Well... I walked in with the open mind and walked out not liking what I saw.
The tour was scheduled during their snack time. Come on, what can I really see during this? The teacher seemed really cool but he won't be the teacher next year. The large majority of the students in the class will not be in the room next year..they are “graduating“ (class only goes up to grade 6). Only two students will be returning in the fall. Grade level wise, it does not seem to bad.. next year the students will range between grade 1 and 4. Daegan will be in grade 2 but age wise grade 3 (repeated gr1 this year).
The room itself and my impression of how the day was described to me.. Daegan would be taking some steps backwards. It had a real Jk feel to it.. right down to the bathroom in the class which I was invited to check out... uh, no thank-you. Daegan is past the stage where I would have any interest in checking out an in-classroom toilette facility.
The current students are not working on any traditional curriculum. It is more a life-skills kind of focus which I can respect but I need more than that. For example: the students are all excused from french... Deagan was excused from french last year but this year it was re-introduced and he is picking up on it. There might be some flexibility in having Daegan go into some regular classrooms for some material but exactly how much.. I'd have to place him then work it out... I don't like that. The DevEd day is shortend and he would not be able to stay until the “normal“ dismissal due to resources and busing. I estimate the bus ride to be about an hour for him. The classroom operates on its own schedule separate from the rest of the school.
The kids in the class are bused in from all across the region. Slim to none chance of developing social relationships outside of the school hours. Daegan is extremely social. He needs to build on these skills and develop relations outside of the classroom. I see the challenges with being an out-of-district student with my daughter Taylor. My kids need to know people in their neighbourhood and have a social life (playdates, birthday parties, etc)
There are gr 5/6 students in the school who regularly volunteer in the classroom. This was the answer I got regarding how the DevEd students are mingled with the normal population.
If I were shopping around for a daycare... yeah, maybe but I'm looking for school. I do like the ratio but I cannot justify sending him to what I saw today. Alot of “tweaking“ would need to be done and I do not see that happening realistically.
I ended up having to ask alot of hypothetical questions because I am being asked to consider a placement that essentially does not exist. Uh, yeah.. I could say sure.. bus my kid thru Kitchener to the far side of Waterloo and in the first 6weeks of class figure out his IEP needs etc, and determine if he is in a good placement or not but at what cost? I'd already pulled him out of the envirmonent and people he was accustomed to, potentially put where he doesn't belong, only to be shipped back to his home school? How disruptive is that to him, the new school and his home school? Yeah, tell me about the nightmare of securing resources at his homeschool under those circumstance.
On top of everything else... my personal opinions about this person at the board office who arranged and escourted me today had just been reinforced yet again. She was unable to answer any of my barely specific questions that would pertain to my child specifically so she promised to send home some curriculum with Daegan today to give me a clearer idea of what next year will be like. She has been involved in his care to one extent or another right from day one entering the public school system for SK... should she not have some background knowledge? I flat out asked her what my options were... I was told the room I saw or continue at the home school... I don't think so... more like how much do I want to rock the boat this year. Remember, this is the same woman I talked to countless times last year when I was fighting to retain Daegan. She is the woman who caused so much trouble... got my EA in big trouble and flat-out lied to me so many times.. telling me that they were merely following board policy.... a board policy that never existed! I swear, I have zero faith in this woman.
This woman has mentioned on several occasions that this is one of the higher functioning classes in the region. Another school has been identified by her as being a high functioning room but it is full. There are 8 students scheduled to be in in next year. I asked about touring it.. Daegan could be student #9.. class size can be up to 10. I was told no but if something happened and one of the students drops out Daegan could have that spot.. uh... not good enough. I'd like to see it. I'd also like to have his placement determine before the end of this academic year.
So essentially what did I tour today: a room.... I can only say that because next year it will be filled with a new teacher and new students. How can anyone expect a parent to make a choice based on that? Oh yeah. I have until Wednesday to make this choice
it feels so wrong
We are so happy with Braxton's academic gains this year. More this year then in the previous 5 years of school !!
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