Sad week for me
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| Tue, 05-09-2006 - 11:36am |
Grad this upcoming weekend and my son wont be there. All the work, encouragement, fighting, frustration over the past 12 years were all for not. I still can't believe that with 4 months to go he quit school. There is nothing I wanted more than to see him graduate with his class. I see all the other parents around our small town excited about their child's big weekend - it is all making me so sad. My son doesnt show any emotion about it and doesnt seem to care (I'm sure part of him does) but I am just so disappointed. The school system failed us big time and I feel like I have failed my son.
To top it off, the school sent me ANOTHER letter yesterday saying I owe them $59 for a textbook that hasnt been returned and it will go to collections if I dont cough up the money (son says he returned it 6 months ago) - I've been back and forth with them about this book for months. I lost it on them bigtime this morning - composure of course is gone now due to this whole grad thing. I know its not a lot of money but it makes me mad - son isnt even in school anymore and this was months ago. My daughter has to attend at this school in 2 years so I dont want to cause a lot of friction in case it comes back on her but I'm just so angry. I have paid for courses which he never ended up attending as well as grad fees of $65 which he now wont be attending (supposed to be getting a refund for this) and they are after me for a $59 book - sheesh. They said they'd take the $59 off the $65. I dont know - maybe I should just pay them and be done with it.
Anyway, sorry, I'm just in a real crappy mood.

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Sorry this is such a hard week for you!
You have done so many things to move this kid forward-give yourself a pat on the back
And dont be surprised if your young man finally gets his act together in July-right now that deadline seems so far away but it will eventually become a reality for him
Im rather frustrated with the schools as well. And also thinking of writing something to someone when the year is over/
We have had endless phone calls from office staff about my senior missing classes or big chunks of days. WE have twice gone it to speak with counselors and attendance dean asking for help by giving him Saturday school or dentention or SOMETHING(we felt we had exhausted our resources and hey, what happened to that village???)
No help-just platitudes. "we dont have the resources to deal with anyone of age to drop out; we have to focus on the 9/10th graders; he's a senior now; this is HIS responsibility"
Meanwhile, the attendance ladies continued to call DH and I, often at work-no communication between them and dean/counselor obviously. Or maybe they were moms and cared more-one secretary actually confided that this wasnt typical of my son and she was concerned for him
Then....what do you think came in the mail last grading period??
A certificate of COMMENDABLE ATTENDANCE
That did it-DH and I pretty much threw up our hands at that point!!
I also think their athletic policy sucks. Seniors cant play JV and the soccer coach took 6 seniors aside last fall at tryouts and told them only one would be chosen for varsity. Most, including DS, chose not to finish tryouts. This was done so the coach could put a group of freshmen on varsity and 'grow' a team; the assistant coach had had the 9th grade wonder boys in travel league. They had a horrible season-probably the worst the school has seen in a decade- which I thoroughly enjoyed ;)
Where was their commitment to those senior boys? Theyd played for three years-showed up and practiced-parents had raked fields, installed concrete pads, done fundraisers, and worked concessions.
I will never know if this year would have gone smoother if ds had been allowed to play soccer but I think it was a huge piece of the puzzle. Dh and I told the counselor this at our last visit but yeah, Ive thought of writing something to someone higher once graduation is over.
It's like they give up on them by 11th grade-saddd
I just had to respond to this when I read your thought that the schools are giving up on the kids. How horrible is that?
My 18yo nephew (I've posted about him in the past) is a victim, too. When he was a sophmore, his hs implemented a homestudy program for the students who did well. They only had to be in school for a couple hours each week to take tests on the material for the last week, and get their new assignments for the following week. How well do you think that went?
Not at all! DN's grades started falling sr. year and he was required to attend classes again. Well, what 18yo, after having all that freedom, wanted to sit in a classroom again. He sure didn't and it looks like he isn't going to graduate now. The school told him he was '18 and not our problem any more' so did very little to get him on the right track again. His mother managed to get his teachers involved, but it seems that both sides dropped the ball and now ... who knows what now.
A cryin' shame, that's what I do know.
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