Yes. In NC, our state has implemented a computerized system which spit out a schedule for each incoming student, a schedule which ended up having little or no value, since most often it was wrong. My DS11, who's experiencing a new transition this year, not only into middle school, but is also skipping a grade, was one of many, many students who were placed in the wrong classes. His first day, he was designated to go to 6th grade and so I went in to make sure that he went to the right grade. Once that was sorted out he spent almost two days with a group of unruly, behaviorally and functionally challenged students. Not only were the things that were supposed to be put in place so that his transition would be more comfortable, such as pairing him with another grade-skipped kid, not done, but they had him in remedial classes. As I said, this was a school-wide, and county-wide problem which the teachers have been workign tirelessly to fix. As I've had to go in and advocate every day to see that DS is where he needs to be, I've seen it first hand. I can only imagine the stress of having to basically fix by hand the mess caused by this state's computer mess-up. I have so much respect for these teachers, that they are working so hard despite little support from the community, from the state (NC keeps taking and taking from the teachers) and so little understanding of what it means to be a teacher in today's world.
I have high hopes that this hiccup will be a lesson in tolerance and patience for my DS and that soon he'll be happy and excited about school rather than dreading it. He's coped better than I imagined he would. That said, I'm still hearing "I don't want to go to school," and I'd love to not hear that.
Last edited by KADmom; 08/21/13 09:39 AM.
