Contrast & compare

Today was an interesting day. Our D came home from sleepover birthday party where the girls had spent some time talking about their (local public school) schedules for the upcoming year, mostly to gripe about what they requested and didn’t get.

This evening, poking around on D’s BS portal, I stumbled across her preliminary schedule, which won’t be official until Orientation. It looks like got EVERYTHING she requested. And it was everything we had been promised - the core classes of course, but also the foreign language choice, the music groups, the art class, the drama class… they even put her sports options on there, despite the fact that they haven’t had tryouts yet!

I won’t be telling her about this. I want to let her be surprised and pleased at Registration, compare schedules over lunch with new friends and dormmates.

But I keep thinking about her local friends, the girl who lives for art and got zero art classes (but did get woodshop, no idea why), the girl who got 2 health classes for 9th grade, the kids (yes, there were multiple) who didn’t sign up for band, but got it on their schedules anyway. How unfair to be so disappointed so early in the high school career. And what repurcussions may follow?

We knew there would be scheduling issues at the LPS, but we thought they would surface around 11th grade. I’m so happy now that D was self-motivated to get the ball rolling last year, to push us parents to schedule the SSAT, set up interviews and tours. Last year at this time, I didn’t even know what the SSAT was!

I’m so grateful that D gets to have a different high school experience. And I so wish her local friends had the same options.

I feel the same way, different circumstances. My D just started 5th grade at a Country Day School in another town. We were big supporters of public education, but realized the difference between “regular “ LPS (the “good school district” that people move for) and public school done right, when our second tested into a public STEM magnet school just as her sister was leaving kindergarten. After fighting the LPS district for FOUR years to get her the services she needs for her hearing impairment and related issues, plus a separate orthopedic disability, we watched this joyful child become
frustrated, lose her self confidence. She started sleeping in our bed shortly after the start of second grade. She developed cyclic vomiting syndrome at the start of third (it was only diagnosed after a year, as this is how it is diagnosed) We began looking at private schools the day she said to me “I just feel like my happiness is going down down down. I have no happiness left in me”.

On Friday, the girl who wore only black and grey for the past year came in from school and twirled around the kitchen in her kilt and knee socks, chatting about her science class and how much she liked her math teacher. I finally feel at peace. But not everyone gets this chance.

My S19 in public school has an AWFUL schedule this year where at one time was filled with 14 study halls! He’s all about engineering and didn’t get the electives he requested. This stem kid with just an ok record in humanities was given psychology. Requested AP stats and that was initially a no go. All a downright mess. Public school was the right thing overall for him but I look forward to the day I never have to deal with them again.

DD22 just started at day school and the difference is night and day. Teachers are engaging and care about what they do. DD20 has the same experience at her BS.

Our gratefulness for the privilege dd has been getting from her BS has never escaped from our mind. Not only all her class choices were accepted without question, but change request days before the school year was also accepted readily. More importantly, she says all her teachers are good and all her classes are high quality, again.

I have come to the terms with the gap between my political orientation and my own child’s education a long time ago.