Schools

I think we are (finally) going to be in a good spot with the school situation, but it is still a daunting task - to choose the correct school (which leads to the right community) for Attie and our family.
Do we choose rural, suburban? Valley or west/south of Springfield? Private, public or home-school (but just for a bit, not long-term home schooling)?
It is in my heart that everything will work how it is suppose to work out - I'm just not 100% sure how that will be at this moment. And I probably won't know, even when we are in the middle of it. I just have to follow my gut and go from there.
When a kid visits a school and says, "please, please, please can I go to this school." Do you listen to him? Even if he hasn't met the teacher or seen the school work. Has just seen the awesome outdoor space and realizes how close nature is to him.
Nature was one of the tops on the list why we were moving. It wasn't to find a more academic school - the school that he was in was great - to be equal to what we had would be wonderful. Just writing these two sentences and putting them down on "paper" instead of sitting in my head has helped me lean towards one of the three schools over another one.
Now I think it will come down to location, location, location.
Bob wanted to move to be back in THE VALLEY. I put that in caps because I guess THE VALLEY is just that special. I haven't come to appreciate it fully yet myself, but everyone I speak with talks about how much they love it here, for those that have moved away everyone would love to move back at some point. So I guess if you have the opportunity to live in THE VALLEY, why go somewhere else?????
Of course a lot of the decision will also come down to $. Attie has been accepted to 3 schools. We need to wait to hear back on financial aid packages. That of course will be a huge factor. Also the type of house we can afford for each area.
I am just rambling along, but it is nice to put some thoughts down and to know that he is accepted to 3 private schools, so we have those options as well as plan c and d (Wilbraham public and homeschooling).
Time (and financial aid letters) will tell where we end up.....