Punctuality

"If you aren't ten minutes early, you're late".

That is my mindset when it comes to being punctual.  It is the way I was raised.  It shows respect, concern, integrity, dedication, interest and a myriad of other things... so why is it such a difficult concept for this one particular person, or institution for that matter, to grasp?

Hobbit supposedly had a difficult week at school last week.  One day she was "chatty" and another day she was "loud" and on Friday, she supposedly said "unkind words" to her friends on the playground during recess.  I read the write ups in her take home folder but I always get the story as soon as Hobbit gets in the car.  She tells me how her day went without prompting... so why are their stories so different for Friday?

Hobbit got in the car on Friday afternoon and said that she had to move her clip.  I asked why and she said that it was because of what happened at recess - or at least she thinks that is why because it didn't make sense to her.  You see, she was playing with Child A when Child B came up and said that they wanted to play with Child A but not with Hobbit because they don't like Hobbit.  This hurt my little girl's feelings so she said okay and left Child A & B to play together while she searched for other friends.  When she found some other children that she knew, she relayed the story to them but it was loud on the playground so she had to speak louder.  Then her teacher came up and informed Hobbit that she would be moving her clip when they got inside and she knew what for... all Hobbit said was "Yes ma'am" because she has been raised to not talk back to adults.

I told her that I am sorry she was treated that way at recess and she was right in leaving the situation because she should be around people who value her.  Hobbit said she knew that and understood but she didn't know why she had to move her clip.  I told her I would see what her teacher wrote in her folder when we got home.  Upon inspection, I found the scribbling of "unkind words and yelling at friends".  I didn't read this to Hobbit but I asked her if she was ugly to her friends.  She looked mortified that I would even suggest such a thing and said no because if she was, she wouldn't have any friends.  That left me with one option - to call the teacher.

School gets out at 2:45 p.m. and we are usually home by 2:55 p.m. and Friday was no different.  I placed the call to the school and requested her teacher.  I was asked to leave a message because the teacher's phone had a "do not disturb" on it.  Alright, I can do that I suppose.  30 minutes passed without a return call so I redialed the school and received the same response.  Fine, but please be sure that she contacts me before she leaves.  By 4 p.m. I had still not received a call back and now, no one was answering at the school.  Swell.

Fast forward to this morning, at 8:08 a.m. to be precise.  My phone rings and on the other end is a sing song voice asking to speak to me and identifying herself as Hobbit's teacher who had a message to call me.  I was livid!  I stated, very succinctly, that the message was from Friday immediately after school and the point is now moot due to her failure to respond in a timely manner.  She then replied with some pathetic inquiry in her most annoyingly high pitched cartoon character voice if there was anything she could do today - absolutely not was the response she received and a curt statement that she would see Hobbit shortly for class... and then a dead line.

How on earth can someone who claims to be a professional, who is aiding in (and in some cases the only one) shaping children to be productive and posed members of society be so thoughtless?  There is no call to ever disregard a phone message from a parent regarding the events of a day.  It doesn't matter that it was Friday.  It doesn't matter when you have chosen to be in a profession such as teacher because during the school week, you are also the liaison to the parent.  You are the person who fills in the gaps, who gives the other half of the story so that a parent can find the truth in the middle.

Our family is praying that Hobbit gets into the charter school and we should find out next week... but this is just another prime example as to why we are praying harder.  Lack of compassion, moodiness of a supposed educator who plays favorites and the general ignorance that surrounds this school is disproportionate to the level of education and support that students and parents receive.  Punctuality, timeliness, courtesy and respect are not difficult to exercise - or even fain - but they are key components that are lacking from this institution.