Posts by Susan James

Michelle Nelson4 said:I remember back in my day, certain well-connected people used to slide into university spots through these shady little side channels. It was only when we implemented the centralized application and grading system based on standardized testing that those loopholes finally started closing. Giving universities the power to manage admissions entirely on their own is just asking for trouble; it’s essentially reopening the door to all those old, corrupt ways of doing things.
To give you a specific example—back when the internet was still a relatively new thing here in the States and hardly anyone was online yet—a close friend of mine was checking her college entrance results. She went to look at the published lists and saw her name sitting just below the cutoff line. I checked the website myself and saw a different list where she actually had higher scores and was safely above the line. I called her to let her know, and when she went to request a review of her exam scores, they gave her this "oops" excuse. They basically told her, "Oh, sorry! We just accidentally entered your points incorrectly, but don't worry, you're actually in!" Yeah, right... ☕

By all means, keep rooting for these decentralized, individual admissions processes. We'll just end up seeing the exact same thing happening again, if not worse, especially since the level of corruption in the country seems to have jumped to an entirely new level overnight.

Honestly, I don't think it ended—it just evolved.
Now we see points being awarded for health issues, divorce filings, or random competitions that don't even seem relevant to academics. The people who used to rely on old-school connections are now using insider influence to secure their spots 🤷

...all while riding the wave of grade inflation from elementary through high school.

Michelle Nelson4 said:I remember back in my day, certain well-connected people used to slide into university spots through these shady little side channels. It was only when we implemented the centralized application and grading system based on standardized testing that those loopholes finally started closing. Giving universities the power to manage admissions entirely on their own is just asking for trouble; it’s essentially reopening the door to all those old, corrupt ways of doing things.
To give you a specific example—back when the internet was still a relatively new thing here in the States and hardly anyone was online yet—a close friend of mine was checking her college entrance results. She went to look at the published lists and saw her name sitting just below the cutoff line. I checked the website myself and saw a different list where she actually had higher scores and was safely above the line. I called her to let her know, and when she went to request a review of her exam scores, they gave her this "oops" excuse. They basically told her, "Oh, sorry! We just accidentally entered your points incorrectly, but don't worry, you're actually in!" Yeah, right... ☕

By all means, keep rooting for these decentralized, individual admissions processes. We'll just end up seeing the exact same thing happening again, if not worse, especially since the level of corruption in the country seems to have jumped to an entirely new level overnight.

Personally, I'm glad medical schools have their own specific entrance exams🤷
so that we can be treated by high-quality doctors (assuming they don't all move to Dubai!) who actually stick to standards of excellence—standards that haven't completely fallen apart yet (besides, they struggle to fill their spots even though more people apply than there are openings).
My philosophy is simple: if you find the entrance exam too hard, you probably shouldn't be going to college anyway.

I'm all for individual entrance exams because I know exactly what kind of knowledge students from different universities are bringing to the table. I don't really have much insight into the schools outside of major cities like New York or Chicago.
But everyone acts like there's just one single national standardized test for everything.🤣

rowdypanther12 said:I'm not sure, but based on the links shared here, the school my little one goes to is incredibly tough and strict, yet all the teachers just write their own tests.😁

Looking at those links, I honestly can't tell if those kids actually made it into the top-tier academies or if they just ended up in some easier local schools to keep their GPAs looking good after missing the cutoff for the more competitive programs.
I’ve been thinking about this lately: do you think those kids who struggle to keep up once they hit high school actually overextended themselves early on? I wonder if they pushed for those top-tier grades in middle school—maybe by memorizing everything just to ace the tests without truly grasping the material—only to find it impossible to maintain that same pace when the workload gets more intense. Or, looking at it from another angle, maybe they actually did learn the material, but they just weren't prepared for the sudden jump in difficulty. It's like moving from a local community college course straight into a rigorous program at a place like Stanford; even if you know your stuff, the sheer level of expectation can be a total shock to the system.

To be fair, those were just the grades from the high school graduation exams. Back then, that specific generation actually set their own passing thresholds, so they decided what the cutoff would be themselves. 🤣

I honestly think the only way this actually makes sense is if you compare your child to a student from another school based on what they actually know right now. You have to look at their current knowledge levels in real time to get any kind of useful comparison.

mellowskipper said:Okay, thanks. She has a contraindication, so we aren't even considering that. But regarding what she wants, I’m going to request that it be explicitly stated in all the reports.

Around here, every single professor insists on drafting their own custom tests, often stretching them out to four or five pages. Their excuse? They claim they have to do all this extra work just to accommodate everyone who's been spoon-fed a standardized curriculum.

or maybe they just make them easier.🤔
I’m just guessing here, but if that were actually the case, I bet we’d see at least three sets of parents per grade level calling in the school board to demand we stick to the standard testing.
But hey, maybe someone who knows more about how the school district works can weigh in.🙂

rowdypanther12 said:So, you can probably expect this to trickle down into the schools too. If you end up in a bad class, getting a 70% on a test might actually land you a B or even an A.😂

It looks like things are already starting to overflow.
I put a lot of thought into what I wrote; I don't just post things for the sake of posting.
It feels like we aren’t quite hitting our stride with this material yet. To make things easier on everyone, I'm going to simplify the content a bit—expect the upcoming test questions to be much more straightforward.
I saw what mellowskipper mentioned earlier about the testing protocols—apparently, if more than half the kids end up getting the same score, the whole thing gets tossed out. It’s a bit of a headache, isn't it? I remember back when my nephew was taking his standardized tests in Chicago, we had a similar scare where everyone thought the results wouldn't count because the curve was so skewed. It definitely adds a layer of stress to the whole process!
I honestly can't say for sure—we aren't quite certain if that second test was just as tough or maybe even a little easier than the first one.

I’ve always felt that "difficulty" is such a subjective thing. What feels like an uphill battle to me might be a total breeze for someone else, and vice versa. It really just comes down to the individual.
It gets so much harder when you’re dealing with parental expectations. It’s one thing to manage a classroom, but it’s a whole different ballgame when parents start measuring success by their own arbitrary standards. There’s nothing quite like that sudden pressure from moms and dads who start questioning your teaching methods or claiming something is wrong with the curriculum just because more than half the class landed a D on a test. I remember one time back in my first year teaching in Chicago, a parent pulled me aside because their kid didn't get an A, acting like the entire lesson plan was flawed. It’s tough to stay calm when you know you're doing the work, but they only see the grade.
If you’re dealing with those kids who are complaining about their shoes being uncomfortable but just can't bring themselves to explain it to their parents, here is a little tip: just call in an inspection. If you hand out a test or some simple essay prompts, everyone will breeze right through it without any drama.

rowdypanther12 said:So, if you don't feel like studying, you just have to guess which year will have the worst students? 😂
It's honestly a mess. I don't get why everything in this country has to be made so complicated.🤔

🤣🤣🤣
Exactly!

I don't know, I've personally found this whole shift pretty hard to stomach from the start... all this Americanization and the push toward mindless conformity, the standardization of tests, those multiple-choice questions, and the endless prep work just to learn how to bubble in a circle correctly.... 🙄

From what I’ve heard about how medical schools have been rejecting high school diploma results in favor of their own entrance exams, I’d say there are still some nuggets of common sense left somewhere.
At the end of the day, we generally want to be operated on by people whose fundamental understanding of physics didn't rely on the knowledge of random passersby who just showed up to the physics exam as a tourist.
(I'm exaggerating a bit, but it's not far from the truth. There were even whispers about people nudging friends to take certain subjects just to pad the class average. And averages get dragged down by everyone—including those taking exams in H&M or Mattel subjects when they never actually had them in their high school curriculum or even a program where the subject was taught properly, though you can't exactly say that out loud...) 🙂

rowdypanther12 said:In my opinion, the class of 2022 and the class of 2023 deserve equal footing too. 😁
it feels a little silly if you ask me

Why not just add another rule where people could graduate in 2016, spend years traveling the world, and then just enroll in college in 2022?

rowdypanther12 said:Honestly, that feels incredibly unfair. 😁Where does the idea come from—that your knowledge should be judged based on how everyone else is doing?
I mean, if I went out into the wilderness to live with some primitive tribes, would I suddenly be considered a neurosurgeon just because I know more than they do? 😂

It sounds like this idea comes from people who believe that every single student gets the exact same quality of education, no matter which school they attend. Personally, I’ve always felt that's a bit of an oversimplification. Even in my own experience growing up, one district could be miles ahead of another just based on funding or local resources. It's definitely more complicated than just assuming the playing field is level for everyone. 🤣
And they really should be on equal footing, too. 😬

It honestly blows my mind every single time I look at the requirements for getting into a teaching program. It’s wild to me that a B grade in math is actually enough to get you through the door. It’s one of those things that just gets under my skin, especially when you realize how much the passing threshold shifts depending on how everyone else performed on the exam. It feels like moving goalposts, and frankly, it's pretty frustrating.

Karen Richardson3 said:Honestly, the biggest shock to me is how intensely parents obsess over high school placement these days—it’s nothing like when we were just debating which school was slightly better a few years back 😁

Were your parents like that? Mine both had college degrees and they really wanted me to take over the family business, but when it came to school, their attitude was basically "just do well or you won't have any options." As for high school, my mom wanted me to go to the one closest to home, but I picked one further away because there was this guy I liked (and maybe a little bit to spite her too 😁 just like with college, since I didn't end up taking over the family business 🕺 ).

Regarding the school schedule, I was always a night owl (meaning I'd grind through all those assignments and studying until the early hours), so if I had an early morning class, I’d just pass out on the couch after lunch. I personally loved the afternoon shift because I could be home alone, grab a coffee, light up a cigarette, and just mope around the way you're supposed to do in high school 😁
I seriously respect anyone who manages to juggle sports on top of high school; back then, I couldn't even wrap my head around adding one more single obligation to my plate 😁

It was pretty similar for me, except...
My parents only had high school diplomas, so their main focus was just making sure I was doing okay and staying out of trouble (and, you know, staying away from drugs or sketchy crowds 🤣).
I actually had to go downtown by myself to drop off my paperwork, even though a new school had opened up in our neighborhood a year or two prior. It had those fancy modern lockers, almost like something out of Beverly Hills. But they insisted we wear slippers inside the school, which was my first big "no" from them, even though I handed in all my copies
. Secondly, I wanted to travel downtown and was planning on being late to school and coming home late, too.

The only way my dad "helped" with enrollment was by making copies of the forms for that other school he found somewhere
. With my sister, there wasn't even that, because she was part of the generation where you just applied to one single school
.
In my second year, I wanted to transfer to a different high school that had a separate entrance; besides the fact that there were more guys there and I had a crush, it was definitely a lot easier. My parents wouldn't let me, though, saying, "Well, you chose this school yourself." Plus, I would've had to pass an IT exam that they took in freshman year while we took it in sophomore year, and the thought of failing that totally overwhelmed me
.
At my school, there were kids who also attended the local music academy (which made me think they had zero social life and that their parents weren't exactly normal). A friend of mine did synchronized swimming for the first two years before quitting because practice was always at 6:00 AM, regardless of her school schedule. There were also plenty of students enrolled in language academies (I actually signed up for one at one point, mostly because I realized I needed to master English for the SATs). By the looks of things now, those exams seemed significantly harder than what's required today. Those who cruised through every grade with straight As were exempt from certain tests, yet they often performed worse on entrance exams than those of us who actually sat for the full exams
.

Peter Rogers said:I had absolutely no clue the FBI was even involved, but it’s pretty wild to me that their closest branch is all the way out in San Antonio.
😲 Honestly, when you're dealing with an organization tied to the IRS—you know, an actual government agency—shouldn't you expect this kind of info to be accessible to every single student?
It's actually making me a little heated right now.
Kids living in California, along the Coast, up in Appalachia, or down in Florida are basically being left out in the cold.

So, how is a kid even supposed to sign themselves up? Do they have to trek down to an IRS office or find some psychologist, or what's the deal?
Because at the Elementary School, that's not an option. They just tell you that the orientation is strictly limited to certain programs.

at the IRS office
Maybe I have it wrong, because with all the recent flooding, there might be a huge surge of requests coming from PP and IP staff (and honestly, that whole situation is a mess).
They definitely could have made it available to anyone who wanted it.

Some were ordered by the schools, while others were handled by parents.
There wasn't any rule saying the school had to be the one to order them.

mellowskipper said:Just scrap the whole points system entirely—bring back entrance exams and call it a day.
I suppose that would probably suit elementary school teachers just fine, too. No more parents breathing down their necks or staging some kind of crusade; just pure, unadulterated knowledge.

Sarah Hall53 said:It would’ve been perfect for us, honestly—but my parents would absolutely lose their minds, and then you’d have all those child advocacy groups breathing down our necks. Apparently, high-stakes testing is just too much stress for kids these days... cry me a river, I guess.

I’m curious, where exactly are these imaginary parents and child advocates coming from?
Aside from the teachers who openly admit they hand out As just to get parents and inspectors off their backs (basically to prevent them from showing up in the first place), I don't know anyone who actually supports the current system.
And I know a pretty wide circle of people.

From what I see here, the only thing parents seem to disagree on is whether this entrance exam should be universal or if individual schools should have the freedom to design their own. They worry about kids being stressed by taking six different exams in five days. Well, whatever—stress is part of life.
But honestly, that’s still less stressful than not knowing if you'll actually get into the school you want because some other kid barely scraped by with a passing grade and snagged a spot ahead of you.

Given the total circus that the state standardized testing has become, and seeing how universities—which actually care about students having actual subject mastery rather than just meeting population quotas—have successfully implemented their own entrance exams, I’m all for letting each school set its own standards and pick the students it wants.

If we’re talking about corruption (which exists and will always exist), it seems way more likely that someone at an elementary school would give kids a copy of a universal test to "study" for, simply because they don't want to deal with the fallout when those kids struggle in high school due to their lack of knowledge. It's much easier than a high school teacher having to deal with unprepared students later on.

Most elementary school teachers are genuinely concerned about how their students will fare in high school. If they weren't, they’d put more effort into what they teach and what they require for an A. And I’m not just talking about handing out easy grades or rounding up a B+ to an A just because a kid has one good day. I mean the sheer amount of material required to actually earn an A. Right now, you can have straight As all year and have almost zero actual knowledge.

It’s one thing with subjects like history or geography, which tend to build on themselves in high school. But take math, for example: if you don't master the basics, you're stuck. You won't be able to follow math, physics, or computer science, especially once you hit high school.
And don't even get me started on the lack of knowledge in American History dating back to the Reagan era... I won't even waste my breath on that.

mellowskipper said:Regarding the CIA, I know for sure because I actually looked into how that school handles the first shift, they definitely need points, though the threshold is pretty low—around 60, I think—plus an interview with the principal. Generally, based on this forum and a few others, kids and parents seem pretty happy with that school.
Though my kid isn't really interested in prep schools, so maybe we'll put them at number 6 on our list.

Mine has to go through professional orientation regardless because of her IEP, but she'd still love to attend those fairs and open houses.
By the way, do you happen to know what that professional orientation actually looks like? Is it knowledge tests or more of an interview? Do they involve the parents? And does the assessment and opinion from the hospital staff where the evaluation was done—specifically regarding ongoing follow-ups—actually carry any weight?

They usually go through aptitude, interest, and personality tests, which take about an hour to ninety minutes.
Then there's an interview with a psychologist (with just the kid in the room).
Parents aren't officially interviewed, though they often push to share their thoughts, and people do listen to them.
However, the final decision shouldn't be swayed by what the parents want.

The findings and opinions from any specialist following the child definitely matter, mainly because certain recommendations can act as contraindications—if someone expresses a specific preference, it might be immediately crossed off the list if it's not a good fit.
For some kids, it really does narrow down their options to just a handful of schools, so it makes sense to give them extra credit for enrollment or set aside those three reserved spots that schools hold specifically for students who don't have many other places to go.

Peter Rogers said:Around here, professional guidance is basically only for kids aiming for AP tracks or specialized vocational paths; there’s absolutely nothing for the kids who don't fit into those specific boxes, kind of like my eighth grader.
Back in seventh grade, he actually went up to his teacher to ask for info on high schools, and he was basically told, "You'll have plenty of time for that in eighth grade."
And then suddenly, out of nowhere, for the last two weeks, people from different schools have been dropping by for presentations. And it’s not even just the schools you'd expect to see. 😁
They get a couple of teachers, maybe a counselor, and a few students who graduated from that same Elementary School showing up to give the pitch.
It’s actually not bad; it really opened my son's eyes to some majors he had just glanced over on the list, especially now that he hears there are scholarships, transfer options, and extracurriculars that actually interest him alongside the coursework...

Honestly, I am just counting down the days until he clicks through all this and the whole ordeal is over, so I can finally free up some mental bandwidth to deal with my sixth grader, who is way less academically driven and currently stuck in a massive state of indecision. 😬

Those kids should be called in.
You can also request testing on your own.

Or this

mellowskipper said:A friend of mine mentioned that her kid’s seventh-grade class is supposed to have some kind of presentation in June regarding high school enrollment and admissions—basically a walkthrough of the different options. My daughter claims they haven't heard a single word about it yet. I suppose I'm wondering if this is just something handled by their specific principal—who is quite proactive, I guess—or if it's being organized at the district level. Does anyone happen to have any insight on this?
Back before the pandemic hit, we used to have those middle school career fairs and dedicated open house days for the various high schools. It would be nice to see those brought back now that everything is finally back to normal.

High schools usually host their own open houses, and they're the ones who organize the career fairs.
Even last year, things were done over Zoom, but most people still found out through their middle schools.

In years past, middle schools used to host representatives from vocational programs. People from local trade associations would visit to talk about specific careers, the perks, and scholarships for high-demand fields.
It’s possible that a school might send someone over specifically to recruit students if they're looking to boost their numbers. I actually heard that Toledo has been doing some heavy recruiting at middle schools lately, and now they have six applicants vying for a single spot in their entrance exams! 😲

Also, middle schools really should offer better professional guidance. Sometimes it's done as a group, but other times the counselor only reaches out to students with specific academic tracks or special needs since their enrollment process is different.
But I guess that mostly applies to the eighth graders.

mellowskipper said:I believe the girls' high school runs on the morning shift—though I couldn't say for certain about the Archbishop's classical academy.

I mean... it's not really a big deal unless you're super picky about which shift you take...
I don't quite recall if it's based on specific credits or if you just need to sit down and have a chat with the principal 🤔

🤷
Who knows when those single-shift teachers will finally get their own dedicated classrooms or be done hosting guests...

Jacob Sullivan91 said:Josip Broz Marshall used to have one, but honestly, who knows what the deal is nowadays...

Right now, they’re sharing space with the local high school, and both are running split shifts.
Once Titus gets renovated, they should both be back to a single shift schedule.

It's the same situation over at Lincoln High and the prep school down the road.

I'm actually not sure if any other high schools stayed on a single shift after the earthquake hit.

Maybe that all-girls Catholic academy downtown is still on the old schedule? 🤔

rowdypanther12 said:I can't say much about the afternoon shift, but once kids start staying up until 1 or 2 AM during those teenage years, having school in the afternoon feels like a blessing. 😂
I was only ever functional during the afternoon session; mornings always felt like such a blur for me. 😵

Jokes aside, practices often run late, especially for the older kids.
When she used to get home around 10:30 PM, waking up the next morning was a real struggle.
Honestly, I wouldn't enroll my child in competitive sports unless they were incredibly serious about it, showing real results and total commitment.
What if they just quit after two months?
Would you have to switch schools?

In reality, parents are the ones who actually want the single-shift schedule.
Very, very few kids feel that way.

Student athletes and musicians usually opt for single shifts because the schedule seems more flexible, but let's be real—if practices run late at night (which they often do, especially since some kids are coming from dual-shift schools), those kids are absolutely wiped out by morning.
And then there's everything else: concerts, hanging out at the park, binge-watching series late into the night, just being a teenager and living life. 😍

Anthony Gray said:Well, if you ask me, the real sweet spot is enrolling in the advanced track at MIT. You end up with a much stronger foundation from those math and science courses than the general curriculum offers—plus, you get that second language in the mix.
And honestly, the convenience factor alone is a massive win; you aren't wasting half your day just commuting back and forth to campus. I actually finished my studies at MIT myself—though, mind you, that was back in the last century 😬 long before it became the powerhouse it is today. Back then, you didn't need to hit those insane 60-point entrance scores just to get into the advanced track. It was also the closest school to my house, and if memory serves, I never felt like I had to pull more all-nighters than the kids in the general track (even though my math was solid, while physics... well, let's just say it wasn't my calling). But again, that was ages ago, so maybe it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison anymore. After graduation, I ended up heading toward a liberal arts degree. However, a huge chunk of my classmates went straight to MIT for engineering, even though we were technically just following the "general" path within that STEM-focused high school track.

A lot of things aren't comparable to how they were in the last century (man, that sounds dramatic, doesn't it? 😂)
We used to apply to two different schools—one with our original documents and one with copies—and you just went wherever you got accepted. If you got into the one where you sent copies, you'd spend the whole day running around trying to find your originals to hand them in to the school that actually took you.
You could actually get in without hitting the maximum possible score; there was no oversight from the IRS or anything like that. I remember us standing OURSELVES in line outside the school building just to turn in our paperwork. Nowadays, I see parents heading off to college campuses with their kids during enrollment 🤦
(And they watch the high school admissions happen in real-time online, watching the little cursor move during the digital enrollment process, all while dealing with everyone's opinions on which school the kid should attend. For instance, back in middle school, my teachers basically told me exactly where I should go, even though by my freshman year, I realized how much they had steered us wrong. By the time I got to college, I was certain they hadn't been very accurate. Still, I wouldn't be who I am today if they hadn't made those mistakes 🤣)

hiddendriver34 said:I’m really pushing my oldest toward a math-heavy path—ideally aiming for MIOC, which is basically the gold standard around here. The problem is, he’s totally undecided and hasn't got a clue what he wants to do yet. I'm nudging him because the kid is a natural; math and physics just click for him instantly. There are some incredibly high-level careers in physics, and since he hasn't even seen a "B" on his report card—he's consistently at the top of his class—it feels like a waste not to go for it.

To be honest, people with mathematical minds are like exotic, fascinating plants to me. I’m definitely not one of them (and neither is my husband; our son likely inherited those genes too).

He actually shares a similar philosophy to Summer—he’s hesitant about MIOC because he’s terrified of being buried under a mountain of work and losing his free time. He’s also worried about getting in since he doesn't have a perfect 4.0 GPA. But like I mentioned in a previous post, if you aren't obsessed with maintaining a perfect average and your ambitions are more balanced, you don't necessarily have to kill yourself working once you get there.

Don't get me wrong, I’m not a helicopter parent. I give my kids plenty of room to make their own choices, but I am being pretty persistent about this one. I’ve got one more year to try and win him over. 🐔

It is actually quite difficult to define what constitutes "too much work" versus having enough free time.
Those "exotic plants" with mathematical minds tend to breeze through the advanced math curriculum, which usually covers about 6 or 7 hours of math per week during the last two years of High School (or the computer science track, which is 5 or 6 hours of core classes plus 3 hours of CS).
Their other subjects take up about as much time as they would in any other school, depending on the specific curriculum they encounter.
What typically makes a school feel overwhelming or like a massive time-sink is:

- Students who lack the natural aptitude for STEM subjects. You can teach them, sure, but since they don't have those basic predispositions, they have to practice and spend much more time studying than a child who has that natural knack. When you add in all the other required subjects, the total school load becomes huge.

- Students who are exceptionally bright and cruised through Middle School easily, but never actually developed solid study habits. Because of that, freshman year can be a bit of a shock as they realize they actually need to put in the work. To parents, this might look like a disaster or a "hard" school, but honestly, it's usually just a transition period in the first year.

- Students coming into the STEM program with less foundational knowledge than they should have from Middle School. Even though there's a standardized national curriculum that everyone is supposed to follow, that isn't always the reality for every student for various reasons I won't bore you with here. That’s why entrance exams are so necessary.

Over the last few years, I've heard people say that MIT puts impossible questions on their entrance exams, but knowing the students who actually pass and find those problems easy to solve, I'd say that for the kids who *belong* in that school, those tasks aren't actually that hard. And yes, these are typically the kids who have taken extra math tutoring for four years straight and participated in numerous math and computer science competitions, performing well even at the local level.
It’s a shame the entrance exam doesn't include physics and computer science too—I really mean that.

- Students who are competitive achievers (and MIT has spent decades building that reputation). They spend more time studying and tackling extra problems, and it's good that they have the chance to get support at school and encouragement for competitions. Sure, they have less free time than others because they are prepping for meets, but that doesn't mean the school is forcing extra work on them; it means the students are choosing to do more so they can compete.

The entrance exam problems are available on their website. Most of the material should have been covered in Middle School anyway, so just let him try solving them.
Maybe ask the mail carrier to help him out if he gets stuck!😉

If they decide to major in something like linguistics or even general studies with a math-oriented brain, school should be a breeze. As long as they—and their teachers—don't skip too many classes, they'll probably breeze through math and physics during lecture time. That leaves them with way more free time to focus on other stuff. 🤷

Kyle Rogers9 said:Maybe in Chicago 😁

We had Latin three times a week and Greek twice a week.

Psychology, logic, philosophy, and politics were all block periods—I remember because we had to show up earlier than usual, though I don't think all four grades did that. :|

Art and music once a week.

And we definitely had a second foreign language. I took English in Elementary School and then German plus classical languages in high school.

Generally, classes started at 7:30 AM and wrapped up by 2:00 PM.

Well, even in major cities like Chicago, you can find programs where they offer Latin and Greek three times a week for all four years.
It's the same with one foreign language, but there isn't a mandatory second one; you just have the option to pick up a second language as an elective.

Psychology is definitely on the schedule once a week during junior year.

mellowskipper said:Well, you all have effectively shut me down.
Back in my day—if you could call it that—it was always strictly 8:00 AM for the morning session and 2:00 PM for the afternoon.
Then, I suppose, we should probably factor in how close someone lives to the local Elementary School as a variable.

Back in my day, in my specific class, we used to have religion class on Tuesdays at 7:00 AM. 🙏
It was during those wonderful, old-school times when electives were actually elective—there wasn't any pressure to take ethics if you didn't want to. 😍

We also knew we’d occasionally have gym at 7:00 too (one of our old teachers was pretty intense, very much a "drill sergeant" type of educator! 😬)
Personally, I chose a school "downtown" because I loved the idea of traveling. Based on my experience, I spent about 4 or 5 years commuting from my Elementary School at all sorts of early hours, often through snowstorms and major traffic jams. Right around then, a brand new school was built in my neighborhood, but I honestly didn't care for that option.
There’s just something about that sense of freedom, even if it meant a 45 to 60-minute commute one way (or even longer if you had to pick up a sibling).

As an adult now, I actually think shift work is great, and I even attended a school that ran on different schedules. 🤷
Though these days, I try my best to choose anything that lets me walk to work.
I guess I wasn't exactly a morning person growing up—I love my sleep—but I've definitely become more responsible over the years.

So, what does your kid think? What kind of schedule would they prefer?