Jayden is Brilliant. I don't want to toot my own horn or anything but he is super smart. (TOOT TOOT) And I am going to take credit for it too..I come from a family of super smart intelligent people..ON BOTH SIDES. (Pritt and Morgan) Not that Greg's side isn't smart...they are. It's just that well, whenever my kids do something well or get complimented on their looks..its always because they take after me. And I have the history to back it up...What with several members of my family owning successful businesses...Many a SAT score over 1300 (when they still scored it that way) and several really high ASVAB military scores (including one 98 out of 99 from my brother and one perfect score from my Uncle) When it comes to the smarts...WE got em.
And since I feel the need to
Jayden's Score: The score Jayden received.
Dist. Avg. RIT: The average score of all the kids in his grade in the school district
Norm Group Avg: The average score of ALL of the kids in the same grade by tested NWEA
Student %ile Range: The percent of students of the ENTIRE test group that scored less or equal to the student score.
Mathematics:
Jayden's Score 210
Dist. Avg RIT 196
Norm Group Avg 191
Student %ile 96
Language Usage:
Jayden's Score 202
Dist. Avg RIT 197
Norm Group Avg 192
Student %ile 85
Reading:
Jayden's Score 199
Dist. Avg RIT 196
Norm Group Avg 190
Student %ile 93
His performance goals were all High which means that he met or exceeded the goals set for this test.
This kid will study Rocket Science for sure. Right??
You'd think he'd have the marks to back up this super brain of his, right?? Wrong. It's been no secret that I have been frustrated with Jayden's education this year. His teacher was very rigid, didn't give the benefit of the doubt EVER, and used every mistake-however minor-as life lesson. She often counted off for things they haven't learned or for misspelled words that weren't spelling words. Forget to cross a t or dot an i? Points off. Use the wrong tense in a verb (even though they hadn't studied verb tenses yet)? Points off. She nit picked on every little thing..Not a paper crossed her desk that didn't have something negative written on it. " write neater, use better spacing, not enough information" She was like a red pen Nazi.
For one project toward the end of this year, Jayden had to write a book. We followed the check list verbatim. We completed each requirement. He is getting an A+, I thought. An A++ because this project was perfect. I thought there was NO way she could find fault in it. Did he get a 100 % of the points. NOPE. Why?? She took points off the title page because the picture he drew was not eye catching enough. MIND YOU...JAYDEN IS COLOR BLIND!!!
School this year was very frustrating for Jayden. He felt pressured in her class and would often come home crying. I talked to that teacher until I was blue in the face. I wanted him moved, he was struggling in her class. I saw how upset he was at night, I heard stories about how he felt like he couldn't do anything right in that class. I am his mother and I am pretty sure that, at this age, I know my kid pretty well...and my kid was miserable. But did they listen to me?? NOPE. "His test scores dictated his class placement. He'll be bored if moved to a lower level class." So What?? I said. I'd rather him be a little bored and yet feel accomplished then be challenged and stressed. Don't you think it's odd that he is no longer a straight A student?? I questioned. It's not like he went from all A's to mostly A's and some B's. His grades continued to drop with every nine weeks. EVERY SINGLE NINE WEEKS. My son, my high scoring son went from being a straight A student for the last two years to a B and C student. SERIOUSLY!!!
"NO, No, No!" I heard over and over. "He's fine. He's learning what he needs to pass ISTEP next year. He's where he needs to be. We can't move him down, the next class level is full...blah, blah, blah" Excuses? She had them all.
So, I had a talk with God. I had a talk with my husband and then I had a talk with Jayden...General Consensus? We would finish out this year and then next year, Jayden would start at Zion Lutheran. In private school..where the classes are smaller and teachers are more vested and he could have more one on one attention...we hoped that Jayden would once again find his love for learning. We did what we needed to do to get through the last few weeks. I had almost let go of my anger toward this teacher, this school system and the crap they had put my child through.
Then this teacher had the nerve to right this on his report card comments
"Jayden is a great kid (agreed. I know how cool my kid is) He has great potential when he tries his best. (backhanded compliment..not surprised given this teacher's track record) He needs to continue to build his confidence. (huh...wha??)
Hold 'er there, Pierre. Back the frig up!! Did she really write that that my son needs to continue to build his confidence?? Really? After she spent the entire year breaking him down?? I mean seriously????? Hello..what kills a childs confidence more than red marks and point deductions for handwriting neatness on a paper not pertaining to handwriting with ALL the correct answers?? Why try when you know that you can't get all the points no matter what you do??
(oh..and in case any of you are curious..Jayden has received S+'s all year for handwriting. In second grade, here, they don't give grades for handwriting. S stands for satisfactory. I am not sure what the + stands for...except for maybe satisfactory plus? My guess is that it's equivalent to a b+. So clearly, his handwriting is not terrible.)
IDK. I am beyond angry at that comment.
and I am SO thankful that my kids won't have to endure another day in that school.
Much Love.
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