School update

I made an appointment with AJ's classroom teacher for this afternoon in hopes of getting a little more information about what happened during the test and what to expect on Monday. She was very helpful.

Apparently, AJ did fine on the parts of the test with written instructions. But in later parts of the test, the instructions were read aloud. The teacher was only allowed to read them once. These are the sections that gave him trouble. Also, in at least one of the sections in which he was below the cutoff, he missed it only by one point.

AJ's teacher has already talked to the gifted teacher and the school principal about her feelings about AJ needing to be in the gifted program. But she also said that she has never known of a case where they've taken a kid who didn't meet the minimum test scores. She thought we had a good chance, though, because we've got so much other documentation. But she said, "Bring everything you've got." And so we will.

When I spoke toLSM yesterday, she suggested three steps, which we plan to follow.

1. We will go into the meeting assuming that he will be admitted into the program with no further action required. We will bring all the documentation we have to support his case.

2. If that isn't enough, we will ask the school to retest him before the end of the school year. If they won't, we will offer to have him privately tested again.

3. If, after appealing his case to the teachers and principal that still isn't enough, we will take it to the administrative level. I think it very unlikely that we would need to do that, but you never know.

And now all there is to do is get his portfolio in order and wait for Monday. It's looking like Mr. Spy will not be able to attend the meeting with me, so I also should spend some time practicing to be a hardass. Wish me luck