SCHOOL DAZE

Meg begins school at Caxton College this Friday, and today she wanted to model her new, mandatory school uniform, which Leslie and Meg had acquired while I was in Malmo.

Much to our surprise, Meg thinks the uniform is okay because it "saves time in the morning -- now I only have to worry about my hair." She went on to say, however, that "the gym uniform has so much plastic in it you work up a sweat just wearing it."

Meg is going into Year 9, which is equivalent to USA Grade 8. She is still among the youngest in her class (turns 13 in a couple weeks), but from the placement tests she took this summer there was no question that she would go into Year 9. Seems the International Schule in Hamburg did a good job.

The school is a seven-minute drive from the house, so that is an improvement from the 20-minute school commute (with Leslie driving at least one way most days) she had in Hamburg. And there are many Caxton kids here in the neighborhood, including the three children of Ian and Shelly Burns' (BMW ORACLE Racing friends) just around the corner.

We had checked the school out in April when Leslie and Meg were here, and it seemed excellent in all respects and has top reviews. There are one or two other international schools in VLC which are also reputed to be good, but we believe Caxton has the best balance of academics, facilities, proximity and extra-curricular activites.

Last week Meg and Leslie went to a Caxton orientation day. They found out that Spanish class is not "Spanish as a second language" but normal spanish studies for los Espanoles. The non-Spanish kids take extra Spanish to catch up. All other classes are conducted in Ingles, though with 90% of the 1000 or so student body being native Spanish, there is plenty of Spanish spoken on the playground. In Hamburg the mix was more like 50-50 between German kids and expats. Should be an interesting experience.


A bit preppy, a bit geeky -- after all, it's una escuela Catolica (Opus Dei
no less, but then so is the King, the Navy and most of upscale Spain).
Love the shoes, especially on the gunboats that Meg calls feet.



Making fun with Mother's glasses and one of the reading
assignments.



LOL -- looks like a pose for the pre-season progam, but American
football is one sport not played at Caxton. In such a hot place why
is the gym uniform 100% acrylic?