Dalia had a pretty rotten school experience with the move. Downgraded to elementary school, she found herself wrapped up in recess drama and tied to the same 30 people all day. In addition, she had an inexperienced teacher who relied heavily on her for math concepts every day. We made a few attempts to remedy things but kept hitting a wall. In addition, Dalia was slated for a different junior high than her territorial classmates anyhow. All in all, she made a good attempt but the battle felt fruitless. We strongly encouraged Dalia to change schools but worried at the same time. After spring break, she switched to the elementary that a few friends in the ward attend for an 8 week respite from the drama. Our only hope was that she made 1 or 2 friends for the summer and regained her social self esteem that had taken quite a hit. Dalia was placed in a classroom with a teacher who owns a few animals - including: a 200 pound tortoise named Carl, 2 smaller tortoises, 2 chickens, and 12 baby chicks. Her collection grew throughout the year to add 2 additional ducks. The kids are in charge of animal chores and get to name each new animal. Dalia's first week brought the chore of feeding Carl the leftover lunches every day. Higher ability learning programs were no longer the only highlight to her week. And better yet, she felt welcomed by her classmates without unordinary drama and has met a friend whom she sees outside of school often. And, of course, she comes home with plenty of animal stories.
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