We got our daughter back from CSSSA Friday, after a month of living on the CalArts campus. She got a taste of college life, was inspired by the creative writing program and made a lot of new friends from all over the state (and a few who live in other parts of the country).
All in all, I think she had the best summer of her young life, and if you have a high school student interested in pursuing any of the arts - graphic art, writing, theater, film, music, dance or animation - you should check this out. It's one of the last state art programs still in existence, and given California's budget situation, it's a little surprising that we still have it. I do believe it is heavily subsidized by Hollywood, which may utilitze it to scout and develop young talent (another reason you may want your artistic teen to give it a whirl).
Upon her arrival home, our daughter promptly announced she had not finished all of her summer assignments for actual school -- which started today. So she's been back for four days, but I've not seen much of her because she was holed up in her room working!
So we've had barely any time to talk, and we did ZERO back to school shopping this year. We'll be making a stop at OfficeMax after school today to pick up supplies. I have a feeling that's the way we'll be approaching her clothing needs, too -- little by little, a day at a time, on our way back home.
I guess by the time they're high school Juniors, back to school is not the big deal it was when they were little. And that's OK.
