13 Days and Next Steps !

Not that I'm counting but we only have thirteen days left in this school year then we are free for 2 glorious months.  We are all tired and the break will be so welcomed.

It has been a wonderful school year for both Hayden and Laila.  They have both accomplished so much but have also worked really hard to achieve it.

Hayden has studied so hard this year and put so much into his classes.  His goal this year was to be on the honor roll so we are hoping that he can achieve this because he deserves it.  He is writing his provincials exams this week with his finals for school over the next two weeks.

I can't in words adequately express the transformation that has occurred with Laila.  I have been pretty honest here with the struggles she faced and I'm still truly amazed at what she accomplished.  While her journey with speech issues is not over yet she is most definitely much farther ahead then this time last year.

We are praying that she will be able to return next year to the school that has done so much for her.   You see after the initial reports by her therapists were put into our provincial government for funding next year they came back asking for more justification as to why she should be there.  To say this has rocked our world a bit would be an understatement.  We don't dispute that she has indeed come a very far way but there is still work to be done to fine tune her skills to give her the best possible chance when she is mainstreamed in Kindergarten.

We would pay for the schooling in a heartbeat but here's the problem only kids that are funded by the government are able to go to the school.  The cost is somewhere in the range of $2500 a month and while it would be a strain we would do it for next year but it's just not a possibly.  They do have another program offered at a different center but it doesn't have all the extra therapist support which she really needs and it is on the opposite side of the city.

All 4 of her teachers/therapists have written further justification on her behalf and we have written our own impact letter explaining that this could be devastating to Laila's further growth if she is not permitted to return.  I try to remember these people are just doing their job and trying to ensure the kids that really need the funding get it but it still doesn't make it an easier.  If they could only spent a few minutes with her they would see what we see.

There is nothing further we can do now but wait for the final verdict and we really don't know when that will come.  It could be next week or not until August.  We have a Plan B if funding is not approved that we feel will be the best possible solution if need be but we truly hope they will let her return and we will not need it.

The truly ironic thing about this whole situation is that Sophie is #1 on the wait list to get into Laila's school but we never thought in a million years that it could possibly be Laila's spot that she could get.

Faruq and I could not be prouder of what both kids accomplished this year and know they both deserve the break that is coming.