It's the most wonderful time of the year

 Back to school.
This year we're going Charter.
Earlier this summer I was at a kiddie birthday party having momversations with strangers who are finding themselves in the same public or private school dilemma I was in last year. Even though I was plus one on them in real school experience, I found that I had been woefully under informed in the area of local school choices.
I had shied away from charter and fundamental options for kindergarten, because as a parent, I just wasn't there. I didn't see why there was so much hubbub about regular public education. I didn't make enough money to afford a religious or non-religions private school either.
I shopped for a regular public option near home with a better reputation that the one for which we are districted. In the end we ended up at the school walking distance away. Despite their bad reputation and losing a kindergartner a year before last we signed up and lucked out. My little boy had the best kindergarten teacher in the system, despite that in the end the reality was we were allowed only two options, public or private.
Where we live there are a plethora of charter and fundamental schools. They are as difficult to get into as the best private schools. Many have prerequisites or requirements that I or my son just could not meet. I was informed that the process was lengthy, and the wait lists went to infinity. I had passed hoping that for first grade we could move him to the school originally chosen for its security, technology, and facility.
At the party that was the ultimate lead to our new school one of the parents took me aside and informed me in a hush hush tone that there was a new charter near my home that opened after the existing rolls had closed and they were... wait for it... recruiting 1st graders.
Gasp! could this be what we were looking for? Free public/private education, close to home with no reputation, unlimited possibilities for extracurricular learning, school choice gold...
I went home and immediately looked the website up, sent a registration (application) and educated myself about the mission of the school.
It has truly been a long summer waiting for this new opportunity to pan out. Yesterday it did. The first day of school. Learning, education, socialization. I'm almost high on possibilities of opportunity for my little boy.

 Sadly though my poor son has been affected with memory loss. What did he do yesterday? He doesn't remember.... Nice to see nothing has changed...