Wow...I am moved at the lovely responses and helpful ideas you all are sending me..and anyone who reads this! First, I am an assistant principal at a public high school in the same district as my son's previous school. I have worked very hard to separate my job from my son's education. Which, I might add, has made interacting with his teachers more difficult than normal. I thought it would be the height of unprofessionalism to criticise the teachers in front of my son. He did come home from his new (private) school yesterday, and today with a completely changed countenance. Instead of hunched shoulders, downcast "I don't care" look, he was standing straight and smiling. I joked with him about the girls in his class and asked if they were pretty (he is one of three boys in a class of 18) he told me that the girls were probably a little prettier at his new school, but what makes a big difference is that they are WAY prettier on the inside! Wow. I wonder about what is happening in our culture that an entire generation of public school students in this school district has become ugly inside. Why are the private school children so much nicer? What am I going to do about this as a public school administrator? This whole thing really makes me sad.
