School is completely not working out

[Lisa1970]

I cannot see staying in this school another year. It is so frustrating. A little recap: this is a high school that is project based learning. It is supposed to be a science and math magnet. Instead, it is turning out to be very low in the academics and seems to be catering to the can't do kids. We are now 6 weeks in to the 36 week school year. This means 1/6 of the way through the year. Yet, they still have not started math or science. This year is algebra 2 for both of my children and chemistry. I went in to talk to the math teacher to find out what they are doing for the year as there is no syllabus or anything. He told me the school never supplied him with any sort of textbook. He said he is winging it and pulling from some of his own books. He explained that many of the kids in the class are quite "low" in their abilities. I asked him what books he is pulling from then and he kind of seemed stuck on it and then finally showed me an algebra 1 book. I pointed out that it was algebra 1. There was no confusion regarding what class I was talking about. He then started digging around and eventually came up with an algebra 2 book. Then he said he also had 2 others in his office he could pull from. He took me to his office to show me, but he clearly had no clue where these other 2 books were.


I find out later that most kids in the school (or all, not sure) will go on and take algebra 3, which is not really a valid high school course. It is just a repeat of algebra 2 basically. It is generally used for those on a remedial very slow track. I ended up going out and purchasing algebra 2 home school programs for us to do on the side so that the children would still get math this year. But, I also pulled up the school state report card and found out that only 76% of the kids passed the state math TAKs test which is a bare minimum test that if you do not pass, you do not graduate. I am sickened I did not know this before. Plus, my daughter told me there are kids there who have said they flunked out of their old schools so they came here and are getting all A's.

As far as group projects go, they are not appropriate. For example, in English, they are reading a book. Apparently, they read a chapter and then answer questions on a worksheet and turn it in with the names of everyone in the group on it. In my daughter's group, (3 people in every group) of the other 2 kids, 1 has not even purchased the book and the other has the book, but says she just does not feel like reading it. My daughter is doing 100% of the work and the teacher knows but does not seem to care.

I cannot spend the rest of their high school years sending them off to school only to homeschool them their subjects at home after school. I am sad and frustrated. Our local public schools are awful (heavy drugs in the class rooms, serious overcrowding, serious sexual harassment) so I am unsure what to do. I feel stuck and frustrated! I am losing sleep and stressed over this. We will finish out this year as we cannot really switch to anything right now, other than straight homeschool. But if we want them to go to any school next year, no one would take those credits so switching to homeschool now would mean committing to staying homeschooling for the rest of high school, which we do not want to do. I am hoping by spring, more options become apparent. In the meantime, I get to stress and try to hunt down more options.

Anyway, thanks for listening.

[lauren]

That does sound pretty discouraging. Did you know ahead of time that the school was serving kids that are "low" in their abilities?

[kathymuggle]

What about a k-12 online school? Something from the department of education in your state. The credits are real credits - so (hopefully) they would be able to switch mid year. My DS is talking online classes and the marks do indeed count.

Alternately, does the school want you kids there - for funding or some other reason? Perhaps you can keep them enrolled, but have them do the majority of the work at home - a distant ed type thing. They will still get a school transcript.

Are your kids happy where they are? (pathetic academics aside?)

It really does sound like an awful situation - I hope a resolution presents itself.

[amma_mama]

I have read your other posts and am sorry that you are having such a frustrating and disappointing experience. If you have the resources, I would look into homeschool options for this year or another solution, as suggested by the PP.

[MJB]

My son is only in 2nd grade, but we also had a disappointing experience this year with a school purported to be a magnet (performing arts). It did not meet any of our expectations and we ended up pulling him out after the first week and requesting a transfer. We homeschooled while waiting on the transfer, which was denied. I put in a brand new application last week and he was admitted to a school I am happy with. It takes persistence but it is possible to change schools even if it seems hopeless (we are in Louisville, KY, which has a very complicated and bureaucratic school assignment plan).

[Lisa1970]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle

What about a k-12 online school? Something from the department of education in your state. The credits are real credits - so (hopefully) they would be able to switch mid year. My DS is talking online classes and the marks do indeed count.

Alternately, does the school want you kids there - for funding or some other reason? Perhaps you can keep them enrolled, but have them do the majority of the work at home - a distant ed type thing. They will still get a school transcript.

Are your kids happy where they are? (pathetic academics aside?)

It really does sound like an awful situation - I hope a resolution presents itself.

A friend of mine has her daughter in a virtual academy that we could not do this year due to it being new and not having enough course offerings for the upper grades. (as in, both my children are in algebra 2 and it was only approved to go up to geometry, stuff like that). They said they are hoping to have the upper grades approved by next year. Funny thing is, on the day they closed enrollment, they opened up higher level courses provisionally, but it was too late for us to get in. They closed that same day. But they would still need to expand for next year. I hope they do. I am thinking that will be our likely route.

[Lisa1970]

Originally Posted by lauren

That does sound pretty discouraging. Did you know ahead of time that the school was serving kids that are "low" in their abilities?

No. We even had a tour and interview with the school. They made a big deal of their honor code and how everyone takes advanced classes and everything. They only announced the merger with the hockey academy the Thursday night before the Monday classes started. But now that I looked at the state report card (clueless as to how I missed this before) it seems as if they have been low performing for a long time. It seems they do well with what they have. They take kids who failed the TAKs test in past years and brought them up to passing. But they are really seeming to be a low performing school.

Socially though, everyone there seems wonderful. It is light years ahead of the local public schools socially.

[spedteacher30]

Have you actually visited your local public schools and spoken directly with the principal and guidance counselors?

I taught in an "awful, dangerous" public middle school and would send my child there without too much worry because I know the school and the teachers. Our zoned elementary school is considered "the worst in the area" and we are planning to send our son there next year without any more concern than we would have if we were sending him to the schools in the ritzy suburb where my niece and nephews attend in another state.

If I were you, I would visit the local schools and make sure that their reputation is accurate before I made another decision.

[Lisa1970]

Originally Posted by spedteacher30

Have you actually visited your local public schools and spoken directly with the principal and guidance counselors?

I taught in an "awful, dangerous" public middle school and would send my child there without too much worry because I know the school and the teachers. Our zoned elementary school is considered "the worst in the area" and we are planning to send our son there next year without any more concern than we would have if we were sending him to the schools in the ritzy suburb where my niece and nephews attend in another state.

If I were you, I would visit the local schools and make sure that their reputation is accurate before I made another decision.

It is not their reputation. My children attended there last year. My daughter was ruthlessly stalked by a boy who would give very detailed accounts of them having sex (never, she is very much so a virgin, if you met my daughter, you would realize she is very Duggar-ish) and I complained repeatedly to the school and administration and they would not do anything about it. He would follow her in the hallways. They had all the classes in the same hallways by grade, and he would stand by her locker. He would always grin at her and brush against her and stare at her. He was in 3 classes with her. He would say these things in front of the teacher too, at least 2 of the teachers. This included claims that she had an infection, in graphic detail. My son was at the high school and I was on the PTA board so I was very involved in the volunteer work. My sister teaches in the district, but not on this side. She is in elementary school though. The kids were dealing drugs on campus. They were using in the classroom. At the high school, when my baby was 4 weeks old, I was there after school with my son when a teacher wanted to talk to him. I sat in the back of the classroom, covered up, nursing my newborn baby. Later, I got a call banning me from the campus and called a pervert and that I exposed myself when I breastfed the baby and so on. I posted about it on a local area moms board and many people came forward to my defense and emailed the principal and administration and the state even. The state then contacted the district and told them they could not do it. The assistant superintendent called me and apologized, but the principal never did. The one school counselor who I had grown kind of close to during our time there told me to be careful, this principal had a way of getting revenge. And he did. Between the nasty sexual harassment of my daughter and the horrid treatment on behalf of the principal and that teacher with the breastfeeding incident, I cannot see returning there. That principal made it clear that "things will only get worse." I did forward all the emails to the school board, but honestly, the school board president herself told me the district has so many problems right now. The superintendents office did offer me a transfer. I also contacted a lawyer, but lawyers expect to get paid and I cannot see spending thousands of dollars and years in court, until I am well beyond when my children would have graduated. That will do them no good.

The schools are so overcrowded, when I went to the school that they offered the indistrict transfer to, many required classes were full, like foreign language and speech. Since my son was going in to 10th grade, he needed to be in foreign language. So when the chance for this charter school came up, we took it. Unfortunately, the in-district transfer does not carry over. However, we can reapply for it. But it is almost impossible to get. If it were not for the fact that we had complaints going at the state level (my son has an IEP and the high school had not followed it and the breastfeeding incident) they never would have approved the transfer this past year. I am not sure they would do it again. I am thinking it might be worth a try though. I am hoping the overcrowding goes down as they are building 2 new high schools. I just do not know when those schools are scheduled to open.

[LauraLoo]

What about doing something like Clonlara?

http://clonlara.org/home_based

http://clonlara.org/home_based_faq
Can my child work at an accelerated pace and move on to the next grade?

Yes. Clonlara's program is self-paced so students can learn at the speed that fits their needs.

Can I mix online and text-based courses or do I have to choose between them?

You have the flexibility to choose from both and from a variety of other learning approaches.

Can Clonlara home schoolers take standardized tests?

Clonlara offers the Terra Nova (formerly the California Achievement Test) annually. Homeschoolers have the same access to the SAT and ACT college board entrance exams as any other student, and the results are sent to Clonlara using our CEEB code. We do not offer the PSAT, which can generally be taken through your local school.

How do you work with children who have special needs or are highly gifted?

Children who are highly gifted or who have special learning needs often find the ability to learn at their own pace and in ways that build on their strengths to be extremely beneficial. They have access to more one-on-one time with mentors, are able to work at their own pace using their strengths, and are presented with opportunities to use learning in real life situations.

[carmel23]

I agree with visiting the local school. Talk to the staff, observe the kids. Ask if your kids can visit for a few days. But I wouldn't tolerate the current school.

I hope something works out soon!

[ollyoxenfree]

Do you know other parents at the school? Some of them must be as unhappy as you are. Perhaps together you could persuade the school to accommodate higher performing students. It sounds like some of the problems could be addressed by creating an advanced stream or a pull-out program for serious students. It doesn't have to be done officially (thus avoiding the aspirational parents who insist that their kids must be in the "top" group), but it could work well. No doubt the teachers would appreciate teaching a more dedicated group of kids as a separate group. If the school is project based, it should be fairly easy to create the advanced group to work together.