Good school experience an a little PSA

JOEBunny · May 2012

My DD has some struggles with physical and academic development. She is weak and small for her age and "behind" on the hard skills, like pre-reading and some academic things. It was suggested by her pre-k teachers that we keep her back in pre-k last year.

I went to the school that she would be going to, we were switching to public school, to ask them if they could support her in Kindergarten. They set up a meeting with the VP and myself to discuss DD. I told them about her struggles, and they said they could 100% support her in a detailed way. That was a year ago. She has been at the school since August and they made sure she got the best teacher for HER based on what I told them about DD. She has made tremendous strides. If I had not gone in, they would have known nothing, and randomly assigned her to a teacher.

Now that she is going into 1st grade, despite her gains, she still struggles, even with extra tutoring. Now they know her and all, but I was still on the fence about sending her on to 1st, her teacher encouraged me to move her own, but said she would support whatever my decision was. I have heard that you cannot ask for a specific teacher, if you do, they will give you the worst teacher, ect, but DD's teacher encouraged me to talk to the Vice Principal again about DD for next year and see what she said.

I told her about DD. She not only listened and reassured me, but offered to let me sit in on some classes and see how they are run. She told me that she had two teachers she thought would be the best fit for DD, and I could choose which one. I told her that even if I observed, I would not know what she knows, so for her to please use her judgement about what would be best. The VP told me that Ms. X would be best, that she was great, and she would make sure DD got into her class. She was also very reassuring that I was not being that parent, and that she appreciate that I was concerned about DD and came to her.

When I told her Kindergarten teacher who they were giving DD to next year, she started dancing around and high fiving me and told me I had won the lottery.

Anyway, my PSA is that you can work with your child's school to make it a better experience, even with the same curriculum, teachers have very different styles. One teacher in 1st has a Montessori style, which works for some kids very well, but would have been a disaster for DD. It cost nothing for the school to match the right teacher with the right kids. The wrong style with the wrong child can waste a year of everyone's time.

celiabwatson · May 2012

I'm so glad you had a good experience. That is wonderful and I'm sure your daughter will thrive. However, as a prior public school teacher myself I can tell you that it's not true everywhere. Some schools will NOT accept parent requests. There are also parents who ask to switch mid-year, and I would hope schools wouldn't honor those requests. They are bad for everyone involved.

JOEBunny · May 2012

celiabwatson:
I'm so glad you had a good experience. That is wonderful and I'm sure your daughter will thrive. However, as a prior public school teacher myself I can tell you that it's not true everywhere. Some schools will NOT accept parent requests. There are also parents who ask to switch mid-year, and I would hope schools wouldn't honor those requests. They are bad for everyone involved.

That is what I was told, and why I was hesitant to go in and talk. That is my point. I did not ask for a specific teacher. I ask for a teacher that would be a good fit for my child by describing the child and the things that have worked well for her this year. I ask the administration choose who would be best. I did not even know anything about the teachers. I am sure there are schools that don't have a desire to match a student with the best teacher for their learning needs, but some do. I am also certain because I have seen it in DD's class, that some parents are never happy and complain and demand endlessly without doing their part. That is not what I am suggesting, but rather that you can have productive discussions that will benefit your child by viewing the school as an expert partner in your child's education and asking them to help your child get to where they need to be. Frankly, it saves the school a lot of headaches and problems to seek a more proactive approach. I am grateful to be at a school that sees this type of relationship as a productive benefit.

celiabwatson · May 2012

JOEBunny:
celiabwatson:
I'm so glad you had a good experience. That is wonderful and I'm sure your daughter will thrive. However, as a prior public school teacher myself I can tell you that it's not true everywhere. Some schools will NOT accept parent requests. There are also parents who ask to switch mid-year, and I would hope schools wouldn't honor those requests. They are bad for everyone involved.
That is what I was told, and why I was hesitant to go in and talk. That is my point. I did not ask for a specific teacher. I ask for a teacher that would be a good fit for my child by describing the child and the things that have worked well for her this year. I ask the administration choose who would be best. I did not even know anything about the teachers. I am sure there are schools that don't have a desire to match a student with the best teacher for their learning needs, but some do. I am also certain because I have seen it in DD's class, that some parents are never happy and complain and demand endlessly without doing their part. That is not what I am suggesting, but rather that you can have productive discussions that will benefit your child by viewing the school as an expert partner in your child's education and asking them to help your child get to where they need to be. Frankly, it saves the school a lot of headaches and problems to seek a more proactive approach. I am grateful to be at a school that sees this type of relationship as a productive benefit.

Thank you for the clarification. I agree that being proactive and viewing the school as a partner are both wonderful things to do. I just wanted to make sure that people didn't read your PSA incorrectly and set themselves up for disappointment.

As a teacher I have been on both sides of being requested or not and I will admit it effects how I view that parent. If I feel like the parent actually knows me then I'll accept their opinion about the best fit for their child. If I feel like the parent is listening to rumors or judging me because I'm young or some other factor then I seriously side-eye them.

mgarza1231 · May 2012

That sounds like a pretty awesome VP. Glad that everything is going to work out for your DD and you.

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