So many of you know that Rex and I pulled Michael and Jacob out of the local Middle School last fall. In 2005 we went from a top-notch Elementary School to a less than mediocre Middle School. They had a couple of good teachers at Vikan Middle School, but one in particular was pretty bad. Many days, I believe, she came completely unprepared, so to fill the time she told stories - hours and hours of them. It was a huge waste of time. We wanted Michael and Jacob to be challenged. Last Spring we found out about the Colorado Virtual Academy an online charter school completely funded by the state. The curriculum sounded challenging and I liked the idea of having the boys home with me.
Michael and Jacob have been in the band since 5th grade and I knew that they would miss their teacher Ms. "G" tremendously, so on the first day of school I called the principal to see if they might be able to still come to school for band and possibly another elective. Supposedly, funding doesn't become a problem until after three credits, so she said it would be fine. We ended up with the best of both worlds - a chance to take core subjects at their own pace and still attend elective classes and meet up their friends.
We've had our ups and downs and Michael claims he wants to go back to Vikan next year, but over all it's been a really good experience. Then today I get a letter in the mail from Vikan Middle School addressed to the parents of Michael Johnson. I open it up and what do I see? It's Michael's report card for the past two quarters. Strange, right? He's no longer a student there. Then I look a little closer. First quarter: Band - A+, Drumline - B, PE - A+, Language Arts - A+, Math - D. WHAT? His cumulative GPA is a 2.9. Let me reiterate Michael was not enrolled in PE, Language Arts or Math, but do you see the discrepancy in the grades?! I just don't get it - either they have another Michael Johnson and they mixed up our addresses (but why didn't we get a report card first quarter?) or the teachers at Vikan Middle School randomly assign grades according to how they feel. If Michael never attended a single day in all of those classes then shouldn't they all be F's?? He did get an "F" second quarter in Language Arts, but an A+ in Numeracy. Go figure. I can't wait to talk to the school about this one....
Yes, indeed, we did make the right decision.
3 comments:
weird
I totally agree with you. They clearly aren't completely with it if they are sending report cards to someone who isn't even enrolled in all of those classes. Who is in charge?!
I'm glad you've managed to stay sane too. Bad school or not...I'm not sure I could do it.
This is insane!
Tell me, how did it all work out??
What did the school day?
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