No Child Left Behind

When I was a kid, I went to school.

I started out in public school. We went to the school in our neighborhood, in our district. I got the teacher I got - we didn't make requests or change classes. I went to school, did my work, got grades, got promoted.

Even after I switched to the university lab school, it was much the same. We didn't have AP classes or GT; no grades were weighted. I went to school, I did my work. I got my grades (good grades, to be fair), was promoted, graduated. It was the same for my brothers, for my friends; it's just what we did.

Life now is so much more complicated. I would be lying if I said I knew the status of children's school success, of test scores in the 1970s. But I do not recall the hysteria of testing and school failure until the 1990s.

Now that I have my own children, it matters - it matters a lot. But unlike some school administrators, I know the real secret to my children's success. Bottom line: The biggest factor in a child's success in school is involvement of the parents.

I know this is true - certainly for us. When we lived here before, we sent our girls to the neighborhood school. Many of my neighbors avoided it like the plague. It is a school full of diversity, with a very mixed range of incomes, of family types. But we had a great principal and excellent teachers. I was active in the PTO. In short, my kids did fine. They did so well, in fact, that we opted not to move them into the GT program (at a different school) when the option was presented. The girls were happy - why mess with it? Why pull out all the higher-achieving kids and leave the neighborhood school without their leadership?

But things change. We're back here now, and our school corp. has undergone some major shifts.

* Our much-respected principal left.
• The school corp. underwent an evaluation process that ended up closing four of the city's elementary schools (at a time when county schools are building more - school district consolidation, anyone?).
• New principal took over - not a big hit with people I know and whose opinions I respect.
• The remaining schools are much more crowded; population at our neighborhood school has changed. And not for the better.
* Too many years of missing the testing mark lists our school as a failing school.

The important thing is how my children are doing. They always did well at our school before. But now the school is more crowded. Gone are the days when the principal knew every kid by name, when the principal chatted with the parents. Kids are suspended for fighting - or worse - in fourth and fifth grades.

I decided it was not the best place for Sylvia. And we've had some time to reexamine our decision not to take advantage of the local GT program - maybe it was time for Sylvia to go that route.

So, with a lot of mixed feelings, that's where she is. I had a lot of options, oddly enough:

* GT program (automatic transfer, transportation provided)
* Opt out of failing school (but only to certain schools where class size is guaranteed, transportation provided)
* Attempt to transfer into school of my choice (must get approval from school you want and school you're leaving, as well as final approval from administration; no transportation)

The last option is easier than it sounds - I know lots of my neighbors who have gone that route. I do worry about abandoning the local school - I have a sense of responsibility. But I have more concerns about my daughter. And I wasn't convinced, after recalling the other two in upper elementary, that her needs would be best served by that school. I want her to be more challenged.

After open house last night, I feel pretty good about our decision to send her there. Sylvia has made friends, and she is doing well. She has a bit of homework, but not more than she can handle. She likes her teachers.

She will thrive. Because we will make certain she does.