Archive for School

Bothered by Correspondence from the School

March 30, 2009 · Filed under Older children, School · Tagged , , , , , , ,

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I received a letter in the mail today from my daughter’s middle school that really bothered me.  Here is the text of the body of the letter in italics and my thoughts on each section:

Our records indicate that your child has been absent 5 excused days this semester. 

Note the word “excused.” She missed three days for her participation in swim meets and two other days for family travel or  illness.  This is a kid who attends swim practice six to eight times per week, sometimes getting up for 5:30 a.m. practices before school and then returning to the pool for 5 p.m. practices after school. This is a kid who has time management skills that some college students haven’t achieved. This is the same kid who voluntarily stayed after school a few weeks ago to do an algebra review with her teacher because she was going to miss the in-class review due to an out-of-town swim meet.

Regular attendance is a significant factor in student acheivement and success at school. As you know, your child needs to be in the classroom to benefit from daily instruction. Research has continually shown the correlation between attendance, achievement and student learning. 

Really? My daughter has been recognized all three years in middle school for having a 4.0 GPA at the end of the first semester — including this year. She takes all challenge courses and is in an advanced/compacted language arts course. The lowest GPA she has achieved for any given quarter is 3.75.  Her standardized test scores typically land her in 99th percentile in language arts and in the high 90’s in all the other subjects. She took the ACT last year as a 7th-grader and scored a 21 without having had any high school language, math or science courses.  I am not worried about her achievement or student learning — at least not at this point in her education.

We do realize that student illness and family emergencies may prevent a child from attending school. However, we want to make you aware of the number of school days that your child has missed.

My understanding of district policy is that the absences wouldn’t have been marked as “excused” if I hadn’t contacted the school about them. Therefore, of course I AM AWARE of the days she has missed. So why was the letter really sent?

Rockwood School District Policy states that any absence in excess of eight days in one semester will require further home/school communications. This is initiated through our district social worker. Our district social worker can provide a variety of resources and assistance as necessary.

Is the school REALLY threatening the intervention of a social worker for a straight-A student who has never had any discipline problems at school, who is recognized for her grades and other school achievements, and who certainly contributes in a positive way to the school’s averages on the standardized tests? And what are these resources and assistance that she might need? Perhaps they could be utilized by a student who needs them?

We appreciate your support as we work together for your child’s education. If you have any questions, please call the school office . .

cc. Student File

cc. Counselor

I love the cc info at the end! In other words: “This is going in YOUR FILE!”

I promptly fired off an email to the school’s administrators. The gist of that email was what I wrote above, plus this:

“We certainly value her education and place a high priority on school. But we also think learning to manage her time in such a way that she can maintain a 3.8 to 4.0 GPA and still spend 12 to 16 hours a week in the pool is a good life skill.”

Plus, I requested that a copy of my email be attached to the letter that is “GOING IN HER FILE.”
I love our school district most of the time. My children are receiving a quality education most of the time. But there are certainly some wasted minutes spent in the classroom and there are certainly some valuable, very educational minutes spent outside of the classroom.  Don’t get me started on the physical education thing. Until this year, my daughter had to make up PE classes she missed by staying after school and jogging around the track. Her two hours a day in the pool wasn’t allowed to count. But that’s fodder for a different post.
This letter was ridiculous. I recognize it might have been generated by some automatic computer program that flags a student when they reach five absences. But it was signed by hand. It seems to me that a letter suggesting the need for intervention by a social worker should have been reviewed individually by the administrators and compared to a student’s overall record, not just her attendance record. If that had been done, I doubt the letter would’ve been mailed or “PUT IN THE FILE.” At least I hope that’s what the outcome would’ve been.

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Eating right and personal responsibility

March 10, 2009 · Filed under Older children, School, Weight · Tagged , , ,

I love my YMCA and have written about that fact here. One of the small things I really like about my Y is this  nice little coffee area where you can get free coffee with flavored creamers, a French vanilla cappuccino or a hot chocolate. After working out, lots of Moms visit in this area for a brief time, sipping coffee and enjoying the peace while their children are still occupied in the nursery or hub. I also see seniors using this area for the same purpose (minus the kids in the nursery part), as well as business professionals, people engaging in English tutoring, parents attending kids sporting events, etc.

I was dismayed to find out last week that the Y is going to remove the  cappucino machine and hot chocolate, and is getting rid of the flavored creamers. Apparently, someone thinks it’s not right to have such “fattening” temptations at a place where health is emphasized. Seriously?

I can understand not putting out bowls of chips or dishes of M&M’s because that does send the wrong message. But have we really reached the point where people cannot be responsible enough to limit their intake of free cappuccino, hot chocolate or flavored coffee creamers? How much of this stuff would you have to consume to negatively affect your weight loss goals or healthy living resolutions? And if there are people at the Y who cannot manage this temptation, what in the world do they do when they leave the Y? Shouldn’t we be teaching folks more about moderation and personal responsibility?

Then yesterday, my son comes home from school complaining that he took some Girl Scout cookies for snack that day and his teacher wouldn’t let him eat them because they don’t qualify as a healthy snack. Give me a break! The stuff that qualifies as healthy is ridiculous. You can take bag of “cheese crackers”  that are full of preservatives, fake cheese, fat, sodium and more calories than I should consume at an entire meal, but two Samoa Girl Scout cookies (containing 150 calories) is off limits. Again — where is personal responsibility?

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