See this awesome kid? He achieved a huge academic accomplishment and was accepted into the P.E.A.K.S program for Kentwood Public Schools. P.E.A.K.S. is the gifted and talented program that services all students (3rd - 6th grade) in Kentwood.
It was a very long and complicated process that we started months ago. Because this is the only program in our area, and students are accepted from all schools (public, private, charter, religious, etc.) the application process is very involved. Questionnaires were filled out by parents, teachers, and students. Cole had an I.Q. test and an interview. He was observed in the classroom. Cole's report cards and other testing materials were pulled from the last three years. The parent questionnaire was incredibly complicated, and several of us joked that if our child wasn't accepted it was because we didn't do a good job answering the questions! We didn't make that big a deal of it to Cole, because we didn't want him to be upset if he wasn't accepted. But we were desperate for him to get in. His second grade teacher told us in the Fall that she had never had a student as high as him, and that seemed to mean that he was on his own. Thankfully he loves to read and we were able to keep him well supplied with books, but he really needed a challenge and some peers who were on the same level as him.
After a very long week of watching the mailbox, the letter came on a Saturday (ironically the weekend that Mark and the kids were in South Bend). I shakily tore into it right away, and burst into tears when I read he was accepted. After the family knew, I began the delicate process of finding out how everyone else fared. First and foremost, we found out that his best friend Ethan was accepted. When we told Cole at dinner Sunday night, his first question was about Ethan (he apparently told Mom later that if Ethan wasn't accepted, he wasn't going to go in the program - glad we didn't have to cross that bridge!).
One of the fears we had was that Cole would go to a new school where he wouldn't know too many kids. And if you remember how his year started, it was a justified concern. One friend pointed out that yes, he would have to adjust in 3rd grade, but that group of kids would be together until 6th grade, so he would be in familiar company after that. They also have a pool party over the summer to meet everyone before school starts, which is great. Turns out we didn't have to worry too much about Cole knowing anybody in class. Of the 24-26 students that will be in the 3rd grade class, 14 of them are from Endeavor, and several are Cole's close friends! Several are my close friends as well, so it's a win/win for me too.
Kara will have a bit of a harder time switching to a new school. While she never went to school at Endeavor, she had Speech therapy there, went to all Cole's events/parties, was often dragged there while I volunteered for something... She was counting on having Cole's Kindergarten teacher next year, and knew just about everyone in the building. I explained that Discovery (the new school) will be new for all of us and we'll all learn together. And since Cole will be okay in his room (they don't want volunteers too often because one of the big things they focus on is independent learning), I can spend a bit more time in Kara's room, helping out there. And in the back of our minds, we're thinking that it's good Kara will already be at Discovery because there's a strong possibility that she will also go into the P.E.A.K.S. program.
So, in a (very large) nutshell, that's what's going on with Cole and the changes we'll all make next school year. We're so proud that he got accepted and think this program will do him a world of good!
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