I suspect the first problem might be something about the hs environment or the sorts of other students- and that OP doesn’t want to label that. But the functional issue is why it dragged her down this past year. I can imagine some situations where a kid is too worn out from the situation itself to fight with better grades. That might not be a fail, it really may be a need for change.
If she does return to a hs format for senior year, I think he mentioned, this thread or another, it could/might be a different one.
“I still don’t understand why a student who is making adequate progress towards graduation must be controlled in all aspects of their life by their high school.”
This is a big reason so many people home school and why online schools are very popular. The public school system, while WAY more flexible than when I was growing up, is still an institution that has some unavoidable bureaucracy. I have family members who withdrew their kids from an online school that they thought was too rigid- making the kids do a lesson in each subject everyday instead of letting the kid work on math one day and science the next. There are trade-offs in every situation.
Apparently our school can be more socially difficult for girls than boys. Several girls in my younger S class have gone to a private school due to a mean girl culture. It is not out and out bullying- just unfriendly and unwelcoming to girls who do not fit a certain few types. The boy culture seems to be a little more flexible.
I see your point. There does need to be a balance between exposing kids to experiences that temper them, and allowing kids to be picked on without any way to confront and overcome the situation.
That’s true, but we don’t know if it’s the case here because the most detailed information OP has about the social situation is that “it’s just a very difficult school for some students.”
@marvin100 We moved into town five years ago, so we aren’t from here. There is a fairly cutthroat social scene, lots of rich kids, and some mean girl behavior. Contrary to the suggestions of some on this forum, it is not possible or advisable for me to don some Superparent outfit and fly in to try to fix things; nor can the school “fix” things. Sometimes a tactical retreat is the best option.
A friend of mine moved to town recently with his two daughters. One immediately adapted to the new school; the other did not and returned to her old school, even though it means an early morning drive with her mother every morning (and hanging around for a couple of hours until her mother gets off work).
My son struggled for a couple of years and then began to flourish. For whatever reason this didn’t happen with my daughter.
Going back to my original post, what I wanted was for my daughter to take three dual enrollment classes and two classes at the high school; something that would keep her engaged with the high school while removing her from the constant conflict and/or unpleasantness. I have a hard time understanding why a high school would not approve this for a student on track to graduate. It’s annoying.
As I mentioned upthread, we’ve solved our problem, and my daughter will be dual enrolled, and if she performs well she will graduate a year early. I’m actually looking forward to the school year, which is something I haven’t done for a couple of years. Perhaps the high school has done us a favor.
The school my daughter’s went to had rules about the number of courses the student ts had to take . They offered dual enrollment at the high school, so there was no need to leave. I’m not sure what the homeschooling rules were about taking classes at the school but there were state requirements for participating in EC’s. If you didn’t attend 5 periods out of 7 for the day, you could not participate. Didn’t matter if they were excused or unexcued, if you didn’t attend school, you didn’t get to participate. Plan your dentist appointments carefully, because if you aren’t in school, you aren’t playing, acting, calculating, or drawing at after school activities.