I Told Them That.
I’m starting to feel a bit … angry about the Quaker school. Not that I want to take Dylan out, but I’d like the people to be a bit nicer to my son. I realize he’s not a model citizen, but …
In the past few days, I’ve gotten a complimentary email from Dylan’s Spanish teacher saying how well he behaved in class last week – which was awesome – and a report from the office stating that Dylan has been turned in for “excessive tardiness.”
When I asked Dylan about the “excessive tardiness,” he said that he was talking to his music teacher – which I specifically asked him to do – and then he had to clean up his stuff from algebra and make sure he had all of his work turned in – which I also specifically asked him to do – and then he had to walk from a building on one side of campus to get to his next class on the other side of campus.
And gosh, he couldn’t do all of that in the allotted five minutes.
“Did you tell your teacher that you were doing those things?” I asked Dylan.
“Yeah,” he said.
“What did she say?”
“She asked if I had a note from Ms. B, and I didn’t, so she turned me in to the office.”
So now he has this on his “record” – and I have to step in, again, and make sure his needs are being met. The number one thing that I’ve been advocating for is extra time after class for him to talk to teachers, to make sure he’s doing – and turning in – everything he needs.
And now he’s being “reported” for it.
Then Dylan told me – a few days later – that I need to send in a note to allow him to drink Mountain Dew. The school has allowed me to send iced tea because of the caffeine content, which is somewhat helpful for his brain – and we are using it in place of stimulant medication.
One day, since I knew Dylan was going to need extra help that day, I sent extra caffeine, in the form of a can of Mountain Dew.
“Ms. E was very upset,” Dylan told me. “She said I had to get written permission from my mom and the headmaster before I could drink Mountain Dew again.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “But I put it in your lunchbox myself,” I stammered.
“I know,” he said. “And I told them that. But they still said you have to write them a note.”
If I had the ability, the knowledge, and the patience, I would now be homeschooling my son for the rest of 8th grade.
Instead, I have to email the teachers, again, just like I did in public school.