Today is the last day of school - pics to be posted later. The kids would only agree to photos after school. I can't believe that they are going to be in 3rd and 5th grade! Yikes, I feel old.
In other school news, we just accepted a spot for Jacob at the public Montessori school. This will create a logistical nightmare of drop-off and pick up, because the Montessori moved from a local elementary building to its own building on the complete opposite side of town. Of course. He's also going to be royally hacked off because....
Allison will be returning to Janet Berry next year. The Cooperative School reviewed her info and decided that they couldn't accept her for next year. Clearly, we're disappointed because we think that she'd gain more from them than she'd lose from the public school - however they fell on the other side of that line. As a small, private school - I understand their right to say no, even if I'm upset about it.
It's also difficult to parse out the part of the upset that is from this opportunity not being available to her; and the part of the upset that's due to our overall frustration and ongoing educational issues. For example - why does she need modified grading in math, when she scored in the 70th percentile on her achievement test? Or the comment on her report card that said "Allison's need to follow her own agenda causes frustration for her in the classroom setting." Can we all just get on the same page and understand that she can't sit though 45 minutes of "math instruction time?" Clearly, this challenge isn't impeding her ability to learn. Would it be so terrible if she sat and doodled during that time? Is it sooooo difficult to consider the idea that your "special needs" student is bored? That what this student lacks is the ability to cope with the boredom that you're creating with your cut-and-paste curriculum?
And I know she has some real needs in writing and communication. But lowering the bar rather than taking the time to bring her up is not acceptable to me. If everyone else writes 4 paragraphs and you let her write 1 paragraph - what has she gained relative to the class? Sure, it might take 4 times as long for her to write 4 paragraphs, but so what? Do it during math instruction time! Because next year it'll be 5 paragraphs, and students can go from 4-5 but they don't go from 1-5.
And I do sit and ask myself if my expectations are too high? Sure. I ask myself if her needs represent a barrier that may never be fully overcome. But I don't think so, and I don't think we can think so. She's smart and she's capable and she has poor decision-making and poor social skills. And yes, the later two get in the way of the former two. The latter two prevent her from being able to demonstrate to others that she's skilled in many ways. And she's not a people-pleaser, which makes her more challenging to work with (at home too!!). All of which make the environment of the local public school not a good fit for her. It's just not.
Ok - I think my rant for the morning is done.
1 comment:
Oh, I am so disappointed about the school situation. The coop school sounded so right for Allison. How frustrating. Are there any other non-religious private schools? Or even a parochial school that has small classes and caring teachers who would work with you?
I know that you don't want to think about moving, but is there a possibility that you could get into a different school or district where the school situation would fit better?
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