Parents of the HS Class of 2021 (Part 1)

Parents Forum Class of 20xx Community
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Welcome @EastGrad ! Good to have you and your experience here!

DS21 pulled the C+ in math up to a B-, so 2 As and 4 Bs. Not at all great, but better than last spring. We are not putting on academic pressure because of social/psychological issues.

He seems more interested in academics currently, so I hope that sticks. He signed up (without asking me) for a 7th period (after school basically) coding class this semester, and the teacher really likes and understands him. Most kids are doing Scratch, but he is going to be doing an online Python class through ā€œsome university in Michigan.ā€ UMich? Iā€™ll have to find out. The teacher says daily attendance isnā€™t required, so he can go to his therapist appointment on Tuesdays.

For 9th grade, heā€™s applied to an art academy program at the HS across town. They say they have room for most applicants and do a lottery if oversubscribed. There are 2 tracks: AP and not-AP. The AP classes taken by the AP track are not as strenuous as DS17ā€™s path, but includes AP English Lang, AP EnvSci, AP English Lit, AP Studio Art, and optionally APUSH. Math, some science, and foreign language are taken outside the academy program, so could include additional APs.

I really hope he gets in, because it seems like it would be an excellent environment for him.

In a couple weeks, we have an appointment in LA with a specialist to talk about hormones or hormone blockers.

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Thanks, @Ynotgo. Good luck to you and your DS21. Weā€™re rooting for you!

23

Hey my fellow 2021 parents, I posted on 2020 for some advice for 9th grade. you might want to hop over there to see it.

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We had open house for high school this evening. Wow what a big change but exciting. D is currently at a single gender school with 70 kids per grade. It goes from 6th grade to 12th but she wanted to go to the academic magnet. This school has 500 kids per grade.

She is excited and feels this is the school for her.

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Our high school is in the middle of registration for next year. So much excitement and possibility and angst all contained in one sheet of paper! Happy to see all the eighth graders looking out at the school, their peers, and the next four years. If I squint a little, I can see them as seniors in caps and gowns. But when I do that squinting, Iā€™m in danger of my eyes filling with tears. Better to go ahead with our eyes wide open. :slight_smile:

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Now that EastGrad has let me know that this thread is open I begin my final journey down this road, with son number one graduating-ish from Drexel this year and the other starting her second semester at U of Delaware on Monday. Our S21 is a quadruple A kid, as in Aspie, ADHD, anxiety and asthma, though he is mostly grown out of the last one (I hope). He just dropped off his report card, which was probably overdue to be returned when he had me sign it, and all A/A-'s in the second marking period of eighth grade. He is also in geometry this year, a math and science kid who also loves history and is most proud of bringing up a C in Honors English to an A this semester.

He is a math whiz, but writing is a struggle/challenge on many levels. He grew nearly 8 inches this year and really grew up, partly with a parental pull away on the homework prompting. He is great now, for the most part, at doing homework timely, if minimally (Dad, it said five sentences, so I wrote five sentencesā€¦the idea of doing beyond the minimum in non-preferred courses and assignments is a foreign concept to his literal self). Boy Scout, and currently Senior Patrol Leader, has a TAS - Therapeutic Autism Support - homeroom, but mostly advanced level mainstream courses. He will enter the TAS program upon entering HS, but wants to wean himself away from as many supports as possible and is learning to use his big academic brain to train his neuro-atypical social brain to understand and deal with social norms, cues and subtleties, with a lot of work to do on the subtleties, but he has come so very far already.

Loves tech, new and especially the ā€˜oldā€™ stuff like analog TVā€™s, ā€˜ancientā€™ cell phones and desktop computers, will take just about anything and everything part to see how it works and loves video games and YouTube videos about video games, sigh, but has limits on those at the moment. The future curator of a tech museum? Could be, plus a million other things, with some sort of engineering related future in his thoughts, especially material sciences.

And he is the family genealogist.

Quirky and funny as heck, this is going to be a really wild ride with S21. Glad to meet and greet you all and to enjoy the road and trip with you for the next five years or so!

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I am a older single mom. D21 is my only. I had a very nontraditional route to adulthood. I did not graduate from college till age 31. Worked as a RN for a number of years then went to NP school and graduated from that at age 39. I worked hard to pay off my student debt.

Thus, I started saving for retirement and securing my future later in life than is optimal.

So merit is very important to us. D21 is an introvert, who needs a lot of down time. So I donā€™t think she will
have the kind of ECā€™s that will make her competitive for Competitive scholarships.

So I am apologizing in advance, because we have to play the rank game (in Texas). I am sure the road will be fraught with difficulties.

I look forward to hearing about all our 2021 kidsā€™
journey goes, all the us and downs and twist and turns.

28

Well D21 completed the final Admissions step to the HS sheā€™s applying to next year. We will know the decision in a week. Fingers crossed as this is the best fit for her. We are still planning on registering at our local public just in case. Theyā€™ve already had several Enrollment sessions for their honors, STEM & Academy. Time is flying by so fast. :frowning:

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Good luck, @EGHopeful!

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Welcome @Skates76 !! Congrats to your son on the great grades.

Good luck on the HS application, @EGHopeful !

We have our fingers crossed for 2 things for DS21:

ā€“ Should hear about admission to the art program he applied to by the end of this month. Transfer to the other HS is automatic, but if they get more applications than previously, they will do a lottery for the art academy. He also applied to the AP track within the art academy, so is hoping to get that.

ā€“ He had 1st appointment in LA yesterday with transgender specialist office. Had a hand x-ray to see if growth plates have closed or not. Hoping not, as he is 5ā€™2". Weā€™ll find out in a week or two.

First semester grades were good, but not great, for him with other issues taking some bandwidth these days. His science fair project got done (whew!) and the school science fair is tonight.

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Hormones, Hormones, Hormones! D21 cries at the drop of a hat. She hates that she cries but canā€™t stop it from happening. Poor thing is a slave to her hormones.

Nothing really going on otherwise.

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I thought I had posted here, but it looks like I hadnā€™t yet. Iā€™m a single mom, with a D who is a college freshman and S21. It will be interesting to watch him develop in high school. Right now, he runs cross country, plays a lot of tennis, plays the saxophone, and is a science kid. Heā€™s a voracious reader, is kind, empathetic, and has a good group of friends. Iā€™m both sad and excited to be on this journey with him and all of you. Our 2016 board was wonderful, and I have hopes for this one to be the same.

33

Been on CC for just a few years with my older D16 who is now working on finishing up her freshman year at Temple. My D21 is nothing like her sister, so this process will probably be very different as well! Older D was very artistic and is going for her BFA. D21 is good in the visual and performing arts, but doesnā€™t want a career in any of them, so sheā€™s looking into a LA college and possibly law school after that. We still have a ways to go until all that happens, so Iā€™m excited to be a part of this group since I didnā€™t discover this spot until late in the game!

34

Well hello all. Received great news this past week. D21 was accepted at the HS she applied to. It was sort of bittersweet as her close friend was not. She will just have to get out of her comfort zone and meet new friends. She knows several that are already there just older grades. She tested high enough on the entrance exam to be placed in honors level classes so that was also a huge plus. Well itā€™s real now. So exciting!

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Congrats @EGHopeful!!! Your daughter will flourish!

My D is leaving her tiny single gender school and her 2 besties behind. It takes D a long time to make friends but she undaunted and ready for the challenge. I think I get more excited when meets and makes new fiends than the academicsā€¦

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Welcome @carlson2 and @veehee ā€“ Here we go again, right? I have an S17, so weā€™re still waiting anxiously for responses from (15!) colleges. But he has 3 admissions in the past month, so Iā€™m a little less worried (though he isnā€™t).

Great news @EGHopeful on the HS acceptance!

S21 got good news yesterday. His bone plates havenā€™t sealed, so with the hormone blockers and hormones heā€™ll be taking, thereā€™s a good chance heā€™ll get taller than 5ā€™2". Heā€™ll start on those soon, once some insurance things are worked out and orders have come in. Only one more trip down to LA in the near future (traffic, ick), and then weā€™ll only have to go every 3 months.

He got his transfer to the other HS, which wasnā€™t really in question. We are still waiting to hear whether he got into the art academy, and should hear by the end of this month.

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@Ynotgo , Yay for unsealed bone plates!

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D has EVERY. WORD. memorized to the Hamilton soundtrack.
Just bought 2 tickets to the April 2018 show in Houston! It is 520 miles from us (one long drive) but what fun it will be!

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My '21 kiddo also has all of Hamilton memorized and we plan to see it while it is on tour too! In other news, she was cast today as Goneril in the school production of King Lear. Hmmmmā€¦I hope playing this character doesnā€™t giver her any ideas.! :wink:

40

Hey folks! Didnā€™t realize someone had started this thread already! Iā€™m over on the 2018 thread as well.

S21 is a whole different animal than S18! Much like @Skates76 's '21, mine has Aspergerā€™s (now called high functioning Autism, but was just Aspergerā€™s when he was diagnosed), ADHD-Inattentive Type, Reactive Airway Disease, and has been tested as gifted when we did his full psychological testing to find out what was going on in second grade. His processing speed was well below the rest of his IQ areas, which leads to a lot of frustration for him. Like he know he knows something or knows he SHOULD know something, but he canā€™t access the information as quickly as he wants.

We have kept him in regular classes through middle school to help ease his academics while trying to let go of the reins and let him figure out time management, etc. He has done very well and we are now at the point where we donā€™t even check in with his homework anymore. Thatā€™s a big deal for a guy with so many executive functioning challenges!

S21 is sort of watching as his brother goes on college tours and figures everything out. We really have no idea where he will go or even what type of school will fit him best. Right now he says he is interested in studying ā€œscience,ā€ but thatā€™s pretty vague! Heā€™s only in 8th grade so he has awhile to decide!