a natural gas smell was reported in a sewer line near our campus. Out of an abundance of caution, the Garland Fire and Police Department determined that we should evacuate students and staff to St. Philip’s United Methodist Church.
GISD Facilities, GISD Security, and city fire and police are investigating the source and cause of the smell and will determine when it is safe for our students and staff to return to campus.
All students and staff are safe and secure. GISD Student Nutrition Services will be providing lunch for our students. We appreciate your patience and will update you regarding dismissal procedures as we continue to work with the Garland Fire and Police Department.
I commend our students and staff for adapting quickly to the situation and following our safety protocols during the evacuation and relocation. For updates, please refer back to our campus website and social media.  
Parents, we need your assistance in keeping your kids safe as the city fire and police continue their investigation. We ask that you, please refrain from picking up your student at this time. We will update you with dismissal procedures in a separate email.
Sincerely,
Randy King, Principal
Brandenburg Middle School"




Edit to add:

Gotta love it! Still no e-mail or phone calls, but they updated their Facebook and Twitter posts:

"1:12PM Update:
We have received official notification from the Garland Fire and Police Departments that our building is all clear and safe for students and staff to return back to campus. Therefore, regular school operations and dismissal will return as usual. 
We appreciate your patience and understanding. The safety of our students and staff will remain our top priority. 
Sincerely,
Randy King, Principal
Brandenburg Middle School"

[scooperhsd]

At least they ARE letting you know what's going on ....

[old2soon]

     Sounds like you have this under control. The school I M O Is Trying. How MANY Students attend school there? Far as that School Bus drivin job I gave er a shot while still existing in Illinois. I left a busload of they thought "priviliged" High School students on a residential street because "they" refused to park their butts and hold the decibels down. Bosses and school district told me I could NOT paddle the little darlinks under ANY circumstances and If they did Not comply with the Safety Rules I could Not EVEN put em off the bus. Yup-I Know NOW I am NOT cut out to be a bus driver!  RIDE SAFE.

[cookiedough]

     Sounds like you have this under control. The school I M O Is Trying. How MANY Students attend school there? Far as that School Bus drivin job I gave er a shot while still existing in Illinois. I left a busload of they thought "priviliged" High School students on a residential street because "they" refused to park their butts and hold the decibels down. Bosses and school district told me I could NOT paddle the little darlinks under ANY circumstances and If they did Not comply with the Safety Rules I could Not EVEN put em off the bus. Yup-I Know NOW I am NOT cut out to be a bus driver!  RIDE SAFE.

speaking of school bus drivers, drove by Freeport IL school yesterday and HUGE sign on a school bus stating starting pay 18.00 hour and full benefits as well.    I guess the shortage is HUGE there and need them ASAP since school starting in 2 weeks.  If I could wear ear plugs not listening to the kids hooting and hollering,  if retired,  I would consider it?  Early mornings though and mid-afternoons sorta makes it hard to do anything fun though Monday thru Friday since tied down to the job partially during the weekdays. 

[old2soon]

     When I was still driving big truck I went from a 2 year mandantory D O T med certficates to 1 year. B P was the main reason. At 77 and on constant O2 I KNOW I can NOT pass a D O T Required med exam. Nor would I have ANY desire to put up with the younglings now. Driving a school bus is a Younger persons job. I plan on STAYING Retired from any form of Professional Driving. As ol Clint Eastwood would say-man gotta know his limitations!  RIDE SAFE.

[Serk]

Our district will hire ya' without a CDL, pay you while getting your CDL, give you a $500 sign on bonus, then start ya' at $21.21 an hour once you get your CDL..... (Much higher if you've already got your CDL and some experience behind the wheel)



https://garlandisd.net/connect/careers/bus-drivers


Edit to add - One of the kiddos long time drivers (He drove Kali too) retired this past year at 82.....

[Serk]

Lucky us... The school bus driver shortage has made the local news:

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/school-buses-in-garland-isd-running-nearly-2-hours-behind-schedule-as-school-year-begins/3045056/

[cookiedough]

too bad not LONGER 6-8 hour day otherwise at over 21 per hour,  more than I make now be worth it.  I know my kid who age 21 has NO CDL but drives 26-30 ft. moving box trucks for a moving company makes 20 per hour now as well was 18 per hour starting out.  He is ecstatic it pays that much since did an interstate move from WI to MN to IA to Missouri had 15 hours of overtime those 3-4 days of mostly driving, made over 1 grand in that short amount of timeframe just sitting behind the wheel.  I guess there is limits on hours legally to drive so had to spend company money on a hotel in Iowa before driving the remaining 5 hours back home to upper WI.  His other job at Aldi, although not horrible, only paid like 16 per hour tops after a few years part time being there.