NEWS BLOG (WSAU) At our old home in Connecticut there was an elementary school right down the street. It was an old building, dating back to the 1920s. The roof was leaking. The building wasn’t up to code. The school board decided to build new.

My oldest daughter was 3 at the time. And every morning I’d put her in our red American-flyer wagon and pull her past the construction zone. “That’s going to be your new school,” I’d tell her. It was going to be finished when she was old enough for kindergarten. We didn’t know at the time that we’d move to Wausau before she enrolled.

Danielle wound up attending the 4-year-old kindergarten program at A.C. Keifer in Wausau, and then regular kindergarten at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. It seems like her first day climbing onto the school bus was a short time ago.

Tonight is 5th grade graduation, and I couldn’t be more proud.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know I have some concerns about the Wausau schools. Wausau’s school taxes are high, and other neighboring districts offer as-good academic programs for less. I’m disgusted with the way the two sexual misconduct cases in the district have been handled in recent years. The troubled relationship between the administration and the teachers union has been frustrating.

Still, at the classroom level, Danielle’s educational experience at the Wausau Public Schools has been excellent. She’s always had high quality teachers. Some have been exceptional. She has been a good student. My wife and I have been good school-parents.

At graduation today, we’ll celebrate what’s good about the education my oldest child is receiving. She constantly talks about going to college. She’s academically curious. She’s a very good reader. She’s made good friends. There is much to be happy about today.

Chris Conley
Operations Manager, Midwest Communications-Wausau
5.26.10