Neeewww Seashells?

Only one of the funniest lines in The Little Mermaid, in case you're wondering about the title.

Actually, we're thinking about a new school...

The big news in our family right now is that Hannah won the lottery.  The public charter school lottery, that is.  And once one kid is in, any siblings that want to go are automatically accepted (if they choose to attend). So really the whole family won.

We have this tiny charter school here on the coast that's been around for ages.  We put Hannah's name in their pool back when she was in second grade, right after we moved here, and then promptly forgot about it.  I thought you had to resubmit the name every year and we didn't feel like dealing with that hassle.  So we were WAY surprised to get a call from the school this week.  Because of the limited slots available to new students, we had a limited time frame in which to make our reply.  At least, to reply in the affirmative - I guess we can always back out later if we change our minds.

The great thing about this public charter school is that it feels SO much like an answer to a question (which involved a lot of praying) over what would be the best course for Hannah to take as she enters high school next year.  She really has SO many options that we were considering, but nothing was screaming out "pick me!"

So...Pros of the charter school:
*She gets to interact with other students, but in a much smaller setting.
*Fewer of the attendant problems (gangs, language, etc) that goes along with public school.  This school is strict about their dress code, acceptable language, and make-up policy.
*The curriculum is not completely customizable, but we do have more input (as does she) about what she studies.
*Parental involvement in the school is encouraged - parents are welcome to come by any time
*School things such as field trips, band, choir, science labs are possible (something harder to do with homeschooling)

Cons...
*the biggest con is that it's a different school, which means making new friends.
*Also, no bus service and it's too far to walk so someone will be driving her every day.

We thought about sending Brynne to the school, but we could see panic mode start to set in when we mentioned it.  And when we visited the school she was just getting whiter and whiter.  A little reassuring that what's best for Hannah is not always what is best for Brynne seemed to make her feel better.  She thought she'd like to do their Independent Study program, though, so we may pursue that.  It gives her access to all of the perks (field trips, spanish class, etc) without having to be on campus every day.  She's been talking about taking some BYU middle school classes next year - that's still on the table, too.

Anyway...that's the news.