Disadvantages of a small school

Sprout attends a small private christian school fairly close to where we live.  They have some summer sports camps and we signed her up for volleyball, but because of staff changes they have cancelled at the last minute.  For us it's a balancing act to get her to all the of the practices, etc. and this was a bit of a sigh of relief and a bit of annoyance.  She's still swimming so I know she's getting the exercise she needs, but we were hoping to improve her volleyball skills for this fall.  She's going to play this fall, but I don't see her playing when we send her to public school.  I see her focusing on swimming.  Our public school volleyball team is very competitive and she's just not that interested to put in the work to get better.  She's more into swimming and her livestock.

There are so many more advantages to her small school that we tend to overlook the disadvantages.  She's never had more than 20 kids in her class so she gets more individual teacher attention.  They still have art and music so I feel she's a well rounded student.  They start teaching Spanish in kindergarten as well.  It should give her a head start later on in public school when most kids don't start a language until high school.  Because it's a christian school she also has a really good foundation in the bible and her faith.  That was very important to us. Sports teams rarely cut kids either.  They may not play a bunch, but they do play and get to know the feeling of teamwork and cheering on their other team mates.

Sprout knows the teachers and staff at the school well.  So well that when the lunch lady's husband passed they kids all made cards.  She tells her thank you on a regular basis.  They are the often overlooked staff and I'm glad my kid sees them.  We talk quite frequently about the different jobs and roles people play in our society.  There is no shame in working any job and every job has it's importance.  We just need to take the time to think about it and be thankful for them even if no one else sees them.