<p>my daughter has been involved in this program at her school
<a href="http://www.collegeaccessnow.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeaccessnow.org/</a>
One reason why she chose this high school over other schools who had nicer buildings, newer facilities and some interesting programs, was because Garfield is one of the few Seattle public schools who allows students to enter rigorous courses on their own merit, without requiring them to take honors before AP or accelerated math before they can take genetics.</p>
<p>High schools and middle schools seem to place kids in "appropriate" classes, which in many cases seems to be "dumbed down", instead of placing them in grade level or above classes and giving them the support to excel.
As long as we do this, we are going to have the same kids going to higher ed, and the same ones feeling like they can't be academically successful.</p>
<p>BTW- even though I have never taken a chem class & so couldn't help D at all, she recently came home with the next to highest grade * on the last test*in all the chem classes on which the teacher said was one of the hardest tests he had written.</p>
<p>If she hadn't been able to take summer school math ( which she almost didn't , as the school district canceled her class), she wouldnt have even been able to take chem- as she has been trying to learn that math that she wasn't taught in middle school, since 9th gd.</p>