<p>I posted a thread a couple of weeks back about S2 who was not allowed in Junior AP courses this fall in spite of good final grades (A's) and teachers' recommendations due to some sort of artificial criteria the school district set to limit the number of students in the AP classes. (see below)</p>
<p>I have a happy conclusion to report. I did visit the assistant vice president of curriculum at my son's HS. Not only I was able to get him into the AP courses he wanted but denied, I was also able to get him into an additional AP course (AP psych) he wanted but did not sign up for because he was under the mistaken impression that he needed to take a prerequisite before he is allowed to take AP psych.</p>
<p>It was all done in good spirit with a plenty of good will on their part and appropriate demonstration of gratitude on my part. </p>
<p>TO ALL THE PARENTS WHO ADVISED ME NOT TO TAKE THE SCHOOL'S ORIGINAL POSITION AS A GOSPEL, I SAY, I THANK YOU!!!!! All of you have done my son a tremendous favor, and I can't thank you enough.</p>
<p>(by the way, with this kind of wonderful advice and encouragement from CC, why would anybody pay $$$$$ to college admission counselors, many of whom sound like a snake oil salesman(woman)?)</p>
<p>I have taken the attitude that the school and we are partners in educating our kids and it has always yielded great results.<br>
I’m so glad that things worked out so well for your child and that the school was so cooperative, leaving good feelings all around.</p>
<p>Thanks for update. Not sure I weighed in on the thread because so many others had, but I remember it. Especially glad it was done without a lot of rancor. A person can be a bit of a squeaky wheel without being a PITA.</p>
<p>Like Marite, I always found that if I approached the school with good will as a partner in the process of educating my kid it produced good results. As Youdon’tsay says, you can be a bit of a squeaky wheel without crossing into PITA. I’ve generally found that teachers appreciate parents who are willing to lend support rather than simply complain.</p>
<p>Congrats on your great results, and thanks for updating us!</p>
<p>That’s good news. When my kids were in h.s., I went to bat for them a couple of times over scheduling problems that were beyond their control. With almost 3,000 kids at the sch.,there was a prob. every year. It was our great good fortune to have a neighbor who worked in the guidance/scheduling office :)</p>
<p>I think what “closed the deal” was the fact that my S2 is a die hard ROTC hopeful. I “sold” big time the dedication of this young man who is so eager to serve the country, and how the lack of AP taken during the Junior year may be interpreted by the ROTC scholarship selection committee as a lack of willingness on his part to challenge himself. Also, I highlighted the fact that due to the ROTC scholarship application he need to be done with by next summer, no APs taken during the senior year will fill the void or compensate for the lack during the Junior year.</p>
<p>In the end, I operated under the assumption that the folks at the school do not want their students to fail, and I bet correctly. Overall, it was a VERY positive experience, and I believe they felt good that they are helping a young man willing to serve the country… They even invited me to come forward with any further assistance they can provide for my son.</p>
<p>Again, thank YOU all for encouraging me to address this issue head on.</p>
<p>Excellent outcome! I hope you’ve shared with your S how you went about accomplishing this without being a PITA. This would set a very fine example for him. Without getting into details, I know my S has watched my “behind the scenes” activity in getting things done. In fact, one time I had another parent approach me with an issue, and she said she was asking for my help since my S told her S that “My Mom is good with these things, go talk to her.” I’ll bet you have that rep with your S now, too.</p>
<p>yes, I shared the whole process with S2. I also told him that in the end the credit goes to him: I was good at sales and marketing, but even the best sales/marketing job will not work if the product is defective. He was an “easy product” to sell with many outstanding attributes, and that allowed the sales/marketing trick work.</p>
<p>At home, we frequently engage the kids in “strategy” discussion. S1 is interning this summer at Wall Street, and we spend many evenings after he comes home from a full day in Manhattan discussing strategies of leaving best impressions on people, making it “fun and rewarding” for those executives who he works for to help him, subtly leading people to feel committed to the idea of helping him achieve his goal, working with the organizational gatekeepers who see it their mission and prerogative to put a barriers all around, etc.</p>
<p>My policy has always been: the academic matters, the teachers teach the kids. But the subtle art of navigating through various winding roads of life is for us to teach them. AND of course, solid value systems.</p>
<p>hyeonjlee, you are very wise to plan to have the ROTC application done by beginning of Sr. year. S1 did that and had his scholarship offer by the end of Oct. It made the rest of sr. year much more relaxed.</p>