I think I'd put yourself in the group. Better to feed the gossip mill info that you're a team player, you know? But with the minor adaptation of "The principal and teachers *and I* all agree that this is a good fit for him" or something like that sounds great to me, FWIW. (Not much! Please don't think I'm some expert at this! I'm SOOOOO not!)
I felt the same shock and loss for words when I ran into my Nellie. I really blame my graceless response on my unpreparedness to meet with such willful ignorance and lack of support from someone who was supposedly my friend. Not my finest hour, to say the least! But it was a good learning opportunity. I figured out that I should never again be left at a loss for words. Forewarned is forearmed and all that...
I wish I had good advice about how to be around your Nellie, but my Nellie vanished from our social group for several months after our run-in--I don't know if it was because of our run-in or not--and then I was absent because I was teaching a class that coincided with our meeting time. So it's been somthing like 8 months and I have yet to be around her since the incident. I'm sure it will be uncomfortable though.
LOL about the research making eyes glaze over! I must admit, I never go there with anyone, no matter how sincere the interest appears. If they were interested at all, they'd probably be able to cite the research to me! Ha!
Any pointers on what kinds of things to feed the gossip mill other than DS is happy and doing well in first grade?
Nope. That sounds just right to me! Maybe that the school approves of the skip and that you're playing team, but that's about it. Happy and not a social outcast is pretty good material, I'd say!
