<p>Marite and Kat - The language issue is a downside. Because they use a block schedule at the new school where you take 3 classes in two terms, the guidance counselor said that he will be able to take at the most 2 credits (equivalent to 2 years) of language. They only offer french and spanish and their french program only has one teacher which makes getting into classes difficult so the GC suggested if he wants to be sure to take 2 years of a language, he should pick spanish. There is no chance at all that this school would ever offer Latin - they are struggling with budget issues as it is and only added French last year I believe. Son will of course have his first year of Latin so I guess in the end he will have three years of language, just not in the same language. He admits he is sad about giving up the Latin as he has really enjoyed it this year. </p>
<p>As Marite pointed out, he is happy that he can now do Greek2 at CTY this summer without feeling guilty. He had received special permission to miss the first three weeks of summer training at his current school but the coach was sort of grudging about it. The coach at the new school didn't seem to care, especially when he heard that S. has been enrolled in the current school's intensive 3 day a week weight training program for the varisity players since January. </p>
<p>Kat, he bought himself (with his own money!) a weight set just before Christmas. He has been using it on the off days of training. There is a running clinic that he technically is supposed to be doing 2 days a week at his current school but the PT discouraged him from doing that as his knee is just getting up to speed (no pun intended!). He has been trying to walk/run a bit at home but, of course, that's not the same as doing it with the team. Endurance is his weak point so hopefully the knee will be OK soon and he can start doing more running. </p>
<p>By the way, his weight set in our garage has now been joined by his new passion - a drum set! He has started taking lessons and is practicing quite a bit. A friend is talking about starting a rock band. So, I guess that extra hour of non-commute time will come in handy. </p>
<p>On a different note, there has been a flurry of phone calls from a girl at the new school who S. has secretly nutured a crush on since 6th grade. They have always been good friends, but I suspect that something more is finally developing between them. Cheers, if you're reading this, you will know why this is important to son.</p>
<p>Ah, now I get it about the wish to transfer!</p>
<p>Is there a possibility of your son taking Latin at the local college? Some local kids do so at the Harvard Extension School, either because their school does not offer it or not enough of it.</p>
<p>MArite, The two closest community colleges don't offer Latin or Greek. I did find that SDSU offers it but taking classes there is a bit more complicated for high school students - not out of the question, just a bit more trouble to get into the class as they have enrollment caps for non-matriculated students.</p>
<p>However, Son did a search and found that both Harvard and (I think he said) Stanford offer Greek in their summer programs. Since the new football coach seems pretty easy going about summer training, he may be able to fit in something like that along the way. They may also offer Latin - who knows? So, I guess that would be another way of getting language credit.</p>
<p>Can you look up past enrolment figures for SDSU classes? There may be no trouble at all getting into Latin and Greek classes. If your S is ever minded to come to Harvard, let me know. :)</p>
<p>I've missed reading your posts. I am sure that everything is going to work out as your son is happy and excited about attending his new school (and that's half the battle). </p>
<p>My chuckle of today was the comment about your son having Xray vision.</p>
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there has been a flurry of phone calls from a girl at the new school who S. has secretly nutured a crush on since 6th grade. They have always been good friends, but I suspect that something more is finally developing between them.
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<p>I had one of those "I'm drinking milk" :) I am happy for your son.</p>
<p>My S. had the opportunity (paid for by the school district) of taking community college courses while in HS. I called a school I knew to which he was going to apply. I was surprised to hear them say his chance of admission would fall, even if he received excellent grades. I asked why this was, the head of admissions told me that they know how to evaluate high school records, but that there is just too much variability in community colleges for them to keep up with so they tend to discount it. Needless to say I was quite surprised, and my S. did not attend. His high school is a mixed bag. A good number, but not the max, of AP courses, along with the "mixed" honors classes mentioned earlier. Interestingly, my S. greatly preferred the Honors classes. He felt the AP courses lacked any "soul." He felt he was in continual test preparation mode for the AP exam.</p>
<p>Carolyn,
your son sounds like a great kid. I would wager that he's going to inspire those around him in his new school. Your next few years should be interesting.</p>
<p>This is an argument I have made. Colleges know about APs but not about the quality of specific community colleges. However, I believe any school would be impressed by a student studying Latin or Greek, especially at the college level. At our school, it turns out, it is the strongest students across the board who take Latin.</p>
<p>My oldest DD and DS made great use of the local CC when the district was paying for the classes. Many schools have articulation agreements bewteen CC and themselves, they have offices for the purpose of evaluating the courses. Some even have their articulation transfer units online. The matriculating school has a drop down list of the various states' and their respective community colleges located within and then the specific department and class course number. Type it in and the corresponding class pops up. Also an official transcript from the cc would then be sent to the high school and to the possible colleges. Depending upon whether the student will be using the course to satisfy high school course and/or graduation requirements might preclude the admitting university from transfering those units in at a later date. That would be up to each specific institution's additional college units policy.</p>
<p>In the various high school districts my kiddos have been in, Vegas, Northern Cali and here in NC, they were all very encouraging to take the additional courses if it was not being currently offered at the high school. Worked out great for us. I am pretty sure they don't have a problem with it in Carolyn's son location. The UC's and CSU's have articulation agreements with many, many of the community colleges in CA.</p>
<p>I would look into the SDSU classes as well. You probably have to fill out a special student application, have it signed by the GC and the principal and then send it to admissions. He probably has last priority for registration but it is worth it if he gets more than 2 years of Latin.</p>
<p>It all sounds good Carolyn, especially the phone calls. Well, at least for him!!! You maybe not so much!</p>
<p>Many CC's have programs with HS's and with four year schools within their states. It is when one is looking for a selective private school outside the state that the issue arises. If one (or more) of those is a target, I would call the school and ask how they evaluate community college credit. I also agree, taking extra or not available courses is probably a good thing. Taking CC chemistry instead of AP chemistry is probably not a good idea.</p>
<p>Hey Kat - if it puts a smile on his face, I'm happy. Nothing worse than a grumpy 14 year old...unless it's a grumpy 16 year old. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for advice on how to approach SDSU. Their web site is discouraging stating that only adults with high school diplomas can enroll as non-matriculated students. I suppose the other option will be for him to just do his language requirements at the local community college if he can't get the full three years in at the high school. I know that some schools frown on community college classes when you try to transfer credit, but if we look at it more as fulfilling his language requirements, it might not be a problem.</p>
<p>There are advantages to going to a community college. You take a semester of statistics for example, you get credit for a semester at most colleges. You have to take AP stats for a year to get the same, one semester, credit.</p>
<p>Carolyn, congratulations to your son for winning the high school award.</p>
<p>My S (or I) approached individual profs and asked if my S could audit and whether they would be willing to grade his work and send in a report to the high school. If may be different with a public university, but you will often find that individual instructors are very willing to accommodate students from other colleges, or even high schoolers. The two fields in which they are most willing to do so, interestingly, are math and languages. Math because they realize many high schoolers run out of high school courses, languages because they realize that not all are taught. So I would suggest looking up the courses and contacting the profs.</p>
<p>Carolyn, sounds like your son has made a good decision. Yes the new school lacks some of the academic opportunities of the old one, but you and your son sound like you are pursuing adjuncts to his education. I couldn't imagine making that long commute with a reluctant traveller, and add to that the burdens of a highly competitive football team - just doesn't sound good at all. He can use that extra time to make up some of the holes in the public school's offerings. He'll be a star at the new school, and he doesn't need a GC he's got a great one at home :).</p>
<p>"Nothing worse than a grumpy 14 year old." Boy, let me second that!! Sounds like you have thought this out carefully, and will soon see the results. Hope it is ALL GOOD!</p>
<p>I have a hard enough time riding in a car with fourteen year old boys <em>or any age boy-athlete</em> without the windows down. :)</p>
<p>"Nothing worse than a grumpy 14 year old." Yeah, we had that last year. D really wanted to switch schools. At first I thought it would be a good idea to wait until the year was done. She was SOoooo miserable, and driving me nuts though, so once we found out that she actually could transfer mid-year, it seemed the best thing to do, to end the misery for all of us! And yes, over a year later, it appears it was the right thing to do. The grumpiness still rears its head from time to time but it is nothing like the unhappiness last year. It even makes those tuition payments (the other school was public in this case) seem worth it. How much is sanity worth? Quite a bit, I'd say!</p>
<p>He will definitely do fine Carolyn, can't help it with you as his mom. It must be a relief to have a decision. Sounds like he will shine wherever he goes!</p>
<p>Still like the thought of him spending some summer weeks immersed in an academic peer group. You're the queen of research but I thought I'd post a few...:)</p>
<p>The cyathens program sounds fabulous, but it does not look as if classical Greek is offered. Modern Greek does not sound in the least like Classical Greek. In 1964, Charles de Gaulle visited Greece and delivered a speech in perfect ancient Greek that no Greek understood. But I would not mind courses in archaeology and mythology for myself!</p>