Yesterday my mom, Connor, and myself went to check out Rise School. Its an amazing school that works with kids that have down syndrome and other developmental delays. The ratio is 3 kids to 1 adult. They have different therapists that come in and work with the kids in the classroom. They go Monday-Friday from 8a.m.-2:30 every day. As we toured I could just tell that the Employees love those kiddos. And I couldn't believe how clean it was. Jana (the lady giving the tour) said they have a certain accredidation that only 7% of schools actually get. (that deal with cleanliness.) Within the class they also have "typical" kids,they believe kids learn from their peers. 90 percent of the kids that go through the program (age 9 months-6 years of age) are mainstreamed into the school system. That is awesome.
Here are the challenges. The school is $24,000 a year. Yep, you read that correctly. But when talking with the coordinator there are big donors that help bring the cost down to $1,500 a month. And then they take in consideration how big your family is and how much money you make. Well, $1,500 is not even doable for us. So please pray with us that if this is where Connor is suppose to be that God will provide the money for us to send him there. I'm not sure what that looks like. Maybe they would be able to get that down even more??? But first thing is first, we have to get accepted.
So here's how it works. There are approximately 12 spots for Connor's age group. She couldn't tell me where we were on the list. She said sometimes they call and a parent isn't ready to send their child so we would get bumped up. So if there is a spot for us the director will call us in April/May. We would then fill out a application and financial packet that would determine our cost. Then they will give us a few days to decide.
On another note, I'm back at work and had to go up to the campus for the first time. As I was visiting one of my collegues asked about Connor and if he was healthy. I said well, he was diagnosed with Down Syndrome and then I started to cry. Ugh. I thought I was finally to the point where I wouldn't cry when I told people. Why am I crying? Is it because I love that little boy so much and I don't want him to struggle? When in reality, every child is going to have something they struggle with. Or am I still holding on to what I think perfection looks like? I'm not sure. Maybe its both or maybe even more. I'm obviously still struggling with it off and on. The fact that I have a child with DS. But you know what my collegue said in response to the news, Congratulations! It was the most perfect response.
