Says a lot about the school, doesn’t it?
What’s interesting is that across multiple local message boards, the school is frequently called out for catering to AP students and letting those who under-perform flounder. I didn’t want to believe it thinking it was just sour grapes. I’m inclined to re-evaluate my position.
Doesn’t absolve my son of any and all responsibility. But the deck does appear to be stacked.
I’d be at the next school board meeting with a copy of that email.
As a fine counter-point to how out of touch the VP is, within the hour of receiving his response in praise of my son’s D’s, the math teacher emailed me to notify me that in the past month my son’s performance has been dismal and he is currently pulling a solid 18% in that subject.
So I followed up my email with a call to the VP suggesting that he should check with my son’s teachers about his current standing before returning my call. Have not heard back from him yet but I’m sure he’s busy assembling his top people. I’ve no doubt I’ll hear from him very soon with a cunning plan.
Yeah, your son’s school is Bizarro Land. There is no way an administrator should be portraying a D in such a positive way, even if it technical represents an improvement.
It makes me think that your son has internalized the low expectations of others. Perhaps objectively, he knows he can do a lot better, but implicitly he’s being told either he really can’t do better or that his level of performance is “good enough for him”.
Wow, low-standard school!
Nah-ah. Top school in a very highly ranked school district. Sent a couple of kids to Harvard last year; Another couple to Yale and MIT. I believe they think they are very accomplished. Trouble is, they don’t seem to care much about the non-AP kids.
:eek:
The only way that letter could be worse is if they said they helped him achieve such excellent standards by smacking him around between classes.
If only. He could use a good kick in the ass.
QuickSilver, in the OP you say that you’ve “used every stick in the book from limiting texting to confiscating phone, iPod, locking down computer, no Xbox, etc… Not just for a day or week. Weeks and months.”
Which “carrots” have you used, besides the offer of a car?
How about:
The high expectations are probably saved for the self-motivated kids who perform well starting form a young age. As screwed up as this sounds, there’s a certain logic to this. If you have a student in your class that refuses to blossom no matter how much pushing and challenging you throw their way, eventually you will become exhausted. Them merely showing up and not acting obnoxious in class is a small victory.
This is kind of where you’re at with him too, right? If he had a twin brother who made all A’s, would you be treating him the same exact way that you are now? This is the challenge the school is dealing with: teaching academic superstars alongside slackers without making either feel alienated.
Sure I get that. But if I’m coming to them with concerns and asking for helpful options, I don’t want to hear them say my son is ‘succeeding while maintaining a D’. I want to hear, ‘We are just as concerned as you and here’s what we can offer…’.
Yeah, I agree that is messed up. There’s something disturbingly fatalistic in their attitude, like they’ve officially written him off as a Poor Do-er that doesn’t merit concern.
Admittedly, I skipped a couple pages, but in the beginning of the thread you mentioned that he spends a lot of time daydreaming, sometimes instead of doing schoolwork even. Have you asked him what he daydreams about?
You’re certainly speaking for me! “This is by far his best year”??? He’s not even had two full years yet. I cannot believe their attitude.
I don’t really think kids should be “held back” in high school. They just don’t graduate until they’ve completed all the requirements. Which means they would be labeled as in the class with their age group, until their second or third senior year when younger kids start to pass them up.
Man, he sure is doing a great job maintaining that D! I say you take away that administrator’s car and give it to your son. At least your son does a good job at his part time job.
Finally got a hold of the vice-principal. He claimes that he does not receive the progress reports that I see monthly about my son’s progress (or lack there of) so he just looked at his last report card without speaking with the teachers and decided that calling D successful would make me go away.
I let him know that wasn’t acceptable. So now he is going to get the school psychologist and academic assistance counselor to bring my son in for evaluation in the hopes of getting some better insight into what’s going on in his head and maybe come up with some solutions.
To be honest, I’m surprised he’s willing to do this much. I suppose cornering him and putting him on the spot to explain why he thought ‘D’ was a measure of success made it too uncomfortable for him and so he thought he would make it someone else’s problem.
Yeah, he probably doesn’t encounter parents who are concerned enough to call out the vice-principal very often. Good for you. I’m glad they are taking some action at least.
Can you keep us posted on what happens next? I find your story intriguing.
Will do. I expect to hear about the next steps from the school some time next week.