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| 4th Grade |
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| 2nd Grade |
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| Preschool - 2nd year |
C and H are continuing to attend our neighborhood public school, "Norte". However, because C was so unhappy last year (and the year before) and after having some conversations with other parents who moved from Norte to other schools, I seriously considered moving them to a more suitable school. In fact, I even got them excepted to the school. C's main complaint with school is the behavior of the other kids. Norte is a title I school, which means many of the kids are coming from a lower socio-economic status. They are bused in from South Phoenix and few, if any, of them come from nuclear families and most, if not all, are minorities. We have always had great teachers at Norte. But I can understand why C is unhappy. In addition to being unhappy with the behavior of the other kids, he has been unhappy with homework and the lack of recess time. I absolutely understand that. C is also a "the glass is half empty" kind of kid. So, I wasn't sure he wouldn't find fault with another school. In addition, as I said, we have always had great teachers at Norte and Norte is our neighborhood school. I didn't want to give up on it. It is also super close and H is so happy there, she didn't want to move. So, I pray and hope for the best. Both kids got great teachers. We were especially excited about H's because it's a MALE!
Update - 4 weeks later. After about 2 weeks, C started complaining about school, not wanting to go etc. He hates "close" reading. Close reading is simply annotating. He is again frustrated by his classmates' behavior. He feels like he is not getting ALL his recess time. And he is not. I was at the school, so I timed it and they got 10 minutes when they are suppose to have 20. But while I was there timing his recess, I saw the most disgusting behavior from the duty teacher. For some reason, the duty teachers feel like the kids need to stand in a straight line, remaining perfectly still and quiet before they head in for lunch. I think that is an unreal and unreasonable expectation. So, this teacher was yelling at the kids. A mean, ugly, hateful yell. I didn't want to complain or get in her face before I had more evidence. So, I went back the next day. I started with 2nd grade to see if she treated the 2nd graders the same. She did not. And she was not there for 4th grade. I think she knew I'd be there since I was there for 2nd grade. By the way, they got 12 minutes of recess. The next day, I sent Chuck to observe. He said they got 15 minutes and this teacher was very pleasant. And interestingly the next day, C came home with a Cougar Paw from this teach. (A Cougar Paw is recognition of good behavior.) Surprisingly, C has not complained too much about homework. Of course, it really only take a couple minutes. I am concerned about C's spelling. Even when we practice and practice, he still has trouble spelling the words we practiced. And although, we keep hearing about how rigorous Common Core is, I am thinking C is not being challenged in the classroom. These are a couple things I plan to talk with his teacher about.
