School started for us a few weeks ago. We were so blessed last year with the teacher that we had, she was incredibly kind and compassionate. Kajal entered second grade and I called a meeting the first week of school to meet with every teacher that would have any contact with her. I educated them about Kajal's background and explained that she had Post Traumatic Stess Disorder. I outlined some of her triggers (hunger pains etc) the teachers listened, asked questions and committed to treating her with gentleness and compassion. It seemed like a good start for the year. Her teachers have been kind to her. What I didn't count on was when a teacher creates a less than positive environment. Kajals 2nd grade teacher appears to be very sweet and has a great reputation but the things I've heard, almost from the start, gives me chills.

The first thing that seemed odd was that the teacher had a loss in her circle of friends. A friend of her's passed away and she told the class about the death and about the person. Then within days she told the children of two other deaths, the death of her mother and the death of a school pet. She spent time telling the children details of the circumstances around the deaths.

It seemed off... talking with second graders about death but I wrote it off to the woman's grieving. Every day when Kajal comes home from school I ask her how her day is. Every day, she says that it wasn't a very good day in class.

Why?

The teacher yelled again Mommy. She yelled at Tommy, she yelled at Mark.

Hmmm... it seems like there's alot of screaming.

Yes, Mommy, she screams when someone is bad.

Last week Kajal told me 'it was scary in class today Mommy, really scary'.

Why Kajal, what happened.

The teacher took out a ruler. She didn't yell. She got quiet mad. She walked really quiet to her desk and she took out a ruler, then she quietly walked up to Tommy's desk and WHAM! She hit the ruler in the desk really HARD!

Oh my goodness.

Did she hit anyone Kajal?

No Mommy, we all hid our hands under the desk so she wouldn't hit us. But she hits the desk hard when someone is bad.

Has anything else bad happened?

Yes, Mommy. When Mark didn't know a word and couldn't read she got really, really mad and yelled at him. She yelled YOU KNOW THAT, DON"T PRETEND YOU DON'T!

Let's just say, two weeks into school I was running for the phone and had a long talk with the principal who said she'd investigate it. I'm not really sure what to do next. Do I request to have her moved to another class? Do I wait and see if things change? If so, how long do I wait? I don't even know if they'd move her if I asked... we just started the school year and already I'm worried sick she's in an unhealthy learning environment. Kajal was just beginning to trust that teachers can be kind and gentle, truly care about their students. She's been thriving in school and out. Now, my mother and I have noticed that she gets nervous and jittery when she's doing her homework. Last week it seemed like she'd literally shut down, confused over simple concepts she had no trouble with the week before. This teacher is re-traumatizing her every day... and let me tell you, it really pisses me off. I know I can't talk with her directly, she hasn't done anything to Kajal, directly. Well, stay tuned.. the Principal was really helpful last year, perhaps she can get to the bottom of this and create change.