High School Guide: Admissions, reviews, and advice

Jeffrey Edwards5 said:I didn't say that, even though apparently it matters—we weren't asking for handouts. We were just asking for the chance to take a test to boost a GPA.
We strictly wanted an opportunity to improve the score, and we made it clear we weren't looking for freebies.

On the flip side, what about the kids getting unearned grades who end up unfairly taking my child's spot? You didn't mention them or why they're doing it.

Great. So you complain about a grade, and within two days, your kid is stuck sitting in front of an academic board defending an entire year's worth of work. And I'm sure they "know everything," right?

It honestly weighed on me that my little girl didn't make her first choice. It’s just one of those things that sits heavy on your chest, you know? But hey, she’ll definitely land her second pick. If we look at the silver lining, I actually think that school would be a perfect fit for her personality. Plus, it's much closer than that other place she put down as her top priority 😁.

frozenrider15 said:It honestly weighed on me that my little girl didn't make her first choice. It’s just one of those things that sits heavy on your chest, you know? But hey, she’ll definitely land her second pick. If we look at the silver lining, I actually think that school would be a perfect fit for her personality. Plus, it's much closer than that other place she put down as her top priority 😁.

I suppose I agree—my daughter would probably thrive more at her second choice based on her interests, even if the commute is a bit of a headache.
But then again, whether it works out with the first or the second, who knows? Both schools have such specific admissions processes and quirks that make things unpredictable.

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.

It’s always nice when I run into posts that basically back up my own thoughts.
So, I suppose it looks like we're dealing with exactly this type of crowd.🙂

mellowskipper said:

I suppose I should mention—though it’s probably irrelevant—that chiquita. kaže:
Well, I suppose I should finally weigh in—three days before the deadline, just when the whole thing is pretty much a done deal.

The situation we’re facing right now is—well, it's grim, I suppose—because less than half of us are actually making the cut. It’s a mess. Take Boda, for instance—their kid isn't even going to hit the required GPA threshold to get into that school they've been aiming for. It’s just... it's frustratingly difficult, I guess.

I’ve had several discussions with the homeroom teacher and the department heads—just endless back-and-forth—but honestly? It feels like I'm talking to a brick wall. A heart of stone just stays hard, I guess. No matter how much you try to reason with them, some people just refuse to budge.

So, go ahead—tell me, you educators—you people who look down on someone like me, just a common laborer, a cog in the machine, an uneducated grunt—what exactly is it about being a professor that makes you think you’re somehow incapable, or perhaps just unwilling, to see the bigger picture? What is it that makes you refuse to actually help a child when they need it? I guess it’s just easier to sit up there on that pedestal, playing God while you enjoy the little power trip of being the one to hand out the discipline. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems pretty obvious.

I don't quite grasp that specific part—it’s a bit fuzzy to me—and, I guess, I can't help but wonder... why would someone actually be like that? It's honestly pretty baffling.

I wonder if people actually fear themselves—not just in a philosophical sense, but the tangible stuff—you know? Like, fearing that version of yourself that exists somewhere between the heavens and the earth... or perhaps more practically, fearing that enraged parent waiting right outside the school doors after class is over—or even just a sudden bolt of lightning from a clear blue sky. It's all quite unsettling, I suppose. Maybe.

What kind of people are these, exactly? Could someone please explain this to me?

This is truly a nightmare—an absolute disaster, really. I would suggest you write directly to the Principal—you need to lay out the whole situation clearly, provide a thorough explanation, and demand that they step up and actually help the child.

That is really poor advice. It’s exactly this kind of thinking that drives great teachers out of the education system. I noticed you posted this before chiquita mentioned they were being asked to account for their work all year long.

Do you actually realize what most principals do when they get letters from parents?
Don't you see that teachers end up facing pressure to bump up grades? We saw the whole circus last year in honors classes... or we end up with an artificial surplus of A's during enrollment, which isn't just an issue for chiquitino's child—it affects everyone else too.

I honestly don't know how you imagine a principal "helping" a student. 🤷
Grading criteria are made clear to every student at the start of the school year (if the teacher doesn't state them directly, parents usually go over them, and they're often available online; not to mention that older kids know exactly what each teacher's style is, even if the teacher is new to the district).
Every kid has the entire school year to improve their grades, fix mistakes, or ask for extra credit... look, if it doesn't work out, it just means they weren't cut out for it.

In what universe is a principal going to visit a teacher on June 16th and ask them to re-test a student for the entire school year on June 19th or 21st, just because they received a polite letter—or a threat—from a parent?

Maybe we end up with the standard routine, or maybe we get stuck with John Doe—where the teacher just decided, out of nowhere, to hand out straight A's to the entire school last year... or who knows, maybe the principal felt some sudden urge to play hero for some random kid after getting that letter, and that was just the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Sarah Hall53 said:Maybe we end up with the standard routine, or maybe we get stuck with John Doe—where the teacher just decided, out of nowhere, to hand out straight A's to the entire school last year... or who knows, maybe the principal felt some sudden urge to play hero for some random kid after getting that letter, and that was just the final straw that broke the camel's back.

We also face losing some truly incredible teachers.
To be honest, that’s the part that really worries me. I mean, kids can always try to make up for grades during entrance exams, but what good is an exam if there wasn't anyone there to actually teach them the material in the first place?

It's just a vicious cycle.
The state will probably introduce standardized national testing just to fix all those inflated grades, but by then, the students won't have had anyone to actually learn from...

Between the constant pay cuts and being treated like a punching bag—or worse, just a convenient outlet for everyone else's frustrations—it’s no wonder so many talented people have already walked away. Honestly, even more are probably planning their exit strategies right now.
And goodness, working in public schools? People act like it’s some easy gig that anyone could handle. All they’d have to do is slash the certification standards—kind of like how some folks in this thread suggested on those PDFs—and suddenly we’d have a surplus of "qualified" staff. Just declare anyone with a high school diploma an "expert," and you'll see how fast those positions fill up with "professionals."

Susan James said:That is really poor advice. It’s exactly this kind of thinking that drives great teachers out of the education system. I noticed you posted this before chiquita mentioned they were being asked to account for their work all year long.

Do you actually realize what most principals do when they get letters from parents?
Don't you see that teachers end up facing pressure to bump up grades? We saw the whole circus last year in honors classes... or we end up with an artificial surplus of A's during enrollment, which isn't just an issue for chiquitino's child—it affects everyone else too.

I honestly don't know how you imagine a principal "helping" a student. 🤷
Grading criteria are made clear to every student at the start of the school year (if the teacher doesn't state them directly, parents usually go over them, and they're often available online; not to mention that older kids know exactly what each teacher's style is, even if the teacher is new to the district).
Every kid has the entire school year to improve their grades, fix mistakes, or ask for extra credit... look, if it doesn't work out, it just means they weren't cut out for it.

In what universe is a principal going to visit a teacher on June 16th and ask them to re-test a student for the entire school year on June 19th or 21st, just because they received a polite letter—or a threat—from a parent?

Regarding that first point—how am I supposed to know the specific criteria or where this "website" is? There's zero mention of that anywhere; some schools hand out a syllabus at the beginning of the term, but many don't even bother with that.

As for the second point, that's just flat-out wrong. Plenty of teachers would absolutely refuse to do that.

even if that’s a complete fabrication, it means you could just report the issue right when it happens, which would basically force the principal to make an unreasonable teacher actually offer a chance to fix those grades. I mean, there really shouldn't be a scenario where there isn't some kind of way to retake a test for a better grade.
you have to flag these irregularities while they're actually happening, rather than waiting until everything is already over and done with, like some sort of afterthought.

Susan James said:That is really poor advice. It’s exactly this kind of thinking that drives great teachers out of the education system. I noticed you posted this before chiquita mentioned they were being asked to account for their work all year long.

Do you actually realize what most principals do when they get letters from parents?
Don't you see that teachers end up facing pressure to bump up grades? We saw the whole circus last year in honors classes... or we end up with an artificial surplus of A's during enrollment, which isn't just an issue for chiquitino's child—it affects everyone else too.

I honestly don't know how you imagine a principal "helping" a student. 🤷
Grading criteria are made clear to every student at the start of the school year (if the teacher doesn't state them directly, parents usually go over them, and they're often available online; not to mention that older kids know exactly what each teacher's style is, even if the teacher is new to the district).
Every kid has the entire school year to improve their grades, fix mistakes, or ask for extra credit... look, if it doesn't work out, it just means they weren't cut out for it.

In what universe is a principal going to visit a teacher on June 16th and ask them to re-test a student for the entire school year on June 19th or 21st, just because they received a polite letter—or a threat—from a parent?

The fact that the admissions system is broken certainly isn't something parents should have to fix, especially when dealing with a specific case involving their eighth grader.
In a system that is exhausting for students, teachers, and parents alike, parents can only do what they can to increase their child's chances of getting in.
And as long as the system remains rotten, people will write to the principal, the inspector, the agency, or whoever else needs to hear it. Once national exams or entrance tests are introduced that carry as much weight as GPA, the agony for everyone will finally end. Everyone wants that; we're just waiting.

Look, I wouldn't get too carried away thinking parents are actually going to be thrilled about these national standardized tests; I mean, have you seen the current test scores?🤦
Yeah, I get it—everyone wants to pin the blame squarely on the teachers—but still... we’re talking high-stakes testing, massive amounts of stress, way too much material being crammed into one window, and just an overwhelming number of subjects to tackle all at once... it feels like things might end up being even more of a mess than they are now.

It’s hard to imagine things getting any more intense than they are right now.

Of course it’s possible.
I mean, this whole obsession with chasing grades or boosting a GPA isn't ever going to go away, because there will always be some percentage of a student's future tied to their academic record.
And that just leads us into this sort of endless loop—people end up studying solely to secure a grade rather than actually absorbing knowledge, so nobody is really learning things they can carry with them for life. I suppose that makes standardized national testing, especially for subjects covering several years of curriculum, one of the worst possible approaches for kids when that's how most people are wired to think.

I suppose I should probably address this—though I’m not entirely sure why it matters now—but there's been some chatter regarding frupy. It’s all a bit disorganized, isn't it? I mean, if one were to actually look at the situation with any degree of scrutiny—which, let's be honest, most people here fail to do—one might find a different perspective altogether. Not that I'm claiming to have the definitive answer, mind you, but things aren't quite as simple as they seem. It's a bit of a mess, really—or maybe I'm just overthinking it—but I suspect there's more to the story than what's being served up on the surface. mellowskipper says:
Don't go getting swept up in this whole idea that parents are actually going to be thrilled with these national standardized tests—I mean, have you even looked at the results lately? It’s hard to imagine anyone being satisfied when the data looks like this.🤦
Look, I know—I really do get it—everyone’s going to jump down my throat and say the blame lies entirely with the teachers, but still... there's more to it than that. High-stakes testing, the sheer level of stress, being buried under an avalanche of material all at once, and having way too many subjects to pass in one go... it’s a lot. It's probably going to be much worse than what we're dealing with now. I guess.

I suppose I’m actually fine with those entrance exams and grades being factored into admissions—provided they carry an equal weight alongside the removal of the general GPA requirement. Or maybe that's just my take, anyway.

Carl Bishop2 said:It’s hard to imagine things getting any more intense than they are right now.

Exactly. Things couldn't possibly get any worse than this mess—honestly, I don't think they can. This entire system is just... well, it’s stripping us down, turning everyone into something unpleasant—something that, if I'm being honest, most of us wouldn't even recognize ourselves as. It's a downward spiral, I guess.

Standardized testing would take a massive weight off the shoulders of elementary school teachers—if parents could just stop complaining to the local water utility and go organize some protests outside the National Science Foundation instead.

After reading chiquitin's post, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d honestly rather be working a construction site than teaching in an elementary school. 😁

but I don't think people realize that focusing solely on GPA isn't going to solve anything; it’ll just end up adding an incredible amount of stress to those standardized national exams.
personally, I've always been in favor of using entrance exams combined with high grades in specific subjects that actually matter for a particular high school. though, I suppose the entrance exam itself should probably carry more weight in the final calculation.
that way, you at least know you're passing classes that you're actually interested in and that click with how you learn.
as it stands now, they're basically setting you up to struggle with these national tests by forcing you through subjects that aren't interesting, aren't your strengths, and might not even be relevant to the specific high school track you've chosen.

hiddendriver34 said:Standardized testing would take a massive weight off the shoulders of elementary school teachers—if parents could just stop complaining to the local water utility and go organize some protests outside the National Science Foundation instead.

After reading chiquitin's post, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d honestly rather be working a construction site than teaching in an elementary school. 😁

Nah, they’d probably just end up blaming the schools anyway, claiming the teachers didn't teach them anything at all.🧐

urbantinker8 said:but I don't think people realize that focusing solely on GPA isn't going to solve anything; it’ll just end up adding an incredible amount of stress to those standardized national exams.
personally, I've always been in favor of using entrance exams combined with high grades in specific subjects that actually matter for a particular high school. though, I suppose the entrance exam itself should probably carry more weight in the final calculation.
that way, you at least know you're passing classes that you're actually interested in and that click with how you learn.
as it stands now, they're basically setting you up to struggle with these national tests by forcing you through subjects that aren't interesting, aren't your strengths, and might not even be relevant to the specific high school track you've chosen.

Sure, I’m all for it!
We could even have national standardized testing at the end of every year, so when it comes time for enrollment, we only look at the subjects that actually matter for that path.
I definitely agree that we need to take some of that grading pressure off teachers, but I also feel like there needs to be a way for both students and parents to get a clear picture of where they actually stand academically—and that needs to happen way before the end of middle school.

hiddendriver34, man, if we actually did that, you’d see. Everything would stay pretty much the same—kids would still be doing their work and taking tests—but the whole point would shift. Instead of just being a grade on a screen, those tests would act more like a GPS for the students, giving them actual feedback to help them find their way.