In order to capture my entire experience at International Academy of Smyrna, I have to go back to February 2011. I was relocating from New York to Georgia with a newborn and a 4 year old. I searched and researched potential schools diligently for my son to begin Kindergarten. I applied to IAS and was so excited when I received the acceptance email while I was on the road heading to GA. From touring the school to physically enrolling my son, I felt a sense of family, togetherness and peace (I was very particular, you know how it is with your first born lol). Fast forward to the kindergarten welcome event and first day of school, I don’t know who was more excited, me or my son. He was welcomed as if the staff members were his aunt and uncles. There was never a day that he complained about going to school or staying in school. The bond he made with many of his kindergarten friends still exists today. Now it’s time for the first meeting of the school year starting with a general body PTA meeting. This is an important part of my testimony because this is where I was elected co-president of the PTA. I believe in being active in everything that my kids are involved in. Holding an officer position for the PTA of IAS totally changed my connection to the school, students and staff. I worked over nights and spend almost 2-3 days a week volunteering at IAS. I was there so much, the on-going joke was that I needed to be added to payroll (it eventually happened, I’ll tell you about it later). I can write a book about my love and connection my family and I have with IAS. Both of my sons are products of the school and now my nephews are blessed with the same experience. One of the many things that I enjoyed about the school was the parent involvement and partnership. I had so many volunteer house, we stopped counting! One of my favorite memories was the year of the ice/snow storm. Parents were so involved with one another, parents who were stuck was able to organize transportation with other parents. I remember making 4 trips myself and having almost 15 students at my house. We were the example of “it takes a village”. Shortly after, I became an employee. Something that started as a temporary position became permanent. I met and worked with so many amazing people, some of which I consider friends and “forever family”. I had the luxury of experiencing IAS as a parent, a volunteer and an employee. My awesome sons are products of IAS and we make sure it’s known. IAS will always be a place we call home. We appreciate everyone who were part of our IAS journey!