Charter School Second Thoughts..

[PrincessFiona]

I know that I'm probably just nervous about making a change, but I'm having second thoghts about the charter school that my children are registered to attend. Here are a couple of the reasons:

1. They seem so disorganized (A feeling that I know well, but hey...I'm not opening a school!). I'm still on the email list for the charter german school I had signed Alex up for (he's not going) and I get a nice email weekly that talks about what's going on. This place sends out some scatterd letter every couple of weeks and I usually get it in triplicate because they can't quite figure it out.

2. The school went from the idea of wearing uniforms to a 'dress code' that includes beige slacks and a red,blue,green or yellow polo-style shirt. Apparenlty though, they have purchased shirts for us to buy without having released that information yet. Some parents already went out and bought school clothes and are upset that now their kids won't have the shirts the school bought (which happen to have the school logo on them.)

3. The Fundraising chairperson called me last week and talked to me for over an hour about her 25 year old daughter who is a meth addict and has had 4 babies in 4 years and who she is 'certain will be pg again soon'. I don't mind listening, but...I've never even seen this woman...I have no earthly idea who she is and I was kind of overwhelmed hearing this from someone I have no relationship to.

4. The school just sent me an email saying that instead of doing back-to-school shopping with our kids, we are to bring $30/child to the school at the open house and they will buy our supplies. So we'll have no back-to-school shopping and picking out our own things this year. They want to make sure there are no distincitions between the kids so that there aren't the "have's" and the "have nots".

I'm just starting to feel weird about all of this. If I don't send them, I have to homeschool this year, and I have to make the decision soon.....Do they make enough prozac for me to be able to homeschool?

kris

[fluffhead]

These all sound like terrible annoying occurrences, but they don't sound like they'll really impact the quality of the education or the experience. A good school is such a blessing, don't give up on this one before it's even had a chance.
(not to hijack, but we just had our last day of day camp, hallelujah!, and I can't wait for my daughter to get back to our beloved montessori. This school was SO disorganized last year, that they didn't even open until 2 months after the date to which they had commited. And yet, once it got rolling, it's the best thing since sliced muenster cheese. So give them a chance. And next time the fundraising lady calls, tell her the baby is crying and you gotta go).
Oops! gotta go, the baby is crying!

[houseelf]

I agree with Fluff. The silver lining to all of this is that you can only go up from last year's experience.

1. They seem so disorganized (A feeling that I know well, but hey...I'm not opening a school!). I'm still on the email list for the charter german school I had signed Alex up for (he's not going) and I get a nice email weekly that talks about what's going on. This place sends out some scatterd letter every couple of weeks and I usually get it in triplicate because they can't quite figure it out.

Perhaps you could address this exact issue with some of the powers that be..."I think that you should be aware that sometimes the school's communications come off as a bit unorganized. Is there a central point of contact for parent school relations? Perhaps you should consider formulating a plan...."

2. The school went from the idea of wearing uniforms to a 'dress code' that includes beige slacks and a red,blue,green or yellow polo-style shirt. Apparenlty though, they have purchased shirts for us to buy without having released that information yet. Some parents already went out and bought school clothes and are upset that now their kids won't have the shirts the school bought (which happen to have the school logo on them.)

Use this to illustrate point number one...

3. The Fundraising chairperson called me last week and talked to me for over an hour about her 25 year old daughter who is a meth addict and has had 4 babies in 4 years and who she is 'certain will be pg again soon'. I don't mind listening, but...I've never even seen this woman...I have no earthly idea who she is and I was kind of overwhelmed hearing this from someone I have no relationship to.

Hey, there is always someone....I'm assuming that she was a volunteer?

4. The school just sent me an email saying that instead of doing back-to-school shopping with our kids, we are to bring $30/child to the school at the open house and they will buy our supplies. So we'll have no back-to-school shopping and picking out our own things this year. They want to make sure there are no distincitions between the kids so that there aren't the "have's" and the "have nots".

At least the motivation behind this is good.

Am I helping or making you feel worse. Honestly, I would give it a try and try to become part of the solution rather than sending them back to the old school. As for homeschooling, only YOU can answer if you have the wherewithal to do it as I have way too little knowledge and expertise to guide you there. I will leave our resident homeschooling expert Jennifer to fill you in with her thoughts.

Best of luck.

Kelly