The First Day of School

The BYU students arrived today and this place sure feels different. It was so quiet and peaceful before, but you could sense in the air all day today that everyone was gearing up for the students. They arrived in the late afternoon surprisingly bright-eyed and excited from their overnight flights. My kids are so excited to have more people to play with, Isaac especially. I don't think he understands that they aren't here just to hang out with him.

But this last week for us has been a busy one. The kids had an orientation at their new school (the Anglican International School of Jerusalem, or AISJ) on Friday morning, met their teachers, and got to run around the campus, which is an old hospital built by the British in the 1920s. School officially started Monday, and all the kids seem to really love it. Of course, there are minor complaints: from Isaac--"my teacher's too strict so my name is always on the board;" from Mary--"our gym teacher is so mean that my experience today was absolutely horrific;" from Linda--"Mom, I want you to go to school with me." All in all, though, I am nothing but impressed by the school, its staff, and its teachers. Everyone is so welcoming and helpful, but they have high expectations for behavior and academics. There are no more than twenty in a class, and Isaac only has ten other students in his class. It's going to be a challenging year, but I think the kids will grow a lot.

I also love the school because of its international character. Many of the teachers are deeply religious people from all over the English-speaking world. The kids speak a multitude of languages, and many of them are learning English for the first time. I've met parents from Holland, Italy, Spain, Africa, Korea, America, and Britain, not to mention from Israel. All the kids dress uniquely and have unique foods and experiences and attitudes to share with one another. I'm sure that could be difficult at times for the teachers, but they all seem more than excited for the challenge because of the benefits that variety brings to their school community.

Can you tell I'm excited about their school? I really love it and I hope the kids create great memories there.

Here are all the kids attending the school from the BYU campus, sans Isaac--I don't know where he is, but I know where he was supposed to be! (On the Left: Megan, Lisa and Emily Judd; Mary and Linda, then Carrie and Amanda Judd; then Elizabeth, Adam and David Schade.)

Mary with two of her new classmates, and Amanda Judd, who is from the
BYU Center and in Isaac's school class.

Isaac outside his classroom.

Linda with her most delightful of all "Pre-Primary" teachers, Ms. Gandy.
She is wonderful to and for Linda.

While the big kids were at school, Abby and Joe and I went on a hunt around the neighborhood for a local preschool. We found it but they were still closed for August holiday. However, we did find a fun playground at the neighboring hospital, where a seven-year-old Palestinian girl from Jericho fell in love with Abby and tried to teach us both Arabic.

Joe liked to wander between the swings and push them until they hit him in the forehead.
He eventually got better at ducking.

And then we gave Joe a haircut. Sniff sniff. He looks way too grown-up. Better pictures to follow.

Before...

...and After