Tomorrow afternoon we will be sitting down with DS9's new teacher at his new public school. He brother started there too, but got pulled out after a few days after getting into a gifted charter last minute.
So she knows we are potentially squeaky wheels. The teacher seems great, but here's the deal:
The school district / school seem AWFUL. Maybe it's my expectations, but I'm annoyed. We got NO info from the school until the day before school started when we received teacher assignments and a list of school supplies. Going to Staples the day before the start of school was not a hassle AT ALL! I did manage to hear about an open house, but only because I kept calling the school and asking when we would get info. In the spring I asked if I could speak with faculty members about the 3rd and 4th grade curriculums and nobody ever called me. It is a uniform school and I had to spend a fair amount of time digging through the school website (with pages that haven't been updated in years) to find out what they needed to wear so I culd have it ready by the start of school. I have received absolutely zero info about academics. Just getting them enrolled took over a month because their computers were "down" for two weeks. We only got a copy of the school handbook yesterday, after 5 days of school, and it references other documents we have not received. We have gotten a few emails (that I had to proactively sign up for) but they come via the PTA - not directly from the school. It's great that the PTA does so much for the school, but I'm uncomfortable with the PTA being responsible for basic school operations. If my son needs more acceleration in math, do I call the PTA president?
My son was "certified gifted 99%" - whatever that means - by the school district when he applied for a different program. He is supposed to be pulled out for reading and math. But we have also been told that no assignments are permanent until after the 20th school day and according to my son nobody is pulled out for reading and math, they are all doing the same stuff.
So while I have no reason to think the teacher isn't a good teacher, I am appalled that the school is giving itself 20 days out of 180 to get it's sh*t together. So my son gets 89% of a mediocre fourth grade education? He's a very fast reader and his math is way, way above what's covered in the worksheets he's brought home. I don't mind him working below his level a lot of the time becasue his writing skills are weak and I feel like this is an opporuntiy to concentrate on that. But he's going to need significant acceleration in math and a way to productively spend his time when he has finished reading all his textbooks 3x over (which will probably be in about a week).
I'm hoping people here can tell me to get off my high horse and I can get calmed down before the meeting. I am also looking for specific practical advice on communicating to the teacher how quickly DS reads and absorbs and what his current math level is.
Would it be going overboard to do the following:
1. Bring a list of recently read books
2. Bring some examples of math work he has done
3. Ask if he can read his own books if he has "deadtime"
Not sure if #3 even makes sense, need more info about the classroom structure first.
