Its after midnight so the first day was technically yesterday. This days leading up to the big first day of school were filled with emotions. Morgan went though a few moments of anger. She wanted to do this but she also wanted to go back to her school. That she wanted to meet new people. I already and removed her from the school district and signed and payed for a Co-op so I explained we are trying this for a year. At the end of the year we will have time to figure out our next course. No matter if it leads to another year of online or something new.

The first day wake up was to be as expected she was crabby and angry that I woke her so early. As she woke up a little more i realized I need to run to Target for something I forgot. Of course she asked if she could go and when I said yes she was all excited about online school. We came home and did our annual tradition first day of school pictures. Only these were so much more fun because we got to do them in comfy clothes.

Looking at her schedule was over whelming at first but we quickly received an email saying to only do the five lessons and not to worry about the rest. Morgan was able to log on and do all five assignments and her first live lesson in about 6 hours. After she read to complete her school day

The first day of school went very smoothly cannot wait to see what this year holds for our family.

Today we got her school supplies, and you would of thought it was Christmas morning. She was so excited about her text books, and all of the art supplies. Getting these supples is making it feel so much more real. Only 24 days until school starts. Summer has gone by to fast.

Morgan has gone to public school from Kindergarten until 5th grade. Her lower elementary was great, and we loved all of her teachers. She became a girl scout in Kindergarten and has been one ever sense. She had no major problem in the school and we were pretty content with where she was. Last year she started her first year of upper elementary, and again she had an amazing teacher. School lunches in our district became free for everyone, but she brought her lunch. She made a new best friend, and they remained best friends though most of the year. Minus the lose of that friendship for no real reason she had a good year. The school had one lock down, but I had already picked her up for dance picture week, so she wasn’t apart of it. And while there was others reporting fights at the school, Morgan said she never saw one.

This year her school district was reformatting there schools grade levels. When we moved into the district Morgan was only 16 months old, and they were reformatting then too. They went from K-5, 6-8, and 9-12 school system, to a K-4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-12 system. In 2017 they voted on reverting back to the old system, and decided to start it in the 2019-2020 school year with slightly modifying the schools, So for the 2019-2020 school year the 5th grades would stay in the elementary schools they were in and that the 6th grades would be the only grade to remain at the upper elementary. The following year several schools would close. Morgan’s was one scheduled to close and the other upper elementary would revert back to a middle school.

Ever since she started school I have always said if I am not feeling comfortable online public school was an option. This year several things have been bothering me. One of them being that the school had a rodent and bug problem. They also had a teacher shortage last year in 6th grade, and with no long term subs they used teachers in the school. On their planning hour they would fill in for those classes. Which is not a good environment for anyone. Though I have heard they have replaced those students with the district investigating their superintendent I worry the teacher will begin leaving.

Over the summer an investigation into the superintendent began for the school district. I do not completely understand what is going on, but they placed her on paid leave. Now the suspended superintendent is suing the district for 2 million dollars. And I just feel like this is going to remain a dark cloud over this coming school year.

Morgan was also cyber bullied the first week of summer break, by a classmate from this past school year. I cannot confirm but I do feel like it was her former friend, or the girl she became friends after Morgan. She got a TikToc add from a crush she had last year at school. She was so excited because he made a musically about liking her. She was on cloud 9 all day, though I told her she was to young for a boyfriend. She even made a video tagging him about liking him too. But as the day went on, I began to think about it. The more and more I realized it didn’t add up. He wouldn’t add her, but kept tagging her in videos. She could only see a pic of the video, but she couldn’t view it because he hadn’t added her. Plus the I heart Morgan was something a girl would do and the hand writing looked familiar. When I went to check the account again it was deleted. I knew right away this was not the young man who was doing. Morgan had been in preschool with him and I have always heard what a good kid he was. So I contacted the mother and sure enough he didn’t have a TicToc account. Sad that my eleven year old daughter was cat fished, and that 11 year girls know how to catfish.

All of this made me really start to think about switching schools. School of choice was not a possibility as it was already passed the dates that you could request a change of schools. Plus last year helping Steve up (I am his caregiver and he can’t get up on his own) and getting Morgan to the bus stop was nearly impossible. Towards the end of the year I was dropping her off. So I knew another district was out, because I knew it would just mean her being late, and me losing my mind. So I began look into online public school. But that big question was which one.

A dance mom at my daughter’s studio suggested a school her friend had used Michigan Connection Academy. My husband nurse who helps us three days a week said her friends used Michigan Connection Academy. Both gave glowing reviews about the school. I had been researching the school, so I brought the info to my husband. He wasn’t compeletly sold as he is more of a traditionalist, but he agreed to try one year. So that is where we are today, we are so excited to try out this new adventure of school in our home.

I would love to start this blog intruding myself and my family. My name is Kimberly and I am 39 years old, I am married to my husband Stephen(Steve) who is 42 years old, and we have a daughter Morgan who is eleven. Steve and I have been married for 15 years this coming September, and we live in Westland Michigan in a condo. Steve works for the Equal Employment Opportinity Commission(EEOC) in down town detroit as a federal investigator, and I am a caregiver for my husband/stay at home mom. Steve was injured in a car accident when he was 16 years old, which left him paralyzed from the chest down. So you can say our life sometimes is not your typical one. Our daughter Morgan is getting ready to start the 6th grade this year, and she is going into her 5th years as a competitive dancer at her studio. Also in our family we have a dog named Ariel, a cat named Daisy, and tortoise named Bob. I cannot wait to share in our new journey with you.