district is very reluctant to put ANYTHING in writing - so I have seen some mention of policies, but they are always pretty vague and accompanied by the contact info to speak to someone else.
Correct. What is documented in school policy would tend to apply to ALL students. You may be looking at creating a never-before or rarely-implemented educational plan for your child.
As shared upthread, YOU create the documentation for your child's educational journey by taking notes from each meeting, letter, phonecall, website visit, etc. As suggested in the
advocacy tipsheet, link under "Meetings":
- After the meeting, write a summary (points of agreement, etc) and share it, possibly by e-mail
I think if I am looking at a grade skip I am going to have a heck of a battle on my hands
Only if you do not follow the effective advocacy approach, but rather make demands.
she is in half day Kindergarten at the moment so in a dream world I'd like to see them let her try 1st grade in the AM and send her back to K in the afternoons like usual.
In general, a one-time visit to a classroom to "shadow" for a day (or half-day) may be the norm.
In general, schools receive monies based upon the count of pupils... the amount may vary by grade level... and in kindergarten may vary by FT attendance or half-day attendance.
In general, classes tend to run at full capacity, and there may be mandated student-to-teacher ratios which cannot be exceeded... these may vary by age of student.
Therefore placing a part-time kindergarten student into a full-time schedule may tend to run into several obstacles... including the aforementioned budgeting constraints and the student-teacher ratio.
Not to say that a move from K to 1st grade has never been done midyear, but one may be wise to listen well to how things work at their local school, learn the obstacles which may be encountered, and help trouble-shoot or problem solve alongside the school, to help create opportunity for your child. For example: All of the 1st grade classrooms may be filled to capacity but one... which may be mutually agreed to be a poor fit for your child. A school may have a student in mind who may be interested in transferring into this classroom, leaving a possible spot for your child, in another classroom which may be mutually agreed to be a better potential "fit". This would take some time as the school may contact the parents of that child, explain the opportunity for their child, allow two weeks for them to consider transferring back or finalize the placement. After two weeks, if all goes well for that family's transition, your child may be offered the opportunity to visit/shadow for a day, in the newly opened classroom spot. The school may need to work with several classrooms/grade levels to schedule an aide to be present in the 1st grade classroom when your child is present (the student-teacher ratio of younger students is generally different than that for older students). Choosing the day on which to introduce the child can take a bit of effort, when considering elements such as:
- having a test that day?
- completing a project begun on another day?
- beginning a project that day, which she will not have an opportunity to finish on a subsequent day?
Please be very flexible in your thinking... ask questions... listen... take notes... develop documentation...
