Last school year, my husband and I decided that our oldest would switch over to a private school for first grade. After registering her at another local private school, something called me to tour another small school in our neighboring town. We toured the school and felt right at home. We wanted religion to be a part of her everyday routine while at school. She thrives in a smaller environment, and we knew this would be attainable in a private school setting.
She is smart but sensitive. She is very timid when it comes to new places and new people, so the transition was scary for me. After a couple of bumpy weeks, she loved her new school, and so did I. The tuition was reasonable and we could easily see ourselves sending the three kids there and it being manageable.
Midway through the school year, we heard rumors of the school possibly closing due to enrollment.
I brushed these rumors off, as there was no way that the school we love so much could possibly close.
We then received a message from the head of the school saying that if enrollment does not increase over the next year that the school would, in fact, close. It came as a shock to me. There was no way the school that we love could close. I planned on sending all my children here, I planned on building a relationship with the school community. My kids were going to have the opportunity to have a Catholic Education that was affordable for our family. I was very shocked by what was happening in the school.
I didn’t think that it was actually going to end the way it did.
But I was wrong.
What a disappointment, what a slap in the face! The school that I was so excited about. The school that my child LOVES was going to close at the end of the year.
What were we going to do about this? There was really nothing to do about it; there was nothing I could do to change this. We just had to accept what was happening. Telling my child that she would not be able to continue going to the school that she loved was heartbreaking.
Parents were heartbroken, the faculty was heartbroken. How do you close the school that’s been in existence for so long?
I didn’t have the answers to this, I just knew that we had to deal with it. There was no other choice but to make the best of the situation. I didn’t know if that was even possible to do. Dealing with this disappointment was one that is harder than I’ve ever dealt with before because there was nothing I could do to fix it.
I was not in control of this decision.
Dealing with it was hard, but by the grace of God we got over it, we found a new school for our children, and they are thriving.
We made it.
But, not even a year after they announce the decision to close the school, I still find myself struggling to put this behind me. I know this was meant to happen, but I just can’t see why–the school was filled with so much love. The teachers really cared about the students. It was filled with love and so much good, it’s hard for me to believe that this was a good decision.
Here I am, still dealing with the outcome of the situation where sometimes it is hard to accept the unexpected.
