We are so grateful to have another parent of the La Scuola International School ‘Famiglia’ sharing her family’s story!
Rossa, a parent of a PreSchool student, shares about her experience of having a strong community has given tremendous support to raising her son and having him feel happy and confident in school!
The saying goes: “It takes a village to raise a child,” and as a family with both parents working full time we embrace this sentiment wholeheartedly. Both our families live a 3 – 5 hour plane ride away, so the network we have that supports our son is precious and one we rely heavily on. I think that’s why when it came time to decide on preschool for our son I was stressed. Many parents we talked to already had a shortlist of schools and a point of view on the teaching method they preferred so we listened to those we trusted and started the list of schools we wanted to visit.
Visiting the schools was a surreal experience. At the time our son had just turned 2, so while he was full of personality, I felt the weight of the world in having to choose the right school for him as I thought to myself: “I have no idea what he likes!” I also found it hard to truly get a sense of each school, the teachers and what the day-to-day would really be like. I also struggled with how many schools talked about how ensuring the right kids were admitted, but how did they know that through meeting us on a 45 minute tour and reading 2 – 3 questions I’d answered about my son?
These feelings of uncertainty changed when we visited La Scuola International School. We heard about the school through a friend/co-worker whose daughter was enrolled and were intrigued by the benefits of language immersion so added it to our list. I wasn’t able to go to the open house, but my husband went and came home smiling and said to me: “You’ll love this place. They said if you don’t want your children hugged or kissed then don’t send them here.” I was intrigued. After my son had his interview, he couldn’t stop singing one of the Italian songs they sang and that was the signal I needed that he’d be happy here. Then on the day of our interview, as I was sitting in the front entrance waiting, I watched all the kids run into school, many ahead of their parents, smiling and laughing, and I just had this feeling that we’d found our village for this next phase in life.
We’ve just completed our first semester at La Scuola International in the Grandi Preschool program and over the holiday break getting to spend more time with our son and reflecting back on the last year, while it’s cliche to say, it’s amazing how much our son has grown up over the first part of the school year. Throughout the holiday break we’d often hear him singing Italian songs, set up his stuffed animals in a mock classroom and sing “Ciao ciao” to welcome all of them and over dinner told us about how he’s waiting for plants in his garden at school to grow.
This last week was our first week back at school in the New Year and walking into the gates and seeing his teachers and other parents at drop-off and pick-off was like seeing friends and family again. From catching glimpses of his teachers talking to him in Italian and seeing the understanding in his face to watching he and other kids jump in puddles together showing signs of a growing bond and missed time together over the break, it’s clear that as a family we’ve all found a new little village in La Scuola.
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