When we moved to Mueller it was first and foremost to be near my family. I also thought about how my niece and nephew would also join in on the same school experience since my sister has the same age kids as I do.
Moving to Mueller was also about providing my kids a more racially and socio economic diverse learning experience for them. Maplewood Elementary our home school was prime for that, and very different from the neighborhood school from which we came.
The only piece missing was the Spanish piece. I am dedicated to provide that to him at home, but I know my insecurities and my lack of expansive vocabulary. So, the newly created Magellan International school being opened by a fellow tech entrepreneur me and my husband knew was VERY ATTRACTIVE! We went to the open-house, that 'spoke our language' in terms of it provided a presentation that was very polished, in a format that was what we'd see in college or in work. To this day, the only thing I can see that it was missing, was this sense of humility and community. It was about what 'we can provide your child'...instead of this feeling that we are doing this together.
I can't really put my finger on it and that is the best explanation of why it didn't make sense for us...plus the fact that Brian and I both come from traditional public school families. Tio Bob and Grandma Gail were both public school teachers, as were Tio Ben & Tia Claudia. And to some degree they are still in this space and I was once in this space too.
That humility and diversity piece of equity---education for ALL---it is a basic human right that we share. Education is a process that is shared and so public school is what made most sense for us.
We were lucky that nearby Ridgetop Elementary would pilot the Dual Language program in Spanish...so our choice was made. :)
