School Year Woes

Dear Dr. Principal,

I realize that you have likely heard from me more this school year than any other parent, and for that I apologize. I have maintained the confidence that you realized that I was motivated not by a desire to cause trouble for you or for Mrs. Teacher, but by my own standards of excellence for education, expectations of St. Parish School, and desire for an educational environment conducive to my son's learning. Unfortunately, in all of these things I have been disappointed. In fact, the area in which I have had satisfaction with St. Parish School was your attentiveness to my concerns, whether or not they were able to be resolved through the means you had available. I'm sure you realized long before now, and suspected earlier, that we will not be returning to St. Parish School next year. I do believe that had you entertained my request to switch Student to Mr. Other Teacher's class at the beginning of the year, our overall experience would have been better. However, it is too late to change that at this point.

At this point, there are too many things for me to enumerate as I sit and reflect on the frustrations of the past school year. I have such low regard for Mrs. Teacher as a teacher, from her time management, which caused her class to be behind Mr. Other Teacher's from the beginning and caused the many tests on Mondays when the class had not covered the material in time to have a test on Thursday or Friday, to her manner with the students, who are frequently belittled and almost never given a straight, honest answer to a straight, honest question, to her conversational skills, which cause her to talk louder than, faster than, and over any adult with whom she is attempting to have a discussion--I can only imagine how the children must fare--to her refusal to respond in full to parental questions and concerns, or refusal to take them as questions without feeling that she is being personally attacked. I have also mentioned her bad attitude toward taking the children to Confession.

All year, I have refrained from telling you about how every time I asked a question of Mrs. Teacher, Student was harassed in class. I was frequently asking for clarification of the assignments--many of which did not have instructions printed--so that I could understand the points deducted from work that otherwise looked well done to my eye. This is a consequence of sending papers home and actually having parents who are interested in looking at them and understanding what is being required of their children. I have the impression that this is not common at St. Parish School. When I ask a question, however, Mrs. Teacher, rather than answering me directly, asks Student what I wanted to know, demands if he understands what he did wrong, and otherwise browbeats him over the content of the assignment--which was never my intention. In one case, this resulted in Student's receiving a 50 on an Enrichment project, since, instead of forwarding my request for information to Mrs. Special Teacher, they had a verbal discussion about it, Mrs. Teacher asked Student why he didn't know this or what I wanted to know about the assignment, and never communicated directly to me about the issue. All she had to do was give me Mrs. Special Teacher's email address, which was not on the St. Parish School web page. Instead, Mrs. Special Teacher insinuated that Student had been rude to her, and I punished him only to find out that Mrs. Special Teacher was being grossly hyperbolic. This kind of communication breakdown should never occur. I asked a simple question, as I did many times this year. Instead of getting a simple answer, my son was called up and questioned, when he was not privy to my concerns.

This occurred once again on Wednesday of this week. I asked about a math assignment which, according to the directions on the worksheet, Student completed correctly. In response to my questions, Mrs. Teacher said that she added to the instructions, telling the children to write the words "line segment," etc. Now, Mrs. Teacher is the type of person whom I can see any person--even an adult--misunderstanding because she speaks so rapidly and superfluously. In addition, when the children seek clarification, she often refuses, telling them that they should have been listening the first time, or belittling them for not understanding how to do something, like a diorama, or answering, "Do we tuck in our shirts if we wear jeans with our uniform shirts on Tuesdays?" with "What do you think?" instead of a straight answer. Any child would become discouraged by this condescension and stop asking. Student completed the assignment according to the written directions, and received a 71 instead of the 90% he deserved. She refuses to answer whether his grade accurately reflects his understanding of the material, or if this is simply to teach him some kind of lesson. Even according to her directions she should award an additional 2 1/2 points, giving half-credit for 5 of his correct answers that were marked incorrect and raising his grade to a 77%, though I still do not think that this is representative of his mastery of the material. I believe that her refusal to address this issue further is intended to silence me and punish him for my questioning, or to hurt his feeling to such an extent that he will not confide in his parents. My feelings are justified by today's insult.

Today, when asking Mrs. Teacher today about his AR (Accelerated Reader) level and point goal being lowered and asking to exchange a book, Mrs. Teacher responded to him, adding, "Unless you want to complain to Dr. Principal about it." Now, Student has never, to my knowledge, complained to you about anything. Can you tell me, then, the purpose of this comment? In case you suspect him, Student could never invent such a comment. It is beyond anything he could have conceived. This is on top of being told when received 100% on a science, "See what happens when you study?" Clearly he is being singled out because of my questioning. No child should be subjected to this treatment.

I do not expect anything I have said to make any impact that will extend beyond my child's situation during this school year. I can't imagine that Mrs. Teacher's manner or methods will change in future years. Even if I could provide some kind of physical proof of my claims, I do not believe that she would be willing to confirm or correct these issues. Perhaps if every parent had the same issues, something might be done. This is not possible given the difference in involvement, knowledge of classroom events, belief in children's truthfulness, and standards of educational excellence among parents. One parent might protest that her child was ridiculed for bringing Easter treats for the class. Another might protest having her son excluded from a pizza party because he has severe difficulty in reading. Still another might protest having her son excluded from a pizza party because computer malfunctions prevented him from reaching his AR goal by 5 points. When the children are witness to these issues among their peers, they can only become demoralized. Children are resilient, but it is this kind of treatment that I wanted to avoid by keeping Student out of public schools for so long.

Failing any lasting impact on what I feel is a grievous fault in the school, I want to know what can be done THIS year--for US. If Mrs. Teacher is confronted, Student will suffer, and nothing will be resolved. If I could keep Student home without penalty for the remainder of the school year--and be reimbursed for tuition--I would do so. However, I feel that he would benefit from the next six weeks' material. I assure you that I am as tired of questioning and protesting as you are of hearing my questions and protests. But I am literally, as I said in my subject line, at wits' end. I can not even suggest a resolution. I appeal to you, as the principal, to suggests possibilities for resolution. I do not want to confront Mrs. Teacher or be confronted by her. I do not want to have her put the blame onto Student as she has done every time I have asked her a question. I want him removed from the situation. I just don't know how best to accomplish this at this point. I wish it would never have gotten this bad. I wish, instead, that this could have been averted by something other than a compromise of my ideals. As it is, I have compromised my ideals and we have been penalized anyway.

I do not feel that this is beyond the scope of your authority, and I wanted to consult you first since I believe you have truly tried to assist us this year. However, if you feel that this is beyond you, please let me know whom I should contact--whether Msgnr. School Pastor or Mr. System Head

I hope that you understand the seriousness of this matter, and I hope we can come to the resolution that will be best for Student.

Thank you for your patient attention to this email.

Sincerely,

Literacy-chic

I seriously need to go to Confession for all the things I have said and thought about Mrs. Teacher. My patience has been sorely tried, and I have not risen to the occasion. For reasons like the above, I envy you who home-school. I suppose this is why I am posting this as evidence to strengthen your resolve to home school. FYI--this is a 4th grade class situation that I am describing. *Sigh*

*I in no way support or endorse the AR (Accelerated Reader) Program. It is faulty beyond comparison.