"I was freaking out," says Smith, who is a medical assistant at Einstein Medical Center. "It's dark outside, it's raining, and he's only 6."
Smith, 34, had just moved to North Philly from South Jersey so she would be closer to her job. She enrolled Christopher in the aftercare program on Nov. 21, his first day at Whittier.
Life had given Smith her share of struggles. But she had gradually gotten back on her feet after living for months in a Burlington County church shelter. Through it all, Christopher has remained her No. 1 priority.
Of her only child, Smith says, "I do not neglect my son. I go to work. I come home. That's it."
Smith was told that teachers would escort students to the playground, and then wait for an aftercare staffer to take the kids to the cafeteria. That put Smith's mind at ease, since Chris had a learning disability. Never mind he was new and didn't know his way around.
But in retrospect, Smith says, her mother's intuition told her that she should have double-checked on Christopher when the school secretary called to tell her that he had been switched to a less- crowded classroom on that first day.
Smith says she immediately asked the secretary whether aftercare staff members would know that Christopher was supposed to go with them, since she had given them a different teacher's name.
The secretary assured her not to worry. Everything would be OK.
Well, everything was far from OK.
Left alone
On Tuesday, Christopher was left on the playground in the pouring rain with no supervision. Not knowing and not understanding what to do, he tried to find his way home, Smith says.
