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Edwin,

Good luck with your meeting with the Super.

Cat

It's amazing that your Sup called Davidson - I hope your lucky streak continues!
Grin

Update: Met with the District Super and it went well. She has agreed to the subject skip to 6th grade MS math. She also called our rep at Davidson and spoke with her, I believe it was helpful. She has also just completed the book the Outliers, this also added to her process. She spoke directly with DS8 to make sure he was ok with everything, and let him know that if he wants to go back to ES and independent study he can. She also gave him her card if he ran into issues. She indicated that along each step of the way the ES, MS and district personal where correct in what they suggested. However she believes that any parent & student willing to keep pursuing this option should be given the chance.

Now the hard part, if this sticks it will mean that twice a day for the next two years I will pick him up at school drive him the 2 blocks to Middle School and then pick him up an hour later and return him. After that who knows. The odd part is not that the math will be too hard; I still think it may be too easy. But the work product, the writing will be more then DS is used to. So will just see how it goes. Thank you to everyone for your support, encouragement and advice. One other bit of good news DS8 was elected school treasurer.

Edwin - That's wonderful news! I love that the super gave your DS her card. Congrats to you and your DS on your advocacy.

And contgrats on DS being elected treasurer! Good day.

(Too bad about no transport provided by the school. But maybe if everything else works out, you can ease into that request.)

CFK Im ok with the driving, just whining. Two years ago we had him in a great school but the drive was about an hour each way and on a friday afternoon it could be as long as almost 2 hours. I work 5 minutes away and have flexable hours. I really do feel for the parents that drive long distances every day, or have had to move and/or change jobs to make things work for their children.

Congratulations on the win!

Edwin,

Wonderful news! A big congrats to you and DS (on both the acceleration and the treasurer position).

I am fascinated by this reasoning however:

"She indicated that along each step of the way the ES, MS and district personal where correct in what they suggested. However she believes that any parent & student willing to keep pursuing this option should be given the chance."

So whether a child gets a proper education becomes purely a function of their parents' persistence. That is so illogical and frustrating, and harms children who have parents who do not have the resources (financial, psychological, intellectual) to pursue the fight. Sigh.

Still, great news for you and you should be proud you stuck with it.

Cat

Cat, I thought that was an odd comment, maybe she wants to see a committed parent. I believe that at the school level that some requests may be odd, and should die on their own. While others need a little more persistence. I fully believe that they do not believe its in this students best interest overall, but they are willing to supersede their belief system and give it a chance. Especially if the parents are strongly on board.

Edwin - congratulations on your successful advocacy. Hope your son enjoys!


This reasoning is the kind of thing that lead to homeschooling for us. Every child should be educated appropriate regardless of how many hoops a parent is willing to jump through and how loud they're willing to be. Many families just don't have the time or energy to fight long or hard enough to get results. I personally know kids who suffer for these reasons and it drives me crazy.

Thanks for sharing the good news Edwin!