Friday, April 18, 2008

Dear OHVA,

Have I told you yet today what a wonderful school you are?? Only four times?? Well, I'm slacking. So very sorry. You deserve a thanks a hundred times over each day! I love the flexibility of our schedule to what we need as a family or even just to have more time outside some days to burn that childhood energy! Listed are a few of the greatest advantages we have discovered:

  • -No packing lunches, or paying $10 a week if we don't pack.
  • -Calm morning routines instead of constantly feeling rushed.
  • - I don't have to drive anywhere "because" the weather is horrid (and often is).
  • -Exposure to sickness, flu, snotty noses and worst of all, creepy crawly parasites are nil! I could be setting myself up here, but the worst sickness has been ONE minor cold per family member for the past 7 months! ONE! Woohoo!
  • -Not ending up with ruined/blackened/dingy clothes and shoes from the recycled tires substrate that covers the B&M playgrounds.
  • -Not being made to feel uncomfortable on a daily basis in facing/dealing with other parents that looked at me like I had three heads and my kids fell from the Starship Enterprise. I know this is a small town and I'm an outsider, but I'm not that far outside!
  • -A wonderful staff and faculty that greets and talks to us like real people at every school function, field trip and face-to-face meeting.
  • -Interactions with a diverse group of children, all of them positive!
  • -Completely amazing and wonderfully supportive parents that are in the same boat as I am. These people are such a benefit to this school and its community!
  • -A rich and interesting curriculum with materials and lessons provided. I can do what I truly love and that is to teach my children.
So thank you so much OHVA! We are so proud to be part of your school and grateful to have you as an option in the difficult challenge of raising responsible, respectful children in today's crazy world.

With great thanks,
A

1 comment:

  1. Dear Ang,

    I go by "Ang", too, and am a work-from-home Mom who has been wrestling with making this committment.

    I just read your comment out loud to my husband, and holy cow, we both realized I could have written it myself!!!

    We originally looked into OHVA back in 2002-2003, but at that time I was laid off, and then wound up working outside the home, so it just never seemed realistic that I could help my children with this.

    About a year ago I got VERY lucky and found work at home, so now I'm home with them, and it's served to prove to me more and more that they need OHVA to excel.

    As the "Outsiders" (we only moved here 10 years ago...) our kids are abused, ridiculed, and refused a decent education every single day. This community caters to those who are related and those who are in football, and very little else.

    I have a child who is a Junior in high school, and who has suffered much at the hands of people - kids and teachers alike - who make fun of him because he knows the answer. So he stopped doing anything, trying to get them off his back. Unfortunately, the only person this hurts is, again, him.

    My younger child is experiencing the same things, in the same grades, so it's time to make this change before it's too late for everyone.

    Reading your blog just now helped me to realize I'm not nuts in this belief, and I had to write to thank you so much!!!

    Another Ang
    NE Ohio

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