Hope wins

Sometimes life takes us where we are not expecting.
Sometimes life takes us on a journey we would have never planned or wanted for ourselves.
Sometimes, we end up right where we need to be, despite the resistance, despite the fear, despite the unknown answers.
Sometimes, somehow, goodness comes from the darkness. Sometimes, somehow, beauty does come from ashes. Sometimes, somehow, we rise above the adversity, we rise above the forces against us, and sometimes, somehow, hope wins.

Today, my mighty Mia started a new chapter in her education. Ever since she started her education, she has been an outlier. She tried. Oh, did she ever try, to learn like the "traditional" kids. The amount of effort she put in has been monumental. She was exposed to many ideas and skills, but never to mastery. The result? A foundation with many holes.

The holes became apparent a few months ago at her 3 year re-evaluation for continued special education services. Something inside me told me to really look at those test scores. Something inside of me told me to really understand those scores. As I began my work to figure out the true meaning of scaled scores, standard scores, and percentile ranks for each test, I stumbled upon the seemingly impossible concept...that instead of progress, there was regress. How.could.this.be? I graphed the scores from three years ago with the ones I just received, and there was no avoiding the truth. As I presented it to our team, their eyes grew wide. Clearly, we needed more information. Clearly, these graphs were not expected. Clearly, this was not the picture they had hoped to present. This was not the picture I had hoped to see either. Now, I see it very clearly. A foundation with so many holes. And yet my girl amazingly stood tall on this foundation with a huge smile on her face. Until that smile started to fade.

The foundation with holes was starting to steal the spirit of my girl.

I could only do what any mother who comes to the realization that this is happening to her child would do. I would seek to stop this. I would seek to stop this because this must stop. I had more meetings. I asked questions of parents facing similar circumstances and learned from those who went before me. I studied the law. I used every ounce of resources I could muster up. I prayed. I prayed a lot. I looked for an open door, and when I found it, I crept slowly towards it, with my girl in tow, worried about where I was going and what was being left behind.

I looked for reassurance that I was doing the right thing. After today, I need no reassurance. I know. As I sat and listened, I learned that my girl's new school started 50 years ago as a civil rights movement. It came out of the need for a place for children who learn differently to have a better educational system. Because children, like my girl who was always an outlier, deserve an appropriate education. Because children, like mighty Mia, deserve to make meaningful progress. And she's entitled to it by law. And now, this same school, is seeking to reach even more underserved populations. Namely, to those who could not afford such an education because lack of financial means. The very real package of financial aid which is allowing my mighty girl to attend.

For the first time ever in her lifetime my girl is not an outlier. She is surrounded by peers who learn like she does. For the first time in her life she is in a place where she learns just like everyone else. For the first time in her life, I have heard the words that she is not disabled, but very abled. She and her peers think in ways that the traditional kids do not think, but they are able. They can go on to attend colleges and universities, including some of the top in the country. The holes of their foundations will be filled in. With solid foundations, the academic trajectory is changed. Life is changed. With a foundation filled in, my girl's spirit will soar.

Logistically, there are still so many unknowns and questions to be answered. How do I be in two places at once? How do I manage the weeks where labs and hospital care must occur when the two children who need it are in schools some 30 miles away from each other? Will mediation or a hearing be necessary? How will all this work out? Will this settle into a routine? And although the answers are unclear, I know the One who holds them. I trust the reassurance that let me know we are right where we need to be. And I know that hope wins. It always does.