Dear Our Teacher (bullying)

Hello Mrs. Middleton,

I hope you are not reading this - this weekend, and are enjoying a nice weekend off.  I am writing now because it is top of the mind only and not because I expect a response even before Monday evening.

Joel has been loving kindergarten, he comes home every day happy and animated and will not stop talking about the days events.  I have learned that he has changed tables from Laurel and Avery to Eddie, McKinley and Meghan.  Do you know why that is?  Maybe it was good to have Joel and Laurel both branch out, I know at least in the Joel side he would always only be with Laurel if he had a choice!  But I do want to check in to see what happened there, is there a specific reason why Joel was moved?

We totally hit the "kindergarten wall" a few weeks ago.  A member of my Museum's Board of Directors, Bob took me aside to tell me at an event just a few nights before, and told me that Joel would soon be hitting the Kindergarten Wall.  I listened to him and said we will be ready!  Then, it happened.  The newness had worn off, the routine had set in and the largeness of the whole school thing had hit him.  He came home each day still animated, but tired.  By dinner he was teary, and asking for bed.  At bedtime, which had moved up considerably at his request, he would seem burdened and heavy.  Upon further inspection, he was just "overwhelmed."  Glad he knows that word!  This lasted a week.

In other news, and the true reason for my email today… my heart has been breaking each day for the past few days as Joel tearfully tells me that he is having a hard time on the bus.  The exact quote that he said to me, through my, many tears last night was: "I asked everyone to share a seat with me on the bus and no-one would."  After posting this on Facebook, because how else to you deal with your emotions these days, many agreed this is pretty much the saddest thing ever.  My boy is awesome.  He is kind, and sensitive and optimistic.  This is ruining all of this, and ruining it all too soon.  WTF, Man?  who are these hooligans on the bus?  What are they doing to this awesome kindergarten boy?  He is not the smelly kid!

Further inspection with Joel Andrew elicited the information that brothers - one of which is in his class and one of which is older and should know better - tease him.  They pinch him, they call him a "bad man"  I find this insulting and ridiculous on a number of fronts.  My son is not yet a man.  And, tag teaming him?  Really?  Who are these people?  I would think they were the O'Doyles (Billy Madison reference there) - except I met the mother, when I hosted her in my house a few nights ago and she seems incredibly nice and reasonable and that she would shutter (shudder, your the teacher, correct me) if she ever knew this happened.  So, what do I do, what to we do?  How can this happen when my guy is 5 years old?  He is awesome!  We live in a school district with a total of 250 students, K-8.  How can this happen?

I am sad. I am upset. I am handling this much worse than my 5 year old.  But I am somewhat grateful that my boy is the boy that would never do this.  Please let me know what we should do. He doesn't deserve this at all.

Julie