History . My mistake
At our school you canāt change out of a AP class unless you fail first semester and only then if the teacher thinks itās because you really canāt handle the work , not because you didnāt want to do the work. They make the kids and parents sign a contract in Feb for classes starting in August. If they allowed that I bet most of the kids who end up with one of the AP teachers would ditch her as soon as they found out they were going to have herā¦ I am hoping she is going to retire but if not DS19 will be doing dual enrollment for that class.
Interesting to hear the different standards for APs. Our kids can drop in the first week for no āreasonā, but then they have to stay put. We have this weird phenomenon that happens junior year where so many kids who havenāt even taken an honors class try a few APs. Maybe itās pressure from parents knowing that colleges want to see these classes on transcripts. I feel for those kids as itās a huge jump in pace and content from regular level classes.
Also, our school never gives summer homework for APs. No wonder these kids end up with five/six hours of homework a night if theyāve piled on the AP classes. One poster here talked about her sonās summer AP Comp Sci homework and it was substantial. Our Sās class is starting from scratch. He says no one in his class has ever coded at all!
Ugh ugh. A classmateās dad died suddenly last week; just got the email from school. I feel really horrible for the family; D19 took the bus with the son every morning so Iām sure she will be upset.
His dad was young, and a pastor. Iām pretty sure the kid was getting financial aid, and now Iām not sure heāll even be able to continue in the school. The thing is, the school is adamant about making the family pay the full tuition even if the kid has to drop out. Itās clearly spelled out in the contract and a really stern letter is attached that urges us to buy tuition insurance (at $700!! hah!!).
We have 3 weeks until the start of school here. S has not done an iota of summer homework! Allegedly starting today. He is gone all of next week so really really needs to get cracking! In all fairness he hasnāt been around much and has had a busy, good summer. Returned from his 50 miler last saturday and had quite the adventure!
Draft schedules will be available to view tomorrow at noon so fingers crossed for good teachers and what was requested. Weāve never had any major issues but there is always a first for sure.
Dropping classes/dropping down is subject to availability in the other class and schedules. Sophomores are fairly low on the totem pole for this so it may simply be not an option. they can try and itās in the first 1-2 weeks but no guarantee
We do have an appointment with the pediatrician in a couple of weeks to discuss a possible med trial for ADHD for S19. We did 2 rounds of tests, the ākidā version of the Vanderbilt and then an adult version. Kid version basically said no and the adult one saidā¦yeah maybe there is a real issue here. We will see how that goes.
@Gatormama I am so sorry, how horrible for the family, I hope the school can make an exception if needed.
@Gatormama how awful for that family. I hope the community and school can come together to be helpful and supportive.
Regarding AP classes our school also has the policy that no one can drop an AP class until after the first quarter. I get from an administrative reason why they make that decision but from an academic standpoint it really stinks.
All this talk about dropping classes reminds me of a class I took in college. First exam of the year was given the last day you could drop classes.
I sat staring at the test for 10 minutes, then handed it in and walked straight to the registrarās building to drop the class. Probably shouldnāt mention that to my kid until she graduates HS at least.
I am with you @homerdog. No summer work for any class in our school either. I did not check the class drop policy of the school yet. Need to ask D19 if I should 
@Gatormama thatās so sad and horrible for that family. I hope the school comes up with some solution
@Gatormama Maybe someone can start a gofundme ( with the permission of the family of course) or the church can assist with tuition.
Very sad, @Gatormama. I hope things work out for them.
great idea, @carolinamom2boys - we are making time (on the weekend of DSDās wedding) for D and my husband and I to attend the funeral tomorrow ā will see what we can glean.
What an emotionally-charged weekend, @gatormama. I hope you will have some time during or after for self-care and reflection.
Thanks @EastGrad ā what the heck is that? LOL.
I am the last one to take care of myself; usually I muddle through. But yeah, everyone has that breaking pointā¦
UGH. Schedules came out yesterday. Did not get the preferred precalc teacher. It may be ok but S17 canāt stand the guy S19 will have. Different kids but still. Honors English is a complete unknown to me, kids have heard both good an bad things about her. The rest was as expected. I am going to peek at the school site to see if it shows when the preferred teacher teaches the class on the off chance that things could get moved around but suspect itās pretty locked and inflexible.
1st week (technically just 3 minimum days) completed and all is well. S19 is a bit scared about AP World. He likes the teacher, but he spent quite a bit of time stressing how quickly the class will move and the importance of keeping up with reading/homework. I just hope S19 takes him seriously and uses his study hall wisely. Next week will begin full days of school, which means adding in 3 hours of arts everyday. And so it goes!
Back from vacation! We included some informal (read: drive around the campus and look) college tours as part of our travels. D19 has compiled some notes on the schools. She very much wants to be back in school again but we have to wait until after Labor Day for school to begin. (Silly Kings Dominion law here in Virginia.)
Son19 just fractured his finger 3 days before soccer tryouts. Not awesome. At least he doesnāt have any more homework to do before school starts.
Is it his dominant hand?
@RightCoaster Oh no! Our son broke his wrist right before soccer tryouts last year! He was playing around at the soccer field. While he was in goal (without goalie gloves), a friend of his shot and our son put his hand out and broke his wrist. They said he could play with his cast as long as it was wrapped in bubble wrap. Maybe thatās an option for you too!
Off hand fortunately. Itās taped up in a splint no cast. We need to take him back to the doctors in a few days, we.'ll see what they say. Not a huge deal, heās a very good player, so theyāll just keep him out until he heals up. Heāll miss practicing and some games, hopefully be ok for 2nd 1/2 of season. Just kind of a bummer end to the summer, he was really looking forward to the start of the season. Oh well. Minor in the big scope of things.