Hi Stephanie,
I would get out of that school. Some teachers are just poison for some kids. I hope your local public isn't awful or far away, but really it's time to try a new school.
Does your son have valuable friendships that he would miss? Does he want to stay at this school? These factors would give me pause, but the depression diagnosis and the screaming in the hallway are pushing me toward the other side.
You mentioned that your son is HG+. Do you have testing that you can show a prospective school. If you find someone who really understands, then they will get that:
Bad teacher comments + HG IQ scores = needs a gradeskip
After Christmas all the highest up person in the school (or their secretary) and tell them that you are very upset, and think that leaving the school is the only way for your son. If they say: 'Don't let the door hit you on the behind on the way out.' that tells you something very profound.
If they offer to talk, basically tell them that the only condition you'll say is if he returns in January in the 8th grade. The other option is to give him 8th grade work in the 7th grade AND move the offending teacher to work with another group. You can say it nicely, but do say it. You can always return to the private school for high school next year.
If you have to change schools, are their other private schools to consider? Have you looked at the public school? Another possibility is if you have someplace to leave DS during the day, or someone to leave him with, you can let him 'unschool' for 6 months. In the US there are sometimes opportunities for 11 year olds to attend community college classes with an escort.
The money you are paying for tuition - would that be enough to get a young adult to bring him to some physical activity and the library each day?
Sometimes people reject homeschooling out of hand because they don't have 6 hours a day to reproduce school at home. Homeschooling is a major amount of work, but remember that lots of times the homeschoolers start with a nice long 'vacation' from any type of Adult-directed learning in the begining. That gives time for the homeschooling parent to get up to speed. Golly - at 11 you could assign DS to read the books about homesscholing and become the expert himself and give you summaries.
Whatever you decide, we care.
Grinity
