<p>Spectrum: Enjoy the snow! I love it as long as I don’t have to drive in it.</p>
<p>mdcissp - interesting idea re new club - we sort of have that on the horizon - he is taking Latin and the Latin Nat’l Honor Society at his hs is kind of dormant - we have been discussing that he could be in that in the fall and help revive it a bit - already planning to ask his Latin teacher for a rec since he has him all year this year and all year next year and he is the advisor for the Honor Society as well - so that does make good sense.</p>
<p>Great information on the National Yiddish Book Center. I had no idea! May have to go visit it.</p>
<p>I should also check with my mother to see if she has my grandfathers books that were all in Yiddish, maybe we could donate them.</p>
<p>Both of my parents are fluent in Yiddish. All of my grandparents spoke it. My mother actually taught it at the college level many years ago. Yet, never taught it to her own children! My parents (and grandparents) always spoke it when they didn’t want us to know what they were discussing. Their own little “secret” language. I do understand a fair amount after years of listening to my parents.</p>
<p>rockvillemom - how does your son like latin? My S1 took up to Spanish 4 at his h.s. and hated every minute of it and the teachers were horrible. S2 is taking Spanish too but he’s stopping at three, he hates it too. Most of his colleges only recommend 2 - 3 years.</p>
<p>stayathome - exactly our experience with Spanish. Our opinion is that the Spanish teachers at our hs are awful. S1 went through Spanish 4 - hated it. S2 made it through Spanish 3 - hated it. I didn’t want him to have only 2 years of foreign language in hs - so GC suggested he try Latin. He did it this first semester for the first time - very dynamic teacher - fun guy - so he decided to stay with it and will take Latin 2 next year. </p>
<p>The benefits of Latin - not a spoken language - so for kids that are uncomfortable with conversational foreign language - it is a good option. It also helps - supposedly - with ACT/SAT English. I also feel that if S2 has to take a year of Spanish in college - he will be better prepared having had 2 years of Latin than 2 years of no foreign language.</p>
<p>Thanks Momjr! There is something deccadent about the first “snow” day. Just me and S2 home. Hubby out of town will hopefully make it home tonight.</p>
<p>Thought I would just share this - S2 is taking 1 AP class. Our hs does not have any space to do AP testing on-site - so they do the testing at a nearby (not within walking distance - but short drive) commuter college as their classes will have already ended. But - no transportation is provided! They basically leave it to the families to either figure out a carpool or the parent has to leave work to transport child from hs to test site or vice versa. I just think this is so odd! But, whatever - one day - I can leave work for a while and deal with it. I just can’t imagine that this is a common practice.</p>
<p>[Look</a> beyond usual suspects when searching for a college | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California](<a href=“http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/60695/look-beyond-usual-suspects-when-searching-for-a-college/]Look”>Look beyond usual suspects when searching for a college)</p>
<p>Most of this is familiar territory - but it does mention a few schools we have never discussed - so thought I would post.</p>
<p>RVM - thanks for posting. the paragraph about not ignoring the South really struck a chord. my junior D is set on going to school in a warm climate, and DH’s reaction to the South is instinctively negative. this article will help my effort to help him keep an open mind!</p>
<p>Thanks for that article RVM. There’s mention of several University of California campuses, which is applicable to the CA contingent but not really OOS unless they have a great deal of money. Sonoma State, as part of the Cal State system, would be affordable even for OOS, yet there are so many similar options. </p>
<p>Friends had a daughter attend UC Santa Cruz, and they were very positive about Chabad’s outreach. Their D regularly attended shabbat dinners, and the rebbitzen even made a birthday cake if one of the students was celebrating. The family, though by no means orthodox, made regular donations to Chabad. UC Davis has (per my D1’s report) a really nice Hillel.</p>
<p>Transportation to off-site APs: our school rents out an offsite location for testing and has a bus to transport the kids there and back. The students are not allowed to arrive for testing any other way, not even by parents driving. Not sure why. The entire deal is a major expense, but I think it’s done because the school environment itself is highly disruptive.</p>
<p>RVM, ask your son who he thinks would write a good rec for him, he will know. And then make sure your son asks before the school year is up,so that he gets that teacher nailed down before he/she is deluged. Many teachers also like a sheet telling them what classes the student took with them, the grade if relevant and a few things which the student thinks would be appropriate, like his class participation, a particular assignment, essay etc. that showed him well. Or something else, for my son who was interested at the time in teaching, he also told the teacher why he’d model himself after that teacher (although it might be seen as buttering up the teacher, he believed it and it demonstrated why he participated so much)</p>
<p>Re: Yiddish, my mother and grandparents used to speak in Yiddish when they wanted to discuss matters they wanted to hide from me, so I never really learned very much but the basics from them (and a few choice not safe for CC phrases). But I absolutely went crazy over Mickey Katz records. Katz, (the father of Joel Grey and grandfather of Jennifer Grey) and his Spike Jones type band used to record Yiddish parodies of popular songs of the day. I got started on “The Ballad of Duvid Crockett”, moved on to “The Baby the Bubbie and You” and “Borscht Riders in the Sky” and I more or less figured out meanings from the context. So my understanding of Yiddish is a bissel fardrayt</p>
<p>Sorry, double post, I got a bit farblondzhet .</p>
<p>RVM: I’m really surprised that your school doesn’t provide transportation to the AP test site. It seems unfair to kids who don’t have cars or parents who can drive them. Our school gives the tests at the school in the media center. When my older daughter had afternoon AP tests, I let her sleep in and go to school late that morning. I think it helped.</p>
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<p>AP tests: Our HS arranges buses if the AP test has to be taken elsewhere (I remember one was close - I think a parachial school in our town). Kids who are taking an AP test are exempt from the rest of the school day.</p>
<p>Yiddush: Like mdmomfromLI…My parents used to speak Yiddush to each other at the dinner table when they wanted to talk about things that they didn’t want us kids to hear. Like: “Should we take them for ice cream tonight?” Actually, my dad spoke; my mom listened and responded in English. She could understand, but that’s it. You’d think I’d know the Yiddush word for ice cream by now, but I don’t 
I had no idea Yiddush was still alive on some campuses!</p>
<p>So my upcoming trip to Binghamton and RPI hit its first snag. Binghamton going on spring break that weekend and no tour. We could look around ourselves, but it’s not the same. Anyway, it looks like I have another option - RPI and Union (which would be much less driving anyway!). Anyone have any Jewish experience feedback for me? If we can actually make this trip (I’m afraid DS EC’s might disrupt the whole thing), then an extra bonus is that DS has a very good friend from camp who lives in the area and he’d have a chance to see him.</p>
<p>Not only does the school not provide transportation to/from the AP exams, but the kids are required to be in school for the other part of the day. Even if the kid had a car and could drive, it wouldn’t do them any good, because we don’t have any extra parking at our school. So unless the kid is a senior with an assigned parking space…out of luck. The burden really falls on the parents. Very frustrating. </p>
<p>spectrum - hope you are enjoying the snow!</p>
<p>The AP situation really is kind of funny. I had an e-mail response from an assistant principal in which she suggested that the 400 kids that need to go from the hs to the testing site could take the city bus! That had better be one big bus! She also mentioned that very few parents had complained about their plan. Gulp. Guess I am officially one of “those” parents now. One of the GC’s told me off the record that I should call my son in sick for the morning and then he could walk from our home to the testing site - which is doable. Such fun. Glad he has only 1 AP this year.</p>
<p>I have always found that whatever I take issue with, I am told, “No one else has ever complained about this…we’ve always done it this way…”</p>
<p>I have a theory that they tell everyone that, even if every single parent is complaining. To embarrass us into backing down.</p>
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<p>DeskPotato - I like your theory. This is a large hs - with maybe 1200 kids taking AP exams. How could I be the only parent who thinks no transportation to an off site testing location is not acceptable? But I have dealt with them for enough years that I know there is no point in pursuing it. He’ll either find a ride - or I’ll get a friend’s Mom to drive him - or he’ll stay home for the morning and walk from our home to the test site. So - I have options - it’s just annoying.</p>
<p>How can they get that many parents’ vehicles through the pickup lane to get the kids to the test on time? It just seems impractical.</p>
<p>Desk Potato - I agree with your theory! Let’s make you sound like the crazy irrational person, no one else has a problem!</p>
<p>The test site is a local commuter college, with large parking lots and a few buildings. So even though there are multiple tests going on and hundreds dropped off, it does work. D took an ap test there last year.</p>
<p>Hey, we manage to get 2500 kids through the front doors of the HS in a span of about 20 minutes, so I guess anything is possible!</p>
<p>Buses would be much easier, but I’ll have D figure out a carpool. I work near the house and H works from home, so it’s not the end of the world for us. Just a hassle.</p>