Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Kindergarten 2009-2010

Sounds like it's time to go above the principal's level. I would contact the superintendent's office. Hope you get a better response from the district level.

She did not get to take the test at all - yet. They called my daughter to come get her. My daughter was on her way to teach a class and asked me to pick her up. GD was very upset that she couldn't go back to her class. The school said GD could not come back to school until the school finished their testing (2 days) in case she got upset again. We didn't find out until later why she got upset.

Her teacher said she would ask that she take the test in her room later but doesn't think they will let her. Only good thing is, one of her friends was absent and will also have to take test later. Her teacher hopes it will help if they go together. This is a simple screening test to see who should take the Stanford test early next year. Her teacher says she should ace this one IF she will let someone else give it to her. All of this would have been avoided if she had been left in her classroom to take it!

My daughter has had conferences with the teacher and the counselor previously. The counselor only wanted to put GD on a behavior plan and do nothing to address her boredom. Part of the behavior plan is that if GD does not comply after one warning, she be sent to office to do her work. After the incident on test day (GD did get out of control, throwing papers and hitting out in office - which is not usual), the principal asked for a meeting. My daughter met with the principal and 2 asst. principals last week. My daughter tried to explain GD's high intensity, sensitivity, etc. and how far she has come with these issues. Tantrums had virtually disappeared at home and she has become much more cooperative. Since the first weeks of school, we have started noticing some behavior problems (mostly anger) coming home again. Basically, the school said they are not set up to "hold her hand" or accommodate her when she is afraid of something (such as skeletons in gym) and she just needs to get over it. SHE'S 5 years old! Food is an issue with her control issues but they need a doctor's note to give her snacks through the clinic. GD says she refused to go to the clinic even if she's sick. This is because she got a Very Bad stomach-ache at school earlier this year. The AP took her to the clinic but told nurse GD was prone to being dramatic. So GD writhed in paid for at least 30 minutes before they called to come get her. GD ended up in emergency room with IV & dr. thought appendicitis until she finally (after 4 hours) started throwing up). The school still defended the handling of this situation.

Sorry - too much info again. Anyway, they want the school psychologist to meet with GD - my daughter said she would have to meet with her first to see what her approach would be.

In the meantime, daughter is meeting with a Play Therapist recommended to her by a friend this Thursday am. We'll see if she thinks she can help GD get her emotional reactions back in control. We are so upset that all the progress GD has made with her emotions has been all but lost.

Anyway, your story was the one that made me decide to post at all. I just really wanted to offer my support. I promise to cut down the length of my posts - this is just my first opportunity to "get it all out".

That seems like an extremely long time to get a meeting with the principal. I agree with the suggestion of putting requests in writing. This would give you a paper trail if you have to go further up.

GD is not getting anything different in class although her teacher has talked about having some additional (not more challenging) worksheets available for her since she finishes her work and gets bored waiting on the other kids. I don't know how much flexibility she has and the admin. won't even talk about it.

Ug!
My son's elementary school principle was hard to reach by phone, but terrific with email. What has happened when you try to email her directly?

I guess it's worth an email today (incase they are lying about the out of state till Wednesday thing) and a phone call tommorrow, with a 'I'm getting in touch with you after Monday, as you requested, my son is still in distress, so of course I'm interested in hearing how your meeting with his teachers went.'

And yeah, if no contact by Wednesday night, I would send another letter and CC the next higher up, summarizing what has transpired so far, including the dates of attempted contact. Snail mail or email? Not sure - sometimes it's worth wasting another week with trying email, but nothing says:'I'm Serious' like Snail Mail!

Love and more Love,
Grinity

You don't have to have short posts! Have you looked into the gifted laws for your state? I hate that they're treating her like this! She wouldn't even be able to test for gifted until next year?

Unfortunately I can not find an email address for her. The teachers don't have email addresses either. I might try to go in tomorrow if work allows and see if she's in.

If I don't talk to her I guess I'll have to mail her and a member of the school board a letter.

Oh and the Monday that she was talking about was last Monday. She told me she'd get in touch with me for sure by then. A week and a half later still nothing. I wish I could say that I was surprised

YES, it is definitly time to go up the food chain! Snail Mail with CC's to those above. I'm hoping you'll have the fun of watching things 'snap too' once they realize you are willing to stand up.
Grimity

My understanding is that the Stanford test is in January or February. So I would bet that they don't put anything into practice until 1st grade. And unfortunately, teachers my daughter knows say that the school districts in our area mostly just give more work to GT kids - more projects etc. So we're not sure how much the program will benefit her if she does get in.