My youngest daughter starts middle school tomorrow. We’ll be waking up about an hour earlier than last year, I’ll be driving about 30 minutes completely out of my way, and she will start earlier and stay later. So why not the neighborhood middle school? Before she starts, I thought it would be good to write down my reasons for making this decision. As the year progresses, I’ll of course continue to post about how it really turns out.
Leaving what we know. My older daughter just graduated from the neighborhood middle school. While 8th grade was all right, 6th and 7th were not. She struggled both academically and socially. I had to change her counselor, she had to go back into therapy, and she had to go to summer school one year. While it could have gone worse, we barely made it through. It was only when she started to think about her future beyond middle school that she was able to start turning things around. I was certainly motivated to do things differently this time around.
A trusted recommendation. We chose the charter middle school based on a recommendation by a very trusted educator friend of ours, and after checking it out for ourselves.
She wants to go there. My daughter responded to the school enthusiastically, and that’s half the battle right there. She pored over the paperwork we’d been given, and the web site. She was excited to go back to school shopping and put her backpack together. We’ll see if it lasts, but her enthusiasm completely validates our decision.
The Parent Coordinator. Yes, that’s actually his title. I have his cell phone, his email, and he made sure to introduce himself when I first went to pick up the application. He has replied to each and every one of my multiple emails with my dozens of questions, thoughtfully and quickly. He even accepted some of the registration forms via email, understanding that it’s a drive for me to get there. He’s not the only one that’s been helpful. The Principal has also been friendly and knowledgeable, the woman in the front office has been helpful, and every teacher I’ve seen has been sure to nod and smile at me. Even a few of the kids stopped me one day and asked me about my child. They said they’d keep their eye out for her, and responded enthusiastically that they love their school.
The Advisory Period. I suppose this could also be considered homeroom, but the advisory class that my daughter will have every day will advise her not only on managing her homework schedule, but on thinking about colleges and her future. I think this will be a great tool in her transition from elementary school to high school prep and beyond.
The After-School Program. My oldest daughter used the City’s free bus program to get to her after-school program. That bus program has just been cut. At the charter middle school, there’s a free after school program on campus. They will have an activity for the first hour, then homework for the second, and other activities after that. I like that homework is in the 2nd hour, giving the students a break from school, but she’ll have both the time and assistance, and opportunities for other interests.
It will be a long year. Longer, in fact, than the neighborhood school because there are 10 more instructional days than the state requirements. I am bracing myself for the transitional period that will potentially involve tears and/or whining. Still, I have enough reasons to think that, in the end, our choice will be the right one.
April McCaffery is the single mother with 2 daughters, going into a charter middle school and an arts high school.
