Monday, August 21, 2006
Letter From A Parent
Dear Guidance Guy,
My daughter is a junior in high school. During the summer prior to her freshman year, we had to fill out a four year schedule plan and turn it in. Then at the end of her freshman and sophomore years, the school sent home another schedule for us to fill out for her for the following year, which we did. She (my daughter) is currently in 3 (out of 8), classes that are not onher schedule plan anywhere. School started a week ago, she is still in the wrong classes, which means she's missing out on the classes that she's supposed to be in. I had to sign a "change of class request" (why, I don't know),and turn that in. Still nothing has changed.
I called the school's counselor on Friday to inquire about my daughter's schedule, and was told it would be straightened out by the end of school that day. Still nothing has changed. Tomorrow is Monday.
As a parent, how long do I let this go on? My daughter wants to try to handle herself, but I told her if this wasn't fixed by Monday, I would be going up to the school. Am I being too pushy, or do I just let them (school counselor) string her along, and let her get behind in the classes that we signed up for? My experience over the past two years with this school is if you don't stand up for your child the school surely won't.
Thanks For Your Help,
Lisa
*** *** ***
Dear Lisa,
When a student fills out a schedule plan for a student the year before, it is usually a course request rather than a schedule. The master schedule is usually not made until the school knows the number of students who request each course and how many teachers will be available to teach them. So it's possible she is in courses that are back-up's because a class has filled up or they have decided to restrict the courses to certain grade levels. An unfortunate part of scheduling, but that sometimes happens when you have too many students and not enough places to put them.
Having said that, what does your daughter think about the classes she's in? Do you, her and the counselor feel these are inappropriate? If the plan is to move her to other sections, I agree it should be done as soon as possible. A week into the school year is not an unreasonable time to make a switch. Many classes conduct review of last year's material before moving on. And the first week of the school year is often the busiest time for guidance departments.
You certainly have a right to be upset if you were told the situation would be handled by a certain date and it wasn't. It should be resolved quickly, and the counselor didn't do him or herself any favors by failing to deliver on something that was supposed to be done.
Let your daughter try tomorrow with whatever procedure the school has in place to fix schedules. If it isn't resolved by then, call the counselor and see if it can be resolved over the telephone then and there. If not, request a meeting with the counselor for that day or the next and ask if an administrator can be present as well. Going in unannounced with a good dose of anger may solve the short-term problem, but it makes it more difficult for your daughter to advocate for herself. And remember, this is the counselor whose help you'll be asking for when it comes to planning for life after high school.
Best of Luck,
The Guidance Guy
My daughter is a junior in high school. During the summer prior to her freshman year, we had to fill out a four year schedule plan and turn it in. Then at the end of her freshman and sophomore years, the school sent home another schedule for us to fill out for her for the following year, which we did. She (my daughter) is currently in 3 (out of 8), classes that are not onher schedule plan anywhere. School started a week ago, she is still in the wrong classes, which means she's missing out on the classes that she's supposed to be in. I had to sign a "change of class request" (why, I don't know),and turn that in. Still nothing has changed.
I called the school's counselor on Friday to inquire about my daughter's schedule, and was told it would be straightened out by the end of school that day. Still nothing has changed. Tomorrow is Monday.
As a parent, how long do I let this go on? My daughter wants to try to handle herself, but I told her if this wasn't fixed by Monday, I would be going up to the school. Am I being too pushy, or do I just let them (school counselor) string her along, and let her get behind in the classes that we signed up for? My experience over the past two years with this school is if you don't stand up for your child the school surely won't.
Thanks For Your Help,
Lisa
*** *** ***
Dear Lisa,
When a student fills out a schedule plan for a student the year before, it is usually a course request rather than a schedule. The master schedule is usually not made until the school knows the number of students who request each course and how many teachers will be available to teach them. So it's possible she is in courses that are back-up's because a class has filled up or they have decided to restrict the courses to certain grade levels. An unfortunate part of scheduling, but that sometimes happens when you have too many students and not enough places to put them.
Having said that, what does your daughter think about the classes she's in? Do you, her and the counselor feel these are inappropriate? If the plan is to move her to other sections, I agree it should be done as soon as possible. A week into the school year is not an unreasonable time to make a switch. Many classes conduct review of last year's material before moving on. And the first week of the school year is often the busiest time for guidance departments.
You certainly have a right to be upset if you were told the situation would be handled by a certain date and it wasn't. It should be resolved quickly, and the counselor didn't do him or herself any favors by failing to deliver on something that was supposed to be done.
Let your daughter try tomorrow with whatever procedure the school has in place to fix schedules. If it isn't resolved by then, call the counselor and see if it can be resolved over the telephone then and there. If not, request a meeting with the counselor for that day or the next and ask if an administrator can be present as well. Going in unannounced with a good dose of anger may solve the short-term problem, but it makes it more difficult for your daughter to advocate for herself. And remember, this is the counselor whose help you'll be asking for when it comes to planning for life after high school.
Best of Luck,
The Guidance Guy
# posted by Larry Hochman : 7:04 AM
