School

We thought that Errol would be homebound until he was at least six or seven-maybe longer. Our world seemed to be narrowing, our future darkening, but then we learned about the Children’s Center.

Errol started school at the Children’s Center, a school for children with special needs, about a month ago, at age 8 months. We drop him every morning around 9:00 and pick him back up around 1:30, Monday through Friday. In those short hours and in just one month of school, the Children’s Center has changed Errol’s life dramatically. When he started school he couldn’t hold his head up at all, he couldn’t focus, he was not very vocal, and he had very weak muscle tone. In short, although eight months old, he seemed like a newborn. Thanks to his school, today, Errol can sit up in a chair for half an hour (he even likes it. I think it’s the first thing he’s ever been proud of.), he can hold a steady gaze, he hoots non-stop, and is getting stronger and stronger. He is a child transformed, and we have the Children’s Center to thank for it.

I’ve spent thousands of hours in scores of schools, and the Children’s Center is, by far, the best of them all. The teachers are very demanding of the kids (it’s not just a matter of learning math, it’s a matter of walking and talking), and just as loving. They are quick to celebrate each little step the kids take, and quick to ask for the next step - the perfect mixture of love and hope. I am eager to arrive, and sad to leave, and while I’m there, I often get a little weepy over the life the school gives to so many children and their families.

In his classroom, Errol has three loving teachers, Anne, Paula, and Audrey. We could ask for no more loving and dedicated teachers. Errol shares his happy classroom with five other children who all have special needs. Besides his teachers, Errol gets occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, and vision therapy, and on Monday and Wednesday (my favorite day), it’s music therapy time. His school is so wonderful, that the family of one of Errol’s classmates moved here from Virginia, and another from Athens, Georgia.

Errol is a different person because of his school, and his future is much, much brighter than it was before. His school is so amazing, and has changed his life so profoundly that I often wonder what our world would be like if everyone was as fortunate as Errol to get such a beautiful place to grow.