Tea Parties in Boston

34 - The Very Best

November 4th, 2022

The week had wooshed by. With Halloween and Em's usual soccer practice that had now moved to an indoor space it had truly gone quickly, every little component of Logan's week falling quickly into its place - the early morning freezing but energizing swims, a couple of runs if it didn't rain, some work, a quick lunch with Rory discussing Em growing up, and taking a parenting class with 90% female attendants, which had involved a surprising amount of flirting. Not for Logan, but flirting with him, which had made him reluctant to return to the same course again. The course hadn't been what he'd hoped for anyways.

Things with Rory were still slow and cautious - but that was fine. They weren't in a hurry.

But even though he'd seen or though intently about either one of the two most important women in his life almost on a daily basis, that Friday was no different, since he was waiting for Rory in front of what looked like a regular Boston townhouse, except for the slightly lower stair leading up to the main floor.

"Hey," Rory chimed, looking a little out of breath. "Am I late?" she asked, hugging Logan briefly in greeting. Lingering felt dangerous, especially when she already had a good hunch that she might be arriving late.

"They'll survive," Logan said, not wanting to rub in the fact that she might have indeed been a couple of minutes late for the introductory lecture about the school they were standing in front of. "This place doesn't even really look like a school," he commented, casually, and opened the door for her, knowing Rory always took being on time rather seriously in a school setting.

"I missed a train, so I had to walk," Rory explained, and checked them in with the administrator in the lobby.

The look on Logan's face was a lot more forgiving than the head teacher's when they snuck inside the classroom where the lecture was being held, the door making a rather loud squeak. It was an old house, just like all of these townhouses at Back Bay East and Beacon Hill were.

They found a couple of chairs in the back, and tried to pay attention. But the fact that the seats were kid sized meant that they were sitting quite at close proximity, shoulder to shoulder, and in their case this was a little distracting and Logan really had to make an effort not to forget himself.

"As for size, this is a small school. But that too is intentional," the head teacher spoke to a room of about 40 people. "This allows us to give individualized attention and instruction, and it fosters the tight-knit community we've built. We're a diverse bunch and we like to break down age and grade barriers because we believe learning doesn't need to be classified, but rather each and every student's abilities and interests should be taken into account and enhanced," she continued.

Someone in the first row had a question.

"Yes? Please," the headteacher urged.

"What about academic achievements? Does your method yield results?" some silver-haired gentleman asked. He certainly looked old-school.

"Results? This is an elementary school, for god's sake," Rory muttered under her breath, audibly enough for Logan to hear.

"Well, all of our graduates, which we have two classes of so far have gone on to excellent middle schools - Newman, Trinity, Lexington, Acera, Atrium... We've had nothing but positive feedback. But since we intentionally try to avoid standardized tests, it's really challenging to actually try to measure the success of 12-year-olds objectively without considering they might just be different kind of learners," the headteacher said, which certainly seemed to light up Rory's face. She had always done well on tests herself, but she'd also been around it long enough, wrote about it and now worked in education to know one size did not fit all.