My daughter is gifted and dyslexic. Her IQ is quite high. But her dyslexia drives her crazy and she suffers from anxiety and issues in her social sphere.
I have been pretty happy with her middle school. But I just read the facts on her soon to be high schoolm, and they're pretty bad. I have watched the kids graduating and I see that the possibility to do well (even exceptionally well) exists at this school. BUT, and it is a big one, their overall scores stink. Their percentage of kids who need remedial help before attending college level classes is far too high. Their number of students who graduate with a four year degree within four years of graudation is far too low.
I am afraid of a setting where she would have to seek excellence instead of being surrounded by it. The school has an issue wth a very large number of non english speakers who do have an impact on the numbers, but the numbers are still bad even if you factor for that. Private schools in the area are very expensive and would take real sacrifice on our part and drain our ability to help w/ college. Do we or don't we??
Have you considered homeschooling her? Great opportunity for her to shine and excell, and possibly finish early.
Can you make an appointment at the public high school to talk to one of the guidance counselors? Perhaps he/she could talk to you more specifically about your daughter and help you get an honest perspective of what they can offer. They might even know a parent or two that has a child in a similar situation and would be willing to talk to you.
I know what you mean about wanting to surround your child with excellence. I work with remedial students at the college level, and I work with the college students who work as tutors. Many of our remedial students are driven and focused. They may not have been the best students in high school, but they have a goal, and they are going to work hard to achieve that goal. The tutors are those students who have been surrounded by excellence for most of their academic career. They drive each other. They inspire each other to work harder and achieve more. It is amazing to see that.
I can see how this is a difficult decision. Are this high school vs. private school the only two options? Does your state/district allow you to apply for enrollment into a different high school? Our state does allow this, especially with circumstances such as a learning disability. How about high school plus a hired tutor, or paid tutoring at a center? Still an expense, but a much lesser one than a private high school.
The possibility for exceptional performance exists even at the worst rated schools, but you are right that it takes more work and dedication on your daughter and your part. (There was a student from our city's worst high school that was recently admitted to Harvard - the first ever in the history of that school.)
Great performance in high school could possibly result in more financial aid for college, but this is a gamble and all financial aid is in flux right now given our "economy". I would personally do everything possible to assist her through high school while saving the money for college.
You have dual enrollment in your state!!! (also known as Concurrent Enrollment).
Something like 32 states have dual enrollment (in our state, it's known as Running Start), and they'e all run a little bit differently... BUT... the gist of them is :
Highschool students may take 100 & 200 level coursework through a community college or university.
In our state (and most others) Dual Enrollment is FREE (except for books, parking, etc.). I looked up PA, and the school districts are recieving some hefty grants for 'Concurrent Enrollment', so I would suspect that it's free in PA as well.
With awayschool students (as opposed to homeschool students), a kid who is dually enrolled would only attend highschool part time (if at all). There's usually a maximum number of credits you can take in a year if you're also in public school (and a minimum number of public school credits to be acchieved).
ANYHOW... it's a 3rd option to look into. Would provide the being surrounded by excellence, without the huge financial sacrifices.
go to greatschools.net and see what other options you have open to you. If she can test out - maybe she can get into a gifted and talented school in your area.
Work with the counselors and teachers at her current school. It's OKAY to start to make the change - demanding better for your kid - our children - our future. GET INVOLVED!!!
I didn't graduate in 4 years from college. Not everyone does. Some people need a break and some people need to work in between going to school. So sometimes the scores you see are not indicative of the real situation at hand - they are NUMBERS - which can be skewed any way you need them to be skewed. Go to the high school - talk to them. Tell them your expectations. Find out what their goals are. Find out what curriculum they have and get the ball rolling for more parents to get involved and CARE about what their kids are doing in school!!
You go!! mama for being proactive!! You go!! mama for paying attention!!!
You can be that change!!!
I would take your daughter to an eye doc that does therapy with the kids. We have one here in my town that does testing then sets up a weekly appointment where he evaluates how the home retraining is going. The mom has an hour or see each evening set aside to work with the tools the doc makes for the child.
Have you ever seen the movie with Nicholas Cage, National Treasure?, the one where he finds the glasses to read the back of the Declaration of Independence? the glasses the doc makes are sort of like that. The child puts the glasses on and reads a particular assignment and as they read the mom flips the lenses on the glasses around to where he is reading through different colors or different other options. One of the things they also do is find a color that helps the student read better. One friend had a rose colored plastic sheet that she put over the page as she read. It helped her brain put it somewhere else since it was being processed by different parts, reading and color.
This type of therapy is very good for kids with Dyslexia because it retrains the brain and it helps them process what they are reading differently. They tend to not even have any issues after a while.
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Just a thought, I know it won't solve the school issue but it might help her get ready for college so she can be better able to read and stuff. It may help her self image and self worth too.
I would ask for a meeting with the school so you can discuss what options are available for her being gifted and for her dyslexia. If they cannot offer things for your daughter that will meet her needs there are home school options. PA offers charter schooling which mean you can home school through the local school, they supply you everything including a computer and it's free. There are also home school groups to join where they get together for socializing and field trips. One group near me even offers the regular dances and proms and even a graduation ceremony. Check to see about getting help for the dislexia through the state or county as well because this needs to be addressed fully to get as much help as she can. My DIL did not get the help she needed for her dislexia (mild) and she has some problems today and wishes she would have had the proper help as a child. They kept pulling her out of class for the wrong reason and she missed out on class instruction which put her behind. She needed something after school and something for her parents to help with at home, but she did not get that years ago.
Do the research. Options and help is out there. Ask her what she'd like as well, after you research the options for her.
K. B
mom to 5 including triplets
Have you thought about cyber schools? Its like homeschooling but they make the curriculum for you. I do that with my oldest who is only 9 but we LOVE it.
