Monday, August 12, 2013

High School to College

It feels like forever since I've been able to write a blog post. I like to write in the morning while it's still quiet, but something about having more than 2 of my 4 children around makes my house too noisy!


But, I still have plenty of pictures! Small side-track ... above is an American Finch male. Isn't he gorgeous? I wanted to put something beautiful in here before my school rants. I so apologize. I cannot be the only person who finds these things to be pesky problems.

Back to the first thought ... 

Josie and I have been touring area colleges in anticipation of next fall. Josie will graduate June 2014. She's very excited about the prospect of going on to college. To say we've been bombarded with college information ... oh wow! She did finally decide on her major and then immediately decided two would be better. What it really is breaking down to right now is can she do any cooking in the dorm and what kind of work options are available. This, of course, is after we've determined they have the courses to support the double major. We'll see who the winner is come May for financial aide packages.

Meanwhile, I've been going to the high schools and registering a senior and a sophomore to return to school. Both schools automatically assume you are a) been local for years and b) completely healthy. The reason I say that is, for Josie's school, Sterling High School, their registration was poorly marked to it's location in a large high school building and had NO handicap parking of any sort. Then, these kind people threaded you around a good 1/3 of the school leaving you well away from wherever you were parked!

I cannot say Jacob's school was much better. First, he is a special education student. We live in the ROWVA district, but he goes to Knoxville High School. To be even more confusing, ROWVA registered 7/25 (which I did not know), while Knoxville was 8/8. Now for the real confusion. Knoxville sent me a letter about 2 days after ROWVA's registration telling me to register him there, but ROWVA didn't know what to do with me when I showed up to do so. They sent me to Knoxville. Knoxville had their registration at a junior high that I had no clue where it was (I now have a map of Knoxville ... I only go there for school things). I get to the junior high only to find they have no schedule for him ... can I go back to the high school? Only to find the special education schedules aren't ready. I hope he's registered for school. Let's not talk about their handicap parking accommodations either.

I am failing to understand why it must be so complicated to register a child for high school. Why must you wander through large parts of the building? Or even wander at all? Why not use a gym for whichever school is largest and do everything in one place, CLEARLY marked? And, make parking places near the door clearly marked for handicap individuals?

And, why can we not have a basic list of supplies for high schoolers at this registration? Surely most teachers have taught this class before? By the time classes start, sales for supplies are well over and you end up paying full price or higher for this "special" supply item that the child seems to end up not using. Yes, call me confused for this.

I can at least say that ROWVA's handicap parking makes better sense than Sterling's or Knoxville's. At least it's near the door you need. And, give college's credit, they have handicap parking all over the place (though sometimes it's frustrating to find if they also have construction ... laugh). And, if you remember to tell them beforehand, really try to make touring the campus easy. 

So, while summer has been full of one child or another needing me to help them with something, soon it will be quiet with at least 3 of them off to one school or another. And, hopefully, the one not in school will be on a better schedule as well. Now to enjoy another cup of coffee and clean out my email box, then, maybe, enjoy a little sewing.
Laura

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