My ADD-er in High school

I can breathe a sigh of relief. He's doing quite well. We attended "meet the teacher" night at the High school this week. All of the teachers talked about how they use the student's laptops in class in addition to their expectations. Can you believe the Math class is all electronic except for tests? For some reason that amazes me. Other classes are more hybrid.

But allg rades are online and accessible for parents. Teachers tend to post them several times weekly. The Math teacher talked about the test they had had that many of the boys did not do well. "I asked hte boys how many of them got a good talking to.." I had not looked. I gues working at a University, I hear way too much about "helicopter parents" and was trying to give him some room. Fortuantely, it turns out my son did well, getting an 85 on that test.

When I did look at his ggrades, it looks like there were a couple of quizzes he was not quite prepared for, but since that first week, It looks like he got the message and has been keeping up on his homework.

His biggest hurdle seems to be remmebering when he has gym and making sure he has his gym uniform. I think I am going to go and get him a pair of athletic shoes to keep at school. The Uniform code will soon change from summer dress to a more business casual where they cannot wear athletic shoes. Because of their block schedule, he had gym every 4th day, so it is not the same day each week. Even the Phys Ed teacher said he struggles with this after 7 years.

I guess we'll just need to keep an eye on his scores and help him if he starts to fall, lend him a hand. But we are starting off great.

My High school Freshman

And man, The Pomp and Circumstance that the Catholic Church does so well made is a wonderful 8th Grade graduation ceremony.

The IEP meeting: Transition to High School

A few weeks ago we had the yearly IEP meeting. This one was a big one, Three teachers, the speech teacher who assists as a resource teacher, The principal, the student (my 13YO) my husband, me, the Intervention specialist, the Intervention specialist from the High School.

I have to say it went well. I was reassured by the IS from the High School. I think it was great to have the 13Yo there also. The IS told him "Here are your responsibilities:" and he signed the form. We have a better idea of what to expect. Out of 225 boys in each class, there are 12-17 that are part of the "IEP Class". I heard that one of my son's wreatlign teammates is ont he waiting list to be a part of the IEP class as part of his admission.

Each boys gets a laptop. All teachers post homework assignments on the web. He will e responsible for entering the assignments to his local calendar. One of the problems he has is not writing down his assignments. Last week a project for Religion class was sent back home to be re-done. The 13 YO did not know what the requirments were for. That made me decide that if I had to repeat the year, I would specify in his IEP that "any assignments longer than 1 day should be written down." We search high and low for the requirments of the project. I even hacked his facebook account and posted a question to his classmates while he was at wrestling practice. We finally convinced him to call someone and ask about it.

More High School musings

Due to some bad decisions and financial mind games that were played this summer, our finances are crap. To someone’s credit, the problems have been realized and the future course has been adjusted.

Fortunately we are both still well-employed and our jobs look as stable as they can be at this time. We have cut back on expenditures greatly. Although I still feel like I am often saying “No, let’s not eat out. Let eat at home I can whip up ______. “

Anyways, I have written here about the parochial high school. That decision seems to have been made and then it comes back up as a debatable item. I think my once a week carpool friend is tired of hearing me go on about it. LOL! But it is debatable. We are fortunate enough to live in one of the best public school districts in the state. There is also another parochial High school only a mile further away from our house where the tuition is significantly best.

But the chosen school, while big, features a house system where the boys are broken up into groups of about 160. There are daily mentor group meetings of about 20-25 boys with the same teacher year after year. My ADHD son still needs some guidance and someone to be accountable too.

But if I listen closely, I am bombarded with the message that this is the right choice. Three teachers at last night’s open house commented that they think my son will do well at the chosen school next year. Next week we have a meeting to revise his IEP for next year. The intervention specialist from the high school will be there.

Sending him to this high school is like sending him to an Ivy League college. The Alumni are a tight-knit, involved and loyal group. Many events associated with the school that we have been to have been run by dedicated staff, faculty and parents of current students. It’s the network.
So why can’t I make peace with this? How does an excellent education compare to being debt-free? (Or having less debt?) Are we still living a life built of cards? Who knows what this economy will bring.

Oh yes, as a reminder, College tuition will be covered for him. As a benefit of my job, my dependants can take advantage of tuition remission at the state university where I work. If it weren’t for this benefit, the High school would be out of the question.

P.S. At lunch today, I was once again talking about the High school decision. One of the guys with us said that his experience that the kids coming out of our public High School are good at Math but here at the College they often have to take remedial English. Yes God, I am listening. Thank you for the reinforcement.

He has been accepted.

Back in November I wrote about the Parochial High School selection process here in our Archdiocese. We have gotten mailings from all 10 of the High Schools that accept males. One school in particular sent us a lot of materials.

The results of the Catholic High School Entrace exam arrived Saturday, along with a letter stating that DS13 had been accepted at the school of his choice. Of course Mom and Dad have to show up in person on Jan 23rd to submit the application form and the tuition deposit.

Here's the proud boy mdleing his T-shirt they sent ofr him to wear to 8th grade day at the school: