The Gaynor School

     "How are you?"  asked Juliana, the Associate Director of Admissions at the Gaynor School.
     "Fine thank you.  And you?"  I responded.
     "Did you have a nice weekend?" She asked.
     "So far," I said.
     It was Monday morning and we were on the phone.  This woman was not my best friend.  She wasn't even my friend.  She didn't care about my weekend no more than I cared about hers.  The elephant on the phone was what she was going to tell me concerning KZ's application and play date interview. 
     KZ had her play date at the Gaynor School on the previous Thursday morning.  As she met with the director of the Early Education Center and one of the co-founders of the fifty year old school, and one other little girl, I was given a tour.  It was one of the most perfect schools I had seen, and I felt as if I had seen every school in New York City by that point.  The Gaynor School had just opened a new 50,000 square-foot building, in addition to the older building built in 2006 with 37,000 square-feet, where the Early Childhood Center would be located.  The stairs were designed especially for smaller children.  The floors were a special sound absorbing material.  The indoor lighting coupled with the natural lighting was soft and warm.  Each room had a special surround sound speaker system, so if the teacher turned her back to write on the smart board, the children would still hear a crisp clear voice.  The class size was ten children to two teachers who had masters in special education.  Occupational therapy, speech therapy, reading specialists, and math specials worked with children throughout the day so that when the school days was done, the kids could go home and play like everyone else.  The school was a special education school for average to above average children with speech delays.  This school was heaven ... heaven with a line a mile long of little children looking for a spot.  Specifically, approximately 500 children for 7 spots.  Would KZ get in?  It was perfect for her, but that didn't mean anything. 
     It has been a year-long journey to this school.  A year ago, we didn't even know that KZ was deaf.  Thirteen private school rejections later, we were terrified that KZ was going to get lost in the public school system.  Would she have honestly been lost?  I didn't know.  I did know that I would have worked day and night to get her the best services possible within and outside of the Department of Education's system. 
     "I hope the news I have to tell you will be good news for you," said Juliana.  "We would like to offer KZ a spot in our 2013-2014 year."
     "Yes, yes, oh definitely yes,"  I started to cry.
     "If you want to take some time and talk to your husband about it,"
     "No, really.  We've talked.  We'll take it.  This has been such a long process, but we truly feel that KZ will be in the best possible place at Gaynor.  Thank you."
     I hung up the phone crying tears of joy for the end of a very long journey into the school system ...  a school system journey which was just beginning.