Back to the Drawing Board
We were cautiously optimistic about Travis attending private school.
Travis was in 6th grade and this would be the sixth different school building that he attended.
My research into this school indicated that they specialized in unique children. Their brochure described the program as carefully designed and purposefully created to meet the unique needs of exceptional children. I liked hearing my child described as exceptional. It sounded positive.
The brochure also stated that the school was confidently offered as the educational solution for bright children with inconsistent skill development. The founder of the school stated, “Our goal is that our school will help students achieve their potentials, nurture their passions and find respect for their diversity. We do this through a community of learning that fosters non-competitive, multi-sensory teaching practices.”
The founder of the school was also the owner of an educational consulting company that specialized in meeting the needs of out-of-sync learners. She advocated comprehensive services guided by a collaborative model “to identify a learner’s educational and emotional needs and make the necessary connections for success”.
The school had been open for five years and the student population grew each year. The founder started the school with her own money and the tuition paid was intended to cover the costs of running the school.
We were told that they welcomed our input and expected feedback regarding the needs of our child. Which was a welcome change for me!
I remember being impressed with the school when we did a tour. Mostly because Travis was impressed. The science classroom had tables full of parts and pieces of devices in various states of repair.
The classrooms were not traditional. The students were grouped by ability, not grade. A student may be sitting on an exercise ball at their desk, or lying on the floor reading.
The school had a Special Education Support Team that provided the necessary supplements to meet the needs of students. The team consisted of specialists in the following areas: occupational therapy, sensory integration, speech and language pathology, developmental vision, school psychology, counseling and guidance, study skills and organization, learning disabilities, social skills and behavior and mental health.
Students with special needs accessed small group therapy as part of their electives.
The school was not in favor of too much homework. Which made our home lives a bit less stressful. They did not believe in homework that takes the place of family and wellness time.
But the school did understand the importance of some homework to develop a habit for the student’s next school setting. They offered a range of homework levels and asked parents to dismiss their children from homework when demands at home are more important. (What a great way to define meltdowns!) They asked us not to do the homework for our children or engage in unnecessary battles. The school’s take was, “Remind, encourage, and help with planning but please do not let homework negate positive home time”.
This came as quite a relief to me. Because Travis’s behavior at home intensified any time he was required to do school work. And he needed one on one to stay focused and complete any work. Which was hard to do while trying to cook. Because Travis had so far to go to school, he didn’t get home until almost dinner time.
Parents were required to complete twenty hours of volunteer time.
The school utilized paid mentors, volunteers and their own master teachers to make up the enrichment program. They defined a mentor as anyone who has an expertise for their subject and is willing to share learning with a child. Parents were actively encouraged to volunteer their hours as a mentor in their area of expertise.
Mentoring for students included the following specialties:
Math, Science and Technology
Language, Fine Arts, Theater, Music and Creative Writing
World Studies, History, Foreign Language and Communication
Games and Leisure Activities
Tracy helped the school build a small observatory to fulfill his volunteer hours.
I served on a committee to take a look at the finances. Even with the incoming tuition the founder was needing to continue to invest personal funds. The goal of the committee was to figure out breakeven and the necessary tuition per child to achieve it.
Travis did much better in this setting but still had his usual issues. The teacher sent a daily note home with comments such as, “Travis is resistant to doing school work of any type” and “Right now he wants a lot of hand-holding”. These type of comments were all too familiar to us.
Travis did have a paraprofessional aide to help him stay focused and get from class to class.
Most of the students at this school were described as “twice exceptional”. This is defined as children that show extreme intelligence in some areas but are hampered by learning disabilities in others. Many of the students were of above average IQ. Travis may have been exceptional, but maybe not “twice exceptional”.
Most of the students did have extreme issues with their social skills. Which could get interesting.
Travis did have an ongoing clash with a classmate. We heard stories day after day about various conflicts with this child. Staff members had to continually intervene.
One day the executive director of the school contacted us and asked if we were open to the boys fighting it out. She had already visited with the other boy’s parents and they were open to it. So during their next conflict the staff did not intervene. They boys rolled around on the ground wrestling and punching each other until they tired out.
A question for my female readers. Ladies, why do men duke it out, and then when they are done they shake hands? I have never understood this behavior. It’s probably better than what we do. We don’t duke it out, but we hold a grudge for eternity.
After this fight these two boys became the best of friends. They have called each other on the phone over the years and are friends on social media.
Interestingly enough, our local school district began to send another student to this school as well. The boys could be a handful on the bus ride back and forth as one or the other might be having a rough day. Our district invested in two hand held gaming devices and a handful of games for the boys to play on the bus. The devices had to be left on the bus after arriving at school. Now that is thinking outside the box!
Travis attended this school from the beginning of October, 2005 (right after our due process mediation) to May of 2006. Unfortunately the school decided to close it’s doors just as Travis was beginning to get his footing there.
After completing their analysis, the finance committee came to the conclusion that the tuition per student needed to increase by $8,000, nearly doubling the annual tuition. Which did not come as a surprise to me, given all of the specialists they employed to support the students.
Most of the children attending were having their tuition paid by their parents. Towards the end of the school year parents were asked to sign a letter of commitment about whether their student would be attending the following year. The school did not get enough commitment letters back to support the expenses. And the owner was no longer able to invest personal funds to keep the tuition lower.
Back to the drawing board.
My quote today is an idiom that Travis had to talk about with other students in his language arts class.
“The willow knows what the storm does not; that the power to endure harm outlives the power to inflict it.” - Author Unknown