Posts by Benjamin Johnson7

Jeffrey Edwards5 said:Better late than never, I guess. Checking in three days before everything wraps up, once the verdict is basically already in.

The situation is this: my kid is sitting at less than half the required points. They aren't even going to hit the threshold for the school we actually want them in.

I’ve talked to the homeroom teacher and the subject teachers. Honestly? They’re about as flexible as a brick wall.

So, help me out here. To all you educators out there—from someone like me, just a regular guy trying to make sense of things—what is it about being a professor that makes some people think they can just ignore the big picture and refuse to HELP a student? Is it just the power trip? The ego?

I don't get it. I genuinely want to know what makes someone tick like that.

Don't they worry about anything? Not just about God, but about an angry parent waiting in the parking lot after class? It feels like they're asking for trouble.

What kind of people are these? Seriously, explain it to me.

How many subjects actually have a gap of less than half a point?🍿
I can only imagine how much you're dreaming of your little one getting into a place like Harvard Kennedy School, even while worrying about the possibility of them stumbling during the entrance exams.
There really isn't any sense in speculating about how much leeway is being given or in what manner, especially when you are personally seeking a bit of grace.
Based on what I see around me, how often do students with an average of X.45 in middle school get a chance to retake an exam to improve a grade? And could you clarify what the average is—you used the plural, so it seems like we are talking about more than just one subject.☕

edit
The reality is, there is no "extra credit" if you aren't satisfied with a grade; as a parent, you are essentially asking for the entire curriculum to be re-taught or re-tested. Someone else's parent tried something similar last year, though they didn't seem to have a valid basis for the request.
Additionally, the SAT results will be posted this Wednesday.

rustyowl7 said:I haven't even mentioned medical school to her, let alone HBO, which I suggested and she would have gladly bypassed ☕ but no, what do I know? 🤦

frozenrider15 said:HBO was my backup plan all along. 😁

One ought to think carefully AT&T, given that classes are held exclusively in the afternoons; apparently, the new school building is slated for completion by Easter 2024, though everything seems to be running at least six months behind schedule at this point.

English, German, and Italian are offered at the local vocational high school, though she is a bit of a whirlwind when it comes to math.
English, French, and Italian are available at Pojisan de.
German as a second language is part of the vocational curriculum.
French as a second language is at Pojisan de.
Spanish as an elective doesn't seem particularly enticing.☕

Dennis Alvarez2 said:It’s honestly surprising to me that San Francisco has such a limited selection of high schools. The lower entry requirements there might suggest that the grades aren't being inflated quite as aggressively, though I can't say for certain. Personally, I find myself leaning toward the idea of national standardized testing. It would function much like the SATs—tests administered under strict conditions with sealed materials until the moment they begin. Implementing a uniform standard across the entire United States would ensure that students with genuine talent and knowledge receive a fair assessment, while simultaneously providing invaluable data regarding the performance of individual teachers and institutions. Of course, I wouldn't mind if schools kept their own entrance exams; allowing each school to set its own specific criteria and expectations for incoming students seems perfectly reasonable.

Furthermore, I feel strongly that grading should be calculated to two decimal places rather than rounding off a 3.5 and a 4.4 into the same value. When you round everything up, you end up with those frantic, last-minute scrambles where a student sitting at a 4.3 or 4.4 spends the final two weeks of the semester desperately trying to claw their way to a 4.4, just to be lumped in with the students who maintained a steady 4.8 or 5.0 all year long. I truly wish I understood the reasoning behind why we don't implement two-decimal grading instead of this simplified system, which puts unnecessary pressure on teachers at the end of the term and feels fundamentally unfair to the students who have been consistently high achievers. So many people advocate for this change, yet it seems to be perpetually ignored, so I am genuinely curious about what arguments are being used to block it. 🤔 Has a two-decimal grading scale ever actually existed within our American school systems? I don't recall it ever being part of the curriculum, though I haven't followed the nuances closely enough to be sure. 🤔

San Francisco has about 170,000 residents, and I believe there are roughly 4,500 eighth graders in the entire county; within the city itself, the number of preparatory high schools is quite sufficient.
We also have private academies, vocational schools, and even schools following the IB curriculum.
My son mentioned just yesterday that in his entire class, there were only two students with a perfect 4.0, and across all three eighth-grade classes, there were only five such students.
Regarding grading, I believe the fairest approach would simply be to use a pure average.
His school is reputed to be quite rigorous and demanding.

Dennis Alvarez2 said:I truly appreciate your understanding and all the support you've shown me. 🙂

I completely agree that without ambition, even a naturally gifted child can easily settle into being just average. On the flip side, so many bright kids fly under the radar, never coming close to reaching their true potential for all sorts of reasons. In a crowded public school system, they often get lost in the shuffle, or perhaps at home, parents are simply too overwhelmed by the grind of daily life and shift work to provide that extra layer of guidance. When I suggest that there is always room for growth—that any child could climb a few more rungs on the ladder with the right support—people immediately jump to criticisms about overbearing parenting or mental health concerns. Yet, we shouldn't overlook the impact of educators; a single teacher who truly believes in a student can be the catalyst that helps them flourish both academically and personally, much like the encouragement found within a supportive family. Personally, I find it quite surprising when people argue against higher education or claim that formal schooling isn't necessary, but I suppose everyone has their own perspective.

When it comes to the SAT, everything feels incredibly disorganized and lacks any real sense of direction or purpose, all while being shrouded in this strange, conspiratorial atmosphere. Professors are expressing frustration because students aren't taking the tests seriously, largely because the scores don't actually impact their overall GPA, making the whole ordeal feel trivial to them. It honestly seems like a massive waste of resources. Even the instructors aren't compensated for proctoring since it isn't considered part of their standard contract, and they’re even losing regular teaching hours to make it happen. In my view, there should have been much more foresight involved; after all, both teachers and students know four years in advance that their knowledge will eventually be evaluated this way. I can see the inherent logic and potential behind these exams, but the execution needs to be far more meticulously planned than what we witnessed this year.

The entrance exams are actually determined by specific schools or certain school districts, which means they might all have identical tests; they design their own assessments based on what they deem relevant for admissions, assigning their own weight to the results. Recently in Washington, D.C., they implemented a unified exam for about ten of those highly competitive high schools where the pressure is most intense, primarily because, from what I’ve read here on the Forum, students used to struggle with having to cram for one or two different entrance exams in just a day or two. On the other hand, you have the SAT, which is standardized nationwide and administered to everyone at the end of 8th grade and 12th grade. You can think of the SAT as being similar to a high school senior's graduation requirements, whereas an entrance exam for a place like MIT would be more comparable to the specialized medical school entrance exams. The SAT scores don't actually impact admissions or carry any weight in that sense; as you suggested, it feels like a bit of a waste of time, and the results aren't even recorded in your official academic transcript for the time being. At least, that is my understanding of what you were asking. 🙂

Are there any high school entrance exams being held in Miami?

In education, much like any other profession, you encounter those who truly love their work and pour their hearts into it, and then there are those who simply show up from 8 to 3, strictly adhering to the curriculum with absolutely zero creativity.
In my view, the system itself is flawed; it places all the pressure on the children, where some will naturally excel while others struggle to stay afloat, yet teachers face no accountability for their lack of effort—there is simply nothing you can do about it. I was fortunate enough that during my children's elementary school years, they had at least three or four teachers who actively encouraged them, pushed them forward, and found ways to motivate them to reach their full potential; they were few, certainly, but they were invaluable. A High Schooler is given surveys to evaluate their teachers, but that option wasn't available back in the eighth grade.

I have friends quite similar to you, including two teachers who follow the exact same routine; they just don't bother buying extra textbooks because they borrow them from colleagues, and yes, they recycle last year's tests for exam prep. They actually prepare materials for every single test and lesson, which they diligently forward to me 🤣 though my son never bothers to look at them. I have no issue with parents raising their children according to what they deem most appropriate; that is perfectly acceptable to me. We are all different, and it is a good thing that we are, which is precisely why we are here—to exchange experiences and perspectives.

As far as I am aware, in Miami, there isn't an entrance exam for high schools, though there are specific ones for vocational paths, such as the School of Fine Arts.

I am curious, however, how many parents of those NYC high schools will REFUSE to print out last year's entrance exam tests for study prep if their child shows no interest? 😉

I know plenty of parents who take their children to Professional Career Orientation sessions for high school selection.
Well, there's a bit of everything in this world.

Dennis Alvarez2 said:I am also in favor of implementing National Exams. Under our current circumstances, I honestly cannot think of any other reliable method to truly assess a child's level of knowledge. We need standardized tests across the entire United States to get an accurate picture. It remains a mystery to me why these National Exam materials are kept so secretive, to the point where even professors aren't allowed to see them; everything ought to be fully transparent and publicly accessible. Furthermore, if a specific school wants to implement stricter or higher standards alongside the national assessments, they should certainly introduce their own entrance exams. We could simply follow the model used by universities. While this might introduce additional stress and uncertainty for students and parents, it would drastically reduce the number of inflated grades and ease the pressure on certain institutions. Ultimately, parents would gain meaningful insights into teacher performance and overall school success. If children in a particular grade consistently show high proficiency in one subject but struggle significantly with another year after year, the underlying issue becomes quite easy to detect. I am confident that everyone would put in more effort if this were the case.

Another option would be to expand school capacities, though that is clearly an unrealistic expectation in today's climate. When you have an excellent school with top-tier professors, the logical step would be to increase class sizes to allow more children access to that education, rather than continuing to fund programs that no students are actually interested in attending. However, such a move would necessitate drastic changes to our educational system, and I highly doubt any administration would dare to touch the established programs and systems that have been in place for decades.

It seems they aren't just secretive, but perhaps entirely irrelevant as well; I fail to see why the government would squander such vast amounts of tax dollars on something so inconsequential.
Are these dismal results indicative of how poorly the actual instruction is being handled? One can only hope these outcomes spark some meaningful reform in our education system.
I have read your posts about admissions, and knowing several parents in my circle who feel similarly, I find your perspective quite reasonable. If a child possesses the drive and desire to excel in a specific field, it is wonderful for a parent to offer support and guidance. Without ambition, even a gifted child may simply settle into an average trajectory.
It is likely your child will head toward a Center of Excellence, where they can receive specialized development.
In many parts of the country, there are dedicated programs for such students, like the Talented and Gifted program or GATE. I am not certain if such options exist in NYC, but if not, it is a shame.

redridge13 said:I think you're blowing things out of proportion; there are plenty of kids who transition to high school without any issues, without studying day and night, or ending up in therapy.
I know a kid who came from a pretty rough middle school—bad neighborhood, zero structure—and ended up at one of the most prestigious high schools in Washington, D.C.
On the initial placement exams, this kid was one of the best, even outperforming the "legacy" kids from wealthy families and elite private schools.
In the end, they breezed through high school, finishing as one of the top three students in the class.
Nothing extra was done during middle school, and they didn't even go to private tutors.
So, it really comes down to the individual kid. Based on their background and social status, this student shouldn't have stood a chance.
What that kid actually lacked was confidence during testing compared to the loud, arrogant kids who walked in acting like they owned the place (even though they had zero foundation).

72 isn't terrible, but unfortunately, it's not enough for most of the major high schools in Washington, D.C.
I don't think high schools in any other American city have entry thresholds like this.

The same applies to Miami Beach Senior High School; with 72 points, there isn't a chance of getting in anywhere, not even at a vocational school like a Technical High School specializing in computer science. Is it not tragic? To show a fourteen-year-old that having four B's over five semesters essentially means they are underperforming—to the point where they are shut out of both academic and technical tracks—is disheartening. If we were in Switzerland, perhaps it would make more sense.

I don't quite grasp the distinction between a school's internal entrance exam and the results from the national standardized testing used for placement.🤔

redridge13 said:Am I reading this situation right?
So, Mikulicka decided to enroll her kid in some fancy school out in Small Town, USA, even though they don't even live in that district—all because she wanted that prestige factor, knowing full well the kid's primary language is French.
And now, predictably, there’s a massive meltdown happening because the kid is getting mediocre grades in French and suddenly doesn't have enough credits to get into any decent prep school.

I mean, 72 out of 80? Is it really just one subject causing this much of a disaster?

Well, a 72 isn't actually a bad score at all; those are averages around a 3.6 or 3.7, which is plenty if you're just dealing with a few Bs in some of the core subjects.

The National Exam results are frankly disastrous regarding actual knowledge; if we went by them, we wouldn't even have 10% of the honors students in the entire US.
I sincerely hope the National viewing numbers are taken into account during admissions, because the projected number of students hitting a 4.0 GPA is becoming truly unrealistic.

🐔Thanks!

Casey Bennett said:Benjamin Johnson7 might not be posting here, but he's definitely lurking on the forums. The numbers, however, tend to stay away. Please, try to come up with a third viable alternative.

Thanks. Would Benjamin Johnson7 work?

That works fine. Just send the link for this post over to Nice. 🙂

Greetings

I am interested in removing "New York City" from my profile; would it be possible to just leave "Benjamin Johnson7" instead?
Or perhaps "Benjamin Johnson7-212"
Thank you very much.
As an aside, I did notice there is another account under the name "Benjamin Johnson7," though it appears to have been inactive since 2009.

Here is the link to the legislation; I suggest you go through it carefully, examine the specific forms, and determine which category you fall under. I also hold dual citizenship here in the States.

To be honest, I am quite uncertain about the logistics of paying for real estate using an American account (my accounts are with Citibank, though my offices are located in Ireland and Canada), and frankly, it sounds like a bureaucratic nightmare. You might find it much simpler to just open an account at a local American bank instead.
Furthermore, I would recommend bringing your vehicle over to the US first, as you are entitled to certain repatriation tax benefits. Personally, I have always had a soft spot for the Japanese models designed specifically for the American market; the ones being offered here seem rather small, sluggish, and overpriced by comparison.
Link
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers-and-tax-treaties
☕

I find myself wondering what the ultimate purpose of required reading actually is, though since elementary school requires it, we follow along regardless. My child is currently in third grade, and given certain reading challenges and ongoing work with a speech therapist, our approach is quite specific. Every assigned book has to be read aloud; frankly, it isn't always the most pleasant listening experience, but it was the advice we were given. It is a slow, exhausting process, and while my little one is trying their absolute best, it certainly isn't easy. Right now, they are working through Peter Pan, and everything read up to this point has been either retold orally or completed via written assignments—sometimes even involving a formal quiz.

For the older fifth graders, the curriculum shifts slightly: one book per month, a brief summary of each work, and maintaining a reading journal to note what they liked or disliked and why. They also have to write essays tied to the books. We’ve had three stories covered through Kahoot!, and they occasionally attend extra sessions with their creative arts teacher from the local academy. They even experimented with a Padlet project recently.
For those born Americans, English class is often just a complete bore.☕

In New York City, $75,000 isn't even enough to cover the bare essentials, so I find myself disagreeing with that specific figure. I have no idea what year that book was actually published, but the math certainly doesn't hold up today.
I’ve also been reflecting on the idea that money doesn't inherently guarantee happiness. While it undoubtedly smooths out the rough edges of life, we see plenty of wealthy individuals who are deeply unhappy.
Happiness is something you simply cannot purchase, largely because the definition of fulfillment is entirely subjective to each individual.
Finding inner peace and a sense of genuine contentment is far more vital for one's well-being; often, it is the smallest things in life that carry the most weight.
Money serves to make life easier, provided it doesn't become your primary obsession. Once the pursuit of wealth becomes the central focus, happiness vanishes, replaced by an endless, hollow desire for more, more, and more.

I always enjoy reading stories like this one—they’re quite inspiring.

No matter how abstract it might seem, the world is full of individuals like this. Their intelligence, resourcefulness, adaptability, and sheer grit truly make an impact; more often than not, it’s people with those specific traits who manage to make all the pieces fall perfectly into place.
Of course, even if it looks effortless on the surface, I am certain she put in an immense amount of work. Acquiring real expertise is a grueling process. Kudos to her.🤦

Timothy Robinson78 said:Owning your own company actually makes this conversation more interesting. If you care about your business, your ultimate goal is maximizing profit—it's just basic math. This whole idea of "exploiting workers" is a misconception; most people are simply paid whatever the market rate dictates. Besides, I'm certain that keeping your staff happy isn't just throwing money away; it's an investment that yields higher profits than cutting corners on wages ever would.

Precisely; whatever capital you inject into the operation is what eventually returns to you. My philosophy is centered on long-term quality, and frankly, true quality is impossible to achieve if profit is your sole driver. Forumas @deer made an excellent point 👍. At the end of the day, everyone operates under their own set of priorities and unique business visions.
The moment this work ceases to be a passion for me, I intend to step away entirely.

"Quote:"

Timothy Robinson78 As Timothy Robinson78 points out: I find myself wondering if anyone here has actually navigated the complexities of being an employee. When you find yourself in such a position, do you find your internal compass nudging you toward maximizing your employer's profits, or do you aim to minimize the value you provide to ensure they aren't getting too much for their money? It is a curious little moral dilemma, isn't it? Furthermore, I have often pondered the arbitrary nature of compensation. In your estimation, what truly dictates why one individual commands a substantial salary while another struggles with a meager one? Is it merit, luck, or perhaps just the sheer whims of corporate bureaucracy? One might argue that greed is simply an inherent facet of the human condition, a fundamental trait woven into our very nature that remains entirely indifferent to whatever political system happens to be in power.

I have been part of the workforce since well before I turned eighteen, having spent my youth working various odd jobs to make ends meet. For the past six years, I have operated my own company, which currently employs three full-time staff members. I make it a point to ensure they are compensated well above the national average, and I provide them with generous holiday bonuses as well. It would, of course, be quite easy to seek out employees willing to perform the exact same tasks for a lower wage simply to pad my own profit margins. However, I firmly believe that if one wishes to retain high-quality, diligent, and reliable professionals, one must pay them fairly and show genuine respect for their labor.

In my previous roles, I never viewed myself as working for "bosses"—because, frankly, people shouldn't have bosses. Rather, I regarded them as my clients or employers, and it was my personal mission to ensure that the work I delivered was nothing short of my absolute best.

gentlelynx11 said:The worst part? Well, that's really the only thing capitalism aims for. It's the sole logic behind it all: increasing capital.

Well, increasing capital is the point, obviously! But this specific, unbridled greed for profit—and I am speaking specifically about Apple products—is quite something.
As a social framework, capitalism grants an individual the right to own land, capital, and means of production through private ownership. You end up with private factories, hospitals, schools, mines, theaters, sports teams... essentially, everything becomes a commodity.
Take a look at a company like Rimac, for instance; it would almost certainly be more cost-effective and yield a higher profit margin if their manufacturing plant were located in Poland.
Not every capitalist is driven by such blatant avarice, and frankly, the system is undeniably superior to communism (or socialism). One assumes you didn't grow up living under the old regime in the South.

Timothy Robinson78 said:If you don't want to take my word for it, just look at the data available online; it all supports my point. Human civilization has never seen such rapid progress as it has during the era of capitalism. Countries under a capitalist system consistently outperform socialist ones, offering higher standards of living, more robust human rights, better social safety nets, higher education rates, and superior healthcare systems.

Maybe give those facts some thought before you continue criticizing capitalism using your iPhone. 😁

While his premise might hold some weight, I find it rather debatable; as our friend above pointed out, top-tier education and medical care often seem reserved for a select few. Furthermore, that little jab about the iPhone feels like it perfectly encapsulates the darkest side of capitalism—that relentless, unyielding hunger for profit. After all, "Designed in California, Made in China"—and we all know which political system governs that manufacturing hub, don't we?☕

brisknomad13 said:School religion classes and parish catechesis have always been two totally different things.
Parish catechesis is all about that deep, spiritual connection—it’s where you actually live out the sacraments and grapple with faith on a real level. School religion classes are different; they're more about the long game, teaching the fundamentals through a mix of head knowledge, heart, and actual action.

Since Christianity is so baked into our history and what makes us who we are, I think people were right to back the politicians back in the nineties who wanted to bring religious studies back into the schools.

If a school decides to sandwich religion class right in the middle of the day, we need to do whatever it takes to stop that from happening.
If a kid isn't doing Sunday school, they shouldn't just sit around waiting. I'm with you on that.

I couldn't disagree with your post more—honestly.

Look, I am Catholic, and I attended religious classes at my local parish during the America era, which was actually a very lovely experience. I won't bore you with talk about OUR history (though I would personally consider faith a part of our tradition), let alone national identity🤣 (forget all that identity business); but those whom you support, because they fought to return religion to the schools, have led this country to a point where I, like so many others in '96, had to leave the US because there simply wasn't any future for me here. Eventually, after fifteen years, I returned to our Beautifully Adorned land and brought my two sons with me. I put them in a Catholic preschool—one was even a pre-K program where the nuns were absolutely wonderful, as were the other teachers. Then we moved on to first grade, where they had religious studies at school. Fine. But one hour of art and one hour of music?? What? And nobody seems to complain.
Now we are in third grade, and while he loves his parish classes, his school religious studies class is a disaster. The teacher is uninspired, the kids can't stand her, and they are begging me to withdraw him; they want to start fresh next year. (I’d do it immediately, but apparently, that isn't allowed until the end of the school year.)
We attend Mass on Sundays, but since I separated my faith from the Church as an institution a long time ago, I often just leave him there. It's almost a relief to be proven right, seeing how the front pews are still filled with people who, by their own actions, surely don't belong.

Religious studies should be removed from the schools and returned to the churches. Personally, I feel it kills everything beautiful about our traditions and beliefs; it's being forced upon us as a subject (an elective for the soul, if you will), much like Marxism used to be.

I am withdrawing him, and I've already written a letter to the Archbishop expressing my deep disappointment.

Tomorrow there is a school performance at the nursery, and I can certainly understand why parents whose children don't attend religious classes are feeling resentful.

It has been quite some time since I personally decoupled my own faith from the church as a formal institution, yet I still chose to enroll my children in a Catholic preschool. To be fair, their curriculum was simply unparalleled; even though most of the staff were laypeople rather than nuns, the level of care they provided was truly exceptional. There is an undeniable advantage when a private religious institution has access to more resources than your typical state-funded daycare center.
When they reached first grade, I had them sign up for religious studies classes, but since it was taught by a secular teacher, I found the whole concept rather distasteful—specifically the idea that faith should be treated as a graded academic subject within a school setting. Typically, these lessons took place during the first or last period of the day, but now that we have reached third grade, it has become a double dose of instruction, supplemented by mandatory Saturday services for those preparing for First Communion. It strikes me as somewhat absurd that my child spends two hours on religious studies only to get a single hour of art class. Come next year, I plan to withdraw him from the school-based program entirely; he will continue attending the parish sessions, where the atmosphere is much more dignified, the singing is lovely, and they actually seem to teach more through creativity than the school ever did.
I am firmly of the opinion that religious education should be removed from the public school system and returned to the sanctuary of the church, where participation can be voluntary and, quite frankly, without the unnecessary pressure of grades.

Jason Ortiz5 said:It’s not even private, just your run-of-the-mill local school... :-) Back in first grade, they actually introduced computer science classes just to scrap them by second grade because the teacher's schedule was totally slammed. Now that they're in fourth grade, they're offering it again, but it's treated like some exclusive ExxonMobil corporate program—only a tiny handful of kids can actually get in.

Thanks
I honestly hadn't heard about that specific option before, though I suppose such things are possible. To have computer science available prior to fifth grade at all is quite impressive—kudos to that teacher. In my children's school, however, the curriculum is strictly limited to 😢(