Elementary School Re-assignment

This happened to a sub division of students that go to my son's middle school.
They didn't get a choice.
The school is over crowded and they rely on trailer classrooms to fit them all in.
You might want to compare the 2 schools carefully before deciding.
It's a bother, but kids only go to a school for a certain amount of time before they graduate to middle and then high school - so there WILL be transitions eventually no matter what you do.
Take a look at them in Greatschools.com.
Redistricting isn't as random as it appears.
They have to take into account bus routes and capacities.

My district will let kids go to any school that isn't full, so long as we drive them. Did you offer to provide transportation?

Personally I feel the best way to help a child with transitional issues is to create....well, transition. I'm sorry, I know it doesn't answer your question, but the way to combat any fear is to confront it.

Prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child.

(Read that somewhere)

:)

Lets see. My daughter had severe learning g and social,issues. She was in a special BOCES program. This special Ed program rented classrooms in different districts. Wherever they could get space. My daughter went to a different school every year. Your child will survive. If they switch her for you then they have to so it for everyone. No one said life is fair unfortunately. I would not make a big deal out of it, be ause she will then pick right up on your feelings. Kids are resilient. Leave well enough alone.

Well, transition is a part of life. Lots of kids don't do we'll with transition, unless she has a documented medical issue there's nothing they will do. And no pysch dr is going to waiste time writing letters because your child is horrible shy. Sorry they have better things to do.
Added: my sons school district did the same thing, there's children who live in our same complex who don't go to his school, and yes I could have caused a fuss and most likely got him sent to that school but why?

many flowers to theresa N for saying it best (as usual.)
sometimes you have to go to bat for your kids.
but there are many many issues like this where life throws things your way, and you need to help your child adjust and figure out how to deal with it.
teaching kids that mommy will always redirect the world is not healthy. or realistic.
khairete
S.

In our school, you can petition for your child to attend the school where your daycare provider lives. So, if one of the other moms who will still be zoned for the original school is going to do the before/after care, you can petition the school to let your child also attend, because of the location of the before/after care house.

Does that make sense?
M.

Just wanted to add, as the mom of a soon to be middle schooler, I've seen parents fight tooth and nail over certain teachers, certain groups, busses @ whatnot.
I refuse to engage in that type if engineered hovering! Lol
I've let the chips fall where they may in many situations & mine has done just fine, actually excelled.
Your daughter might just surprise you!
Good luck!

If I read your post correctly, your daughter is not even in elementary school yet -- she begins K in the fall. Do I have that correct?

Isn't it likely that one reason you were chosen is because of that very fact -- the fact that she is not yet "in the system"? Do you know if older kids are also moving, therefore being shifted out of elementary schools they already attend and moved to different schools? Or are those other parents you're talking about all parents of kids who will be K in the fall? If the system is moving a heap of kids who are already in elementary, there will be a lot of parents fighting this. But if most or all of the kids being reassigned are children who are entering K in the fall -- no argument you make is going to work here. Can you update us on whether it's mostly K students who have been told to move schools?

These things make a big difference. Should a school district reassign rising K students, who have not yet entered their schools, or should it reassign kids who already have spent time, even years, in a school? I would vote to reassign the K students because they are not being yanked away from a school they already know. Your daughter doesn't already know this school; she knows some friends who are supposed to go there. Not the same thing as having spent a couple of years there already. It sounds as if you are trying to make her transition to K perfectly smooth and to ensure that she has classmates she already knows. Yes, that would be nice, but it is only that -- nice. Not a right that you can fight for.

DO fight for things for your child - but choose your battles very carefully. While you can contact the superintendent, etc., please be aware that in public school you may have no recourse. Where you bought your house and the fact that you have worked to prepare friends for her and the fact she's socially shy will not have any weight with the school district in any public school -- I'm not trying to be harsh but want you to see the facts. Public school systems cannot accommodate social shyness, home choices, etc. when deciding where to send kids.

In your position, I would ensure that you had made your protest and gotten firm answers but after a certain point, if you are told, "This isn't going to happen," then do be ready to make this a positive transition for your little girl. She will pick up on your stress and negativity about the new school (especially if you have been talking up the school you expected her to attend). I do see how you feel blindsided and angry! But there will come a point when you have to ask: Is this taking up so much of my mental energy that I need to let it go?

FYI, our area is always rife with drama over school reassignments. There are many coming up this fall and they involve older elementary kids having to leave schools they have attended for several years -- imagine the drama involved there. It's your frustration times 100 since these kids are leaving schools where they've already established several years of friendships. And I see parents who become very invested in fighting things they cannot win.

Your child is young and hasn't even started school yet. If she picks up on your anxiety, she is going to be anxious. Everyone thinks that the kids your kids start kindergarten with will be their life-long school friends. It very often doesn't happen that way. There is always change. People come and go. Small children's friendships evolve. What are you going to do next year when they assign her best buddies to a different first grade room? A lot of kids are shy and have difficulty with transitions. I would think of it as an opportunity for her to cultivate even more friendships. As she gets older, it's so good to have friends from different circles. Why don't you visit the school you've been assigned to? Meet the teacher she is assigned to. Tell her about your daughter. Keep an open mind.

There are 80 kids in my daughter's 4th grade class. She has never been in class with her best friend. Next year her school will be combining with 4 other schools so there will be about 400 5th graders. Kids end up being so shuffled in our district, this really would not matter.
Pick your battles. I am afraid you are going to loose this one. Good luck though.

This is a battle you cannot win. Sorry. Your daughter isn't in school yet. This will be her first placement.
Be positive.
Go see the school and meet the teachers.
You might be pleasantly surprised.

My understanding with the standardized tests is that if the school your child attends underperforms, you have the right to change them to a school that meets the performance standard.

So, if the school they want to change her to fell below the standards, you have a legal right to change her to a school in your district that met the standards.

That is the ONLY advice I have. The schools could really care less about your transportation/after-school-care problems.

What's done is done. No one came forward willingly to make a change so the school did it for them. You were one of the ones that was chosen.

Sorry you feel this way. But this may be the best thing for your child. You have preconceived ideas about how the school functions and where they stand in standing for the state. Well, this may be the chance the school needs to make a big change in their standing. Learning is learning regardless of where you learn. It is what you take from it and what sticks that makes you who you are. Some kids from the most affluent schools in the country don't make it. Some kinds from the least affluent schools excel. It's all about attitude and positive thoughts - like the Little Train that Could.

You will have to make new friends and may be find some real gems for friends that are sincere and not phony and lip sayers. You can't fight city hall without getting a huge headache and becoming a sore spot on everyone's radar. The child is just going into kindergarten it's not like she is going into college.

Remember the only constant thing is life is change so get use to it. Not everything goes as planned and this is just the beginning.

Good luck to your child's education career.

the other S.

PS Stop looking down your nose at people. You may miss the opportunities for all the preconceived notions you have about people. We are all human and we all want to be something.

PSS Recently the area where I live went through something like this. The street divisions were changed due to more homes being built and more students moving in the area. Once you could move to the school of choice but not now. One of the people told a recently home purchaser that "they move and buy a house on the other side of the street". Well that would be fine if there were empty homes but there are not any. She decided to send her son to the Christian school for learning.

I don't know what I'd do. I would go tell them no thank you. That you bought your home because of what school your children would go to. That if they insisted on doing this I would be hiring an attorney to fight it. I'd probably call a couple first though, to make sure it's actually a fight that can be won.

Your daughter would have had to transfer to a "new" school anyways. She is in preschool. She would have had to transfer to an elementary school no matter what.
Talk with her about it, prepare her for it, and don't talk bad about the change in front of her. Make it a positve and she will do well.
L.

I'd like for you to look at the language you're using to describe this situation, and then maybe you can figure out part of the reason why your daughter might not be the one who has issues with change and transitions. You're blaming the upset on concern for your daughter, but then you go on to discuss the lengths you've gone through to create friends for her. To foster "friendships" with other moms who you hope will babysit for you. You laid out every step of your child's life but then the BOE threw you a curve ball and.... whoa. You find this DISASTROUS and you feel VIOLATED.

You've built this up into worst case scenario when you don't really know anyone at the "new" school. You don't know the principal or the teachers or the programs. You haven't made an effort to get to know any of the parents or students there. You don't even know what efforts they're making to try to improve their programs and increase their standing in the state.

Your daughter WILL pick up on your anxiety, and she WILL resist going to school if you don't dial it back. You very well may not be able to fight the transfer and I'm not so sure that you should in this case. It's elementary school. The school could very well be misrepresented in the district.

Get an Attorney?

If they make an exception for one child/family, then they have to do it for everyone. Then they cannot re-district. And overcrowding will STILL exist.
Re-districting was not done by just 1, Superintendent.
He is just the guy, that sent the e-mails to everyone.
Not the one that decided, it all.
The Department of Education, is full of MANY Superintendents. Not just 1. The D.O.E. (dept. of education), has many tiers to it and levels of decision making. Plus the State's laws on re-districting, etc.

Or, maybe you can get a Doctor or a Psychologists note, about how your daughter will NOT be able to handle this etc., per any mental/psychological issues she has. IF any.
You need, documentation as well.

And no matter what, there is overcrowding at the school or schools. Hence they have to re-district, because the classes/grade levels are so huge. And schools can't just build... new buildings or classrooms. So, re-districting or re-assigning classes is a solution that many cities have to make.
The schools and district, cannot control, the population influx of its inhabitants or how many children each family has, who then go to these schools.
You said they are re-balancing class sizes.
But it seems this is re-districting. I mean, kids are being sent to other schools in other districts. But they did not formally, re-district the districts as a matter of formal law.

Maybe, also go to your district's Councilman/woman.
Or simply go to your State's Dept. of Education website.

And even if you try to change this, the next school year is just around the corner. Very soon. Its a lot of trouble, to do this.

The schools are over-crowded.

I hope I undertood correctly: Your street address is for Elementary School A and somehow, randomly Quincy decided that your daughter is going to Elementary School B. This doesn't really make sense. Did your street get redistricted? Shouldn't she be grandfathered somehow or this be a voluntary thing?
Contact the Superintendent's office. Good luck

I would talk to the school and let them know that you are disappointed about the switch. Tell them your concerns and ask if there is a waiting list you can be put on to get back into the school for the fall.

In the meantime check of the new school and present be excited about going into K and let your kid know that no matter where she goes it will be a great year and she will have a great time.

Good for you for fighting for your daughter!

Do you have any documentation (medical/psychological evaluations) that might be able to help you fight?

Any of this might be helpful for you.