Roosevelt Elementary was beautiful. The landscaping was lush and well-tended. All the paint seemed to be from the current decade. The buildings were sleek and modern looking, but with just enough bright color to be cheery and inviting. It was also a California Distinguished School. Dakota wouldn’t have expected anything less of a school in this neighborhood, but Zinny’s old school had boasted that distinction, too, so Dakota didn’t put much stock in that designation.
Pick-up was the same kind controlled pandemonium it had been at Shiloh Elementary. Parents and caregivers waited for the kids at the gate. As the teacher said goodbye to the kids, Dakota spotted Zinny standing in line. She was talking animatedly to a little boy Dakota recognized as Nico Nordbeck, the son of Cam’s teammate.
When Nico and Zinny got to the front of the line, Dakota went forward.
“Hello,” Ms. Cooper said. “You must be Zinny’s Aunt Koko.”
“Call me Dakota. Happy to meet you.”
“Dakota, if you have a few minutes, I’d love to talk to you about Zinny’s first day.”
“Sure. I can stay as long as you need.”
It didn’t seem like Zinny was in trouble. Ms. Cooper’s face had remained open and friendly throughout, so that was a relief.
“Aunt Koko, did you see who’s in my class? It’s Nico!”
Dakota smiled. “And here you thought you wouldn’t know anybody.”
“Dakota! What are you doing here?”
She turned to see Natalie, Nico’s mom, walking up and grinning from ear to ear.
“Zinny is going to school here now, and she and Nico are in the same class.”
“Oh my gosh. That’s incredible,” Natalie exclaimed, taking Nico’s hand. “We’ll have to set up a play date soon. Not today, though. Today I have a zillion things to do. I’ll get your number tomorrow at pickup. Toodles!”
Five minutes later, all the kids had been picked up and Dakota, Zinny and Ms. Cooper were walking toward the playground.
“So, what did you think, Zinny?” Ms. Cooper asked. “How was your first day?”
Zinny beamed. “It was great! It was the best day ever. I found out Nico was here and we played on the swings at recess and we got to do art and it was Carly’s birthday and there were cupcakes.”
“Sounds like you had a full day,” Dakota said, delighted to see Zinny so excited.
“She sure did,” Ms. Cooper agreed. “Zinny, your aunt and I need to talk for a few minutes.”
“Okay. Can I go on the swings?”
After Ms. Cooper nodded, Zinny ran off, hopped onto a swing and started pumping her legs.
“So, I hope there wasn’t any problem today,” Dakota said.
“Not at all,” Ms. Cooper assured her. “She’s a great kid. She’s going to be such an asset to the class.”
“You say that now, but you probably don’t know her reading level yet.”
The teacher cocked her head. “What makes you say that?”
Dakota explained the situation at Shiloh without naming names, even though if Ms. Cooper wanted to find out Ms. Peterson’ name, she certainly could. As she spoke, Ms. Cooper looked more and more angry.
“I’m so sorry to hear all that. I hesitate to bad mouth a member of my own profession, so suffice to say that I do already know how advanced Zinny’s reading skills are and I spent some time at lunch coming up with some ideas on how to capitalize on it, so that not only is she continually challenged, but the class benefits as well.”
Ms. Cooper, referring to some neatly printed notes, told Dakota that she planned to assign Zinny book reports.
“I’d like to have her choose books she thinks her classmates might enjoy and review them, like a movie reviewer reviews movies.”
“That’s a great idea,” Dakota said.
“Obviously her fine motor skills aren’t developed enough yet for her to write out her reviews, so if you have some sort of tablet or iPad at home, she could dictate her reviews into the word processing program on the tablet and revise them there.”
“I have a laptop from my junior college days,” Dakota said.
“Excellent. The revising process would teach her some keyboarding skills. I’ll want her to present her reviews in class, but I also want to look into publishing her reviews on the school website. If you’d allow her to stay afterschool for a few days—we’ll work out the exact dates later—I’ll show her what I want her to do and we’ll walk through her first review together. After that, my guess is that she’ll be able to fly on her own without much help.”
Dakota could hardly believe her ears. “Ms. Cooper, that all sounds so perfect, I can’t even tell you. This is exactly the type of thing I’ve been hoping for but wasn’t seeing at her old school.”
“I’m glad you like this idea. Also, it seems you know Nico Nordbeck…”
“I do. I know him and his mom.”
“What a lucky thing that you ended up here at the same school,” Ms. Cooper said. “The reason I asked is because I have a something called Bee a Buddy in my class for when we have new students join us midyear. I assign a special friend to the new child whose responsibility it is to help them acclimate. They’re in charge of explaining our routines and rules and the two kids get to wear a special bumblebee sash for a week to set them apart as someone who deserves a little extra attention and someone who is going out of their way to be kind. I like to have the kids volunteer for this, and Nico, who you seem to know…well, his hand shot up so fast and with such enthusiasm, I picked him. From what I’ve seen so far, they’re going to be the best of friends.”
Dakota left the meeting full of hope and happiness. After having so much shit come down on her lately, it was uplifting to finally have something go right. Ms. Cooper seemed like a gift from heaven.