Homeschooling, so I guess D16 wins all the class superlatives Her sisters would probably offer some critical commentary on the awards though
EA round is officially over with an acceptance from Ga Tech (the city where I was raised, and lots of family there.)As with the vast majority of schools on her list, attendance will require the awarding of a significant scholarship. Still a few regular decision schools left, but the most important decisions on which she waits over the next few months have to do with merit awards.
ugh! Was all ready to dive into the FAFSA & finish it off when DH reminds me he just paid 2 years of property taxes & his next bank statement will reflect those checks. Guess I need to wait. Right? Or can I estimate his balance?
@sseamom: âAs for prom and dances, etc., D is on ASB so this year âŠâ
I think more than anyone on this forum I have had the least familiarity with the aspects of high school life that you have spoken of, sseamom. I look up terms, concepts and educational models (where you have not offered explication) that you mention. For some of it the unfamiliarity is simply the terminology itself, and not the concept.
I am familiar with a school model that I believe closely resembles that in which your daughter is thriving (or, blooming to bursting), but it is just brushing the dust off of its newness, expanding kind of top-down: first the high school campuses were built, and then a middle school, and now an elementary school.
I think your daughterâs approach and energy are bound to be a breath of fresh air to many of the students and the adults she encounters at the college level.
The differences in terminology are interesting. I grew up in California and we had ASB. Here in the Midwest, itâs called STUCO. Any east coasters or southerners want to check in? What is your kidsâ student council/govt called?
I also find the size differences interesting too. My D09 graduated with a class of 27. S13 and 16 went to the same school. Senior classes for them are in the 220-260 range. I canât even imagine 900!!
Letâs see, I went to HS in NH, and we called it student counsel. There was also a class president for each year, and they met with student counsel, but were not part of it. The school had about 2500 students, but the senior class was only about 550.
Waiting, Dâs school is a grade 6-12 school, and does not actually have a permanent building. It was started right as the economy tanked, so they operate in portables and a lab building that belongs to the middle school they are next to. They use the middle school gym and cafeteria. The new district superintendent has hired someone to do nothing but organize space for the various schools and to find a permanent location for Dâs school.
The school only graduated its first senior class 4 years ago, but they have no plans to add on an elementary school. The foundation that supports it works instead to build relationships with existing elementary schools around the US. Dâs class went down and mentored some 4th graders at one last week-they are getting ready for their first ever exhibitions. I can PM you the website for Dâs school and its supporting foundation if you like.
Adding that her graduating class will be about 25. The smallest class was about 11, I think. They are all so close that graduating is really hard on them. I didnât even know half the kids in my own graduating class.
I didnât go to a public high school, but Iâm guessing those would be the same as what we called All School Council? At my kidsâ school itâs Student Government. But theirs are all elected positions, and ours was made up of one grade level representative, plus the heads of the most major student organizations, plus faculty reps and an administration rep. So if you were, for example, the head of the chapel committee or the entertainment committee, you were on All School Council.
As far as class sizes, theirs is running around 350, which is about the size of my entire high school.
âWaiting, Dâs school is a grade 6-12 school, and does not actually have a permanent building. It was started right as the economy tanked, so they operate in portables and a lab building that belongs to the middle school they are next to. They use the middle school gym and cafeteria.â
Now that sounds familiar. The middle school of which I spoke is on the same grounds of the high school, starts in 6th grade, and the curricular activities at each level definitely dovetail, though of course with differing (graduated) expectations in the research and project-based outcomes. Agreements with other schools allowed for indoor physical activity, as well as parent parking on event evenings.
Thank you for the offer of the PM; I wasnât fishing. I am sure in time something will find me clicking through links (the way I did in college when hunting the trail of original texts to which the footnotes were attributed in an assigned text which was, itself, not nearly as compelling as the footnotes! ;)) and discovering that, âHmmm, this sounds familiarâŠâ
It will be in that moment when I am reminded of the âconversationsâ you have had here with us.
Here in upstate NY, there is class government which is president, Vice President, secretary, treasurer and 7 delegates which are extra people that are required to do stuff. All of the class governments are part of student council which also has an executive board(president, Vice President, secretary, treasurer, Jr. Sargent at arms(2), sophomore Sargent at arms) the first four officers are all seniors. The point of the other 3 positions is to prepare for higher positions. Class elections can get VERY heated to the point of social media fights and administration getting involved.
My D is on the Steering Committee which in addition to the officers make up student government. They just negotiated a contract for having their senior prom at the Boston aquarium. That was a very interesting experience for her. They had a budget and had to figure out how to pay for all they wanted including buses into the city and back.
Back in the day, I was voted âBest Dressed,â and that was likely because i had a part time job at a popular clothing boutique. As a rebel, I thought it was a much cooler title than âMost Likely to Succeed.â That went to the daughter of a family friend, who lugged textbooks to family holiday dinners.
She ended up becoming our valedictorian, going to Stanford, and later earning her PhD. She was/is the nicest gal, so no one ever begrudged her success.
I ended up abhoring malls and wearing jeans. The irony!
DS was accepted to a safety todayâno word yet on merit. I really wish theyâd tell you everything at onceâthat way weâd know if itâs an option.
The cynic in me thinks they do it this way to get you excited about the school and picturing yourself there so youâll consider it even if the merit offer is lowâwhereas if they told us upfront the merit isnât enough weâd just toss it in the ânoâ pile.
The 900 class size (almost 4000 total) has some distinct advantage. The high school offers 23 different AP classes and allows for many different levels of things like band and chorus. They also allow for many levels of academic classes, giving students the opportunity to work in classrooms with kids who are not significantly above or below them academically.
But, hands down, the best thing about the huge class size are our small learning communities. Our district assigns all students to a themed learning community within their high school. Different high schools have different themes. Some are competitive and the students compete for spots. Acceptance is based on middle school grades and test scores. Or local high school has one that is fine arts themed and has over 800 kid apply for 170 spots. We also have one that is social justice themed. My sonâs SLC is the academic/gifted theme. The kids attend their core classes in self contained groups. This means that even with a class of 900 they end up with the same kids each year. It keeps the school feeling smaller and helps to make friends.
Or school does not rank. Instead of valedictorian we have âgold robesâ. This is given to anyone will has a unweighted GPA of 4.0. They are featured in the grad ceremony and would be considered our vals. As the name implies, they wear gold robes while the rest of the class wears blue. They sit in the first row of the graduates and their achievements and college choices are presented during the ceremony. Last year there were 19 in the running. Not sure how many there will be in the end. My son is still in the running. Fingers crossed.
Her sisters would probably offer some critical commentary on the awards though 
