Back to School: Post-COVID (Even Though It's Still a Thing) Integration

We’re officially into the second week of school. This is the sweet spot, past the anxiety and work that goes into preparing for a school year, where I can actually enjoy the peacefulness that happens at 7 a.m. when both kids are on the bus.

Every parent knows that back to school involves shopping for new clothes, school supplies and perhaps emptying out last year’s backpack that you reminded your child to empty 3 times back in June. Wait, is that just me?

But as Teddy’s mom, there’s some extra work that goes into preparing for school. Off the top of my head, these are some of the things that I had to cross off to make it to this point:

1. Call the special education office back in June to make bussing arrangements. This was above and beyond the simple form for bussing that’s required for all students because apparently they can’t ask all the right questions to eliminate the need for extra work.
2. Complete a seizure plan. It’s the same plan as every year, but I need to write out the instructions every year.
3. Review the associated paperwork for the seizure plan.
4. Complete 3 separate medication forms that must then be signed off by his doctor’s office.
5. Make sure all those medications are properly packaged and not expired. (Whoops, I sent an expired bottle of Ibuprofen and had to redo that step.)
6. Resign the medication form that went missing between the doctor’s office and the school nurse’s office.
7. Call the bus office at least twice to confirm that his pickup time is accurate, he has the right supports on the bus and verify the supposedly 1.5-hour bus ride home.
8. Call the special education office after the e-mail that special education students need to work through that office for any bussing question. Still learn nothing beyond what is in the system.
9. Write a letter to his bus driver to help them understand Teddy since they know nothing about him yet are responsible for him almost 2 hours a day.
10. Coordinate with his teacher to get his therapy services resumed. This means we need an IEP meeting.
11. Facilitate communication between outpatient therapy and school therapists to update them on progress and potential goals.
12. Meet with the new speech therapist to give her an overview of Teddy, so she can assess him and develop IEP goals.
13. Pack traditional school supplies like notebooks, markers and headphones, along with a supply of diapers, wipes and extra clothes. (I’m just now worrying and wondering if I actually packed the extra clothes …)
14. Do Get to Know You Conferences with not 1, but 2 teachers to make sure we’re on the same page. Emphasize multiple times the safety plan for him that will keep him from eloping … again.
15. Worry. Pray. Worry some more. Hope for the best.

And the transition this year was actually remarkably easy in many ways because his primary teacher has been the same since 1^st grade and his classroom teacher is none other than our beloved babysitter. (Thank you so much, Sigrid, for advocating to have Teddy in your classroom! This makes the transition so much easier because we’re not educating someone new all about Teddy in 15 minutes.) The bussing was the only real unknown component, and that came with the excitement of riding a real bus for the first time since kindergarten. Let’s just say that he’s so excited to get on the bus each day that it involves jumping for joy and then literally running onto the bus.

One of Teddy's real-life angels. She checked on him and sent me photo evidence.

Now that he’s at school, we get to hear the progress and the positives. All that’s left for me to do is continue to worry and pray because we’ve avoided COVID for 2.5 years. Now we have two kids unmasked in school all day … so every cough will make me cringe and anxious.