Planning for High School - Part 1

Hello everyone!

What a crazy freakin' week it has been! Hard to believe that we have just a little over a month left in the school year.....and of course you all know how hectic the next 30+ days will be as we deal with final exams, last-minute field trips, track & field day, IEP meetings, etc. As we wrap up this school year, we enter the planning & prep stages for next year....High School....gasp, yes High School! I can not believe that our "baby" will be entering High School already, where has the time gone?

So anyhow, if you've been following the blog at all then you know how stressful the Middle School years have been and that due to behavior issues, we had to transfer Taz to a Middle School out of district that has an "enclosed" ASD classroom. If you haven't been following the blog and/or have no clue what I'm talking about, then I suggest you go back and read the last few months worth of posts. Go ahead....we'll wait for ya.....

Ok, now that we're all on the same page, I'll begin to explain how our week has gone. As mentioned before, everyone on the "team" just assumed that we'd be sending Taz to what I've affectionately dubbed "Hell High".....the high school that is located in the same district as the school he's currently at (which by the way is not our school district), and the only high school in our county that has an "enclosed" ASD classroom/program. Hell High is located in the worst possible part of town, it is an old 3-story building (4 stories if you count the basement) that looks like it was once a mental hospital or some other type of hospital or hotel....the campus is huge and so spread out, we got lost just going from the parking lot to the door we were "suppose" to enter the building through. Oh yeah and did I mention that this school district has the worst academic record out of all of the school districts in our area? Yeah....needless to say, we're not very thrilled about that. According to the state's education info website, this school district was considered "at risk", but this year that status changed to "failure".....thus meaning that they are no where near providing what is required by the state in the area of academics, thus their MEAP scores are super low, etc. Nope....not impressed with that at all....

So after driving around the several different parking lots, trying to find a place to park and hoping that our vehicle wouldn't get broken-into while we were inside, we went to what we thought was the correct entry door (as per the instructions of the woman I had spoken to when I set up this little tour). Suffice to say, we went into the wrong door (sheesh, there are at least 20 different doors going in/out of the building).....had to track down a staff member to try to find out where we were suppose to be, and then hike what felt like several miles to the other side of the building, up and down flights of stairs....to reach our correct starting point destination. We met the ASD classroom teacher at the starting point...aka at the desk of the "security guard" (yeah something else we weren't thrilled about, there are check-in spots for each floor with security guards at each level) -- thus I felt like I was walking into a prison. So after signing in, acquiring a badge from Billy Bob the security guard (who by the way was "armed" with a can of mace and a set of handcuffs), we followed the teacher down the hall and began our tour of Hell High.

The teacher explained that the kids will get off the bus and enter the building at Billy Bob the security guard's check-in area, then proceed down the hall and cut through the cafeteria to the next hallway where the classroom is. So we walked the route that our kid would take if he were to attend this school....next stop was the cafeteria. Suffice to say, the cafeteria was HUGE....with rows and rows of tables, various food station/lines that reminded me of the terminals you'd go through at a train station, and lunch ladies who looked like they could double as guards at a woman's prison. Although school had begun an hour before we arrived for the tour, the cafeteria was gross & dirty.....garbage all over the tables & floor, etc. The teacher cheerily explained that there are 3 different lunch periods and the school is so over crowded that for "second lunch" there are not enough seats for all of the kids to be able to sit down and eat (her class goes to second lunch)....hmmmm, ok I'm not impressed thus far.

Next stop was walking down this hallway that felt like we were entering some underground tunnel.....I swear to God the hallway had a downward slope to it! The classroom was located in the basement hallway, or what they call the "ground floor".....half of the classrooms in that hallway were empty and not being used for anything. There was absolutely no color on the walls at all, everything was an off-white/beige color and the classroom doors looked like heavy solid metal doors you'd see on a prison mental ward.....(remember the movie Terminator 2 and the mental hospital Sara Conner was in, well this place looked kind of like that).....the poor lighting made the hallway seem even more creepy....and suffice to say, I was still not impressed (to be honest at that point, I was walking as closely as possible to my husband, holding onto his hand and felt like I was in the middle of some horror movie waiting for a creepy killer clown to jump out at us at any moment). At that point the teacher stopped in the middle of the hallway and said "that's the science/chemistry classroom (pointing towards one dark room and door), and over here is the kitchen area that is like the home ec/life skills type of classroom (pointing towards another door)"....then she opened this big door to what I thought would be a classroom, but it turns out that it was just a very large closet.

Yeah it looked like it used to be the janitor's room or a large storage closet, but according to the teacher this was their "study room" and where the kids kept their stuff -- coats, backpacks, etc because the school didn't have enough lockers for everyone to use. The teacher went on to explain that the kids take turns using this creepy closet, umm I mean "study room" when they need some relax time and/or a place to go work on their own away from the other students. Ummm ok, so I'm suppose to be impressed by the fact that you're going to allow my kid to sit in a converted mop closet all day? I don't think so scooter....

Then the teacher opens the door to the classroom....boy was that room SMALL! Seriously, my living room is larger than this classroom (ok maybe about the same size). They had so much "stuff" crammed into that little room, I have no clue how they'd expect any kid to be able to work.....to be honest it made me feel a bit claustrophobic just being in there. Ok yes I sound like a "Negative Nelly" right now, but honestly there was nothing that I had seen thus far that had impressed me....and I really really tried to go into this with an open mind. The classroom did have it's own single toilet restroom....that was one positive thing. And there was a small sink in the corner (looked like a mini kitchen area with a sink and some cabinets). The classroom had the teacher's desk, 2 work tables, 2 small desks with computers on them, and a couch.....yes an old leather type couch....over in the corner was a rug on the floor surrounded by some divider type bookshelves (that was the "low stim"/relax area).

As the teacher talked about her classroom and what the students do, etc I looked around a little bit....the books on the bookshelf were things I'd find in an Elementary classroom (seriously -- there were disney chapter books, sesame street books, stuffed animals, finger paints, etc....nothing I would consider "high school" level reading materials or high school level items), and on one work table there were some bingo cards and worksheets that had "simple math" things on them (spots to count/line up pennies and other coins, basic math coloring worksheets, etc -- again nothing I would deem "high school" age level items). Ok now before anyone jumps down my throat and calls me a snob or anything, I understand that some students have an IQ that is below 60 and/or due to whatever disability they may have, MIGHT require this type of stuff at a high school level.....I totally understand that.

But this place is the classroom that the "team" is suggesting would be the best fit for our son....this high school program is what they suggest, and aside from the computer, there was NOTHING in that classroom that I felt was appropriate learning materials for our son based on where he's at academically. Our son has a higher IQ, then learning materials in this classroom are things he mastered already in Elementary school....thus how is this program better than returning to our district to attend high school? Prior to switching school districts due to his behavior issues, he was at and/or above General Education grade level work, he was getting all "A's" and "B's" in all of his classes, he was on the Honor Roll for crying out loud.....yes some things were a bit more challenging than others, but he was able to do the work that his Gen Ed peers were doing -- he had homework almost every night -- he passed all of the test, read novels and wrote book reports, did power point presentations, etc.

Ok side note for a moment....the program/class he's currently in, we have been questioning thus far. Since he entered that class/program, he has not brought any homework home....nothing, nadda, zip, zilch.....I had been asking repeatedly "is he doing grade level work?" and had been told "oh yes, he's doing great and gets all of his work done in class"....REALLY?! When we first enrolled him in that program, the "plan" was that they'd get his behavior back on track and he'd be going out for Gen Ed classes (for the 4 core classes -- Language Arts, Science, Math, & Social Studies)....well thus far, that hasn't happened. It wasn't until recently that they started to send him out for 1 Gen Ed class (Science)....and since that began he has brought home homework only twice. Both times the "homework" was a single page worksheet that had questions that our fourth grade son could answer.....thus in my oh so humble opinion, what I saw coming home was not "grade level" work. The only other "work" he has brought home is a spelling list each week, which to be totally honest I think is utter bullshit (excuse my language) -- the words on his spelling list are words that his 4th grade brother is learning, words that Taz already knows. In my oh so humble opinion, 8th grade students should NOT have spelling lists or spelling tests each week.....he didn't have work like that at our middle school....he was reading books and writing papers, etc. Thus I have really been questioning whether or not he is really doing grade level (general education level) work like he was before going to this program/school, and if not then is he really prepared for what the work load will be once he enters high school?

Ok, so back on topic.....the teacher explained what they do in her class, how there are currently 6 or 7 students in this program and only ONE goes out for General Education classes....the others remain in her class all day. She also explained that due to budget cuts and blah blah blah, none of the students have a one-on-one aide (Taz needs that service because he's so impulsive and has had behavior issues that deemed the service necessary in the past). Thus there is no way in hell I would trust my son to walk from room "A" located on the "ground floor" to room "B" located on the third floor of the building -- to attend whatever Gen Ed class -- on his own. I feel comfortable saying that he could do the Gen Ed work without a problem, but trusting him to walk on his own from point "A" to point "B".....ummm probably not. The other thing that the teacher said that REALLY bothered me....none of the students in her class (even the one who does go out for Gen Ed classes) are on track to obtain their diploma. None of the students who have "graduated" from her class in the last 2 years obtained a diploma. Thus the only thing those students have/had a chance of receiving is the "Certificate of Completion" -- no diploma -- which means no chance of college or getting a job that would pay a decent salary. I guess the teacher noticed the look of shock on our faces at that point....and when we said "not even the kid who goes out for classes?"....well at that point she avoided making eye contact and came up with some lame explaination that I can't even remember at the moment. It was at that moment in time my brain said "oh hell no, this is NOT the program for Taz."

Taz is capable of more than that....he is capable of getting a diploma. He has worked too hard and come too far to just toss it all away. More on this later....