Another meeting down. How many to go?
I met with the principal of AJ's school today. Mr. Spy stayed home, as this seemed like more of a formality. It turned out, however, to be quite productive, I think. One of the things that has helped immensely in all of this is that there is excellent communication between the various people we've been talking to. When AJ's teacher notified us about her concerns about the test scores, she also talked to the gifted teacher and the principal. When we talked to the gifted teacher, she filled in the classroom teacher and the principal. So everyone knows what is going on. This, I am learning, does not always happen.
The principal is also on our side. Although he is not the one who makes decisions on variance from district curriculum policy, he does have the ear of the person who does and he is going to do what he can to help. He had, in fact, already mentioned that there was a problem to the curriculum director who told him that this problem was not uncommon and that they made decisions on a case by case basis, which sounds promising. So in our meeting, he wanted details so he could most effectively make the case. He thought that we should probably talk to her directly too, but thought it would be best if he spoke to her first and then had her contact us before the end of next week. He asked a lot of questions and I gave him a lot of paperwork, which he said he would copy and drive over to the district office on his way home today. So things are moving at a reasonable pace. If only I could get the psychologists to call me back. It is, apparently, the busy season for shrinks.
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AJ is a third fourth-grader who's been labeled "gifted" by his public school. Harriet is his mom. You can read about their daily escapades (and other stuff) at spynotes. This blog will, I hope, become a resource for parents of bright and curious kids looking for tools to help their kids explore the world.
4 comments:
I'm so glad it went well. It seems as if the people you need in your corner, are. That has to be somewhat of a relief.
This is a very good sign. If I were to bet, I'd say you won't need the extra testing unless you want it.
It is an immense relief, Lass, as is the good communication at the school. As bureaucracies go, this one is quite lucid. And Somewhere, I had a good feeling about it, although I also won't be surprised if we still need to go through with it. The principal was asking a lot of questions about what actually happened in the test (I told him AJ's story and what his teacher had told us and suggested he talk to the teacher herself, as I didn't want to put words in her mouth). He seemed to think that the anecdotal evidence of some kind of testing problem might help them to decide to overlook the results; that and the fact that his low score was in reading, which has apparently stunned the principal as much as it stunned us. We're keeping our fingers crossed! And I forgot to mention that the principal also promised that he would be in the cluster -- that part is under his control. So whatever else happens, we've definitely got that.
I'm glad that you haven't met a lot of resistance--hope that trend continues
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