“I love that story!” Miranda exclaimed as soon as Miss Nell finished reading.
Miss Nell smiled at her enthusiasm and said, “I like it, too!” Then she told the class, “That’s it for today, guys. It’s time to get your backpacks and get ready to go home.” As they were collecting their things, they heard Miss Nell’s voice over the sounds of chairs scrapping the floor, papers rustling and children debating who had placed their backpack on the table first. The students heard her say, “Don’t forget the ‘Open House’ reminder. I’d hate for any of you to miss it tonight.”

Instantly all of the commotion stopped, everyone was perfectly still and no one was talking. They just stared at their teacher and wondered, “What is she talking about?” Jerome looked around at everyone and started to giggle. He said, “Yeah, now that we’ve done such a great job at coming to school during the day, we get to start coming back after dinner.” Now they really didn’t know what to think. They couldn’t imagine coming to school twice a day but Jerome always knew everything.

They all looked at Miss Nell. She was barely able to keep from laughing and was about to join in on the joke when she saw that Aleisha looked like she was going to cry. Before Miss Nell could say something to comfort her, everyone started talking at once.

From all around her Miss Nell heard comments and questions being called out as they swarmed around her.

She heard, “It’s not fair!”
“I don’t want to come to school at night!”
“Is it called ‘house’ because we’ll be sleeping here?”

Miss Nell knew that she quickly had to get everyone calmed down. She immediately walked to the light switch and flicked it off. They all scrambled to get in their seats. This was one time that they wanted to listen!

She started by saying, “I’m sorry. I really should’ve explained it to you earlier. I know that you have a lot of questions but we don’t have much time so I need you to listen carefully. Jerome was only kidding, you don’t have to start coming to school every evening.” She then said, “‘Open House’ is a special evening. It’s when you get to bring your parents to school and show them around the classroom and let them look at everything that you’ve been working on.” And with a laugh she added, “No, we will not be sleeping here!” Most of the kids gave a cheer of, “Yea!” Miss Nell smiled and asked, “Now do you all feel better?” They all happily called out, “Yes!” The teacher then asked if anyone had any other questions. Brian’s hand shot up and he said, “I still want to know why it’s called ‘Open House’ instead of ‘Open School’?” Miss Nell paused for a moment and right then the bell rang. She told them that they really needed to hurry so that no one missed the bus. They all scurried to finish what they had been working on. They chattered as they went, they couldn’t believe that they would be seeing each other again in just a few hours.

Tyler had never been to school when it was dark outside. He thought the school looked different all lit up. His classroom looked different too. He paused at the doorway; it was all black outside the windows. Miss Nell saw him and called out, “Come on in Tyler! You’re the first one here! You’ll be able to show your family around before it gets too crowded.” She walked across the room and asked, “Who have you brought with you tonight?” Tyler smiled and said, “My mom and my dad and my little brother Connor.” Miss Nell said, “It’s nice to see you again, Mr. & Mrs. Landley and it’s nice to see you too, Connor. I remember when you came to school with your mom the day she was the parent helper.” Connor didn’t say anything. He just looked up at her and stared.

Just then someone yelled, “Miss Nell, we’re here!” They all turned around and saw Brian come running into the classroom. A lady, who was talking on a cell phone, followed him into the room.

As more families started to arrive, Tyler led his parents around the room. He showed them the hook where his backpack hangs, the Circle Time rug, the computer station, and the water table. He also pointed out his artwork on the walls and showed them the journal that he writes in each day.

Just when Tyler was trying to think if there was anything else that he wanted to show his parents, there was a loud shriek. Some people jumped. Tyler leaned out around someone to see what was going on. He told his parents, “Don’t worry, that’s just Miranda and Aleisha. They’re hugging like they haven’t seen each other in years.” He shook his head as he added, “Girls!”

Miranda and Aleisha were so happy to see each other that they shrieked with excitement. Instead of showing their families around, they had their heads together giggling about something. They then headed off across the room together as if they were on a mission.

They were on a mission. Tonight was their chance for their moms to meet. They wanted their moms to get to know each other so they could start having play dates and sleepovers. They hadn’t been able to accomplish many fun things at school. They were always too busy learning things.

Tyler looked up at his parents and said, “I can’t think of anything else to show you.” His mom said, “It looks like you’re doing a lot of fun things in kindergarten!”

On the way out of the classroom, Tyler’s parents stopped to chat a moment with Miss Nell. She told them that he was doing a great job in school and that he would probably be able to read soon. Then jokingly she added, “If only he could do better at math!” Tyler’s parents laughed and his dad said, “Yes, he’s got quite a brain for math.”

As they walked out of the school, Tyler could see Brian and his mom driving out of the parking lot. His mom was still talking on her cell phone. Tyler wondered if she had even looked at any of Brian’s stuff.

On the way home, Tyler started to laugh. His parents asked him what was so funny. He told them about how confused all the kids had been about ‘Open House’ and that some of the kids were worried that they were going to have to sleep at school. His parents thought it was funny, too.

His mom said, “Just think of how much you have learned since school started! You’ve probably learned something new each day!”

Then Tyler said, “Mom, why do they call it ‘Open House’ instead of ‘Open School’?”