Need some advice - NON BPI

[alyssasmommy]

Hi,

It's back to school time and yesterday was our first day back. My son had his first day in Kindergarten and his teacher is the same teacher Alyssa had in K - we are thrilled! I am not as thrilled with the teacher Alyssa has for 3rd grade. She was sent to this class along with 1 other boy from her 2nd grade class. I don't get that warm feeling about her teacher - at all. I spent about 10 minutes with her this morning discussing Alyssa's BPI - and she truly seemed uninterested in the whole subject. Alyssa happened to walk in during our discussion and she said to Alyssa "you'll need to remind me about this" etc..I gave her some material to read and she said she would when she got a chance. She also said to make an appointment if I wished to discuss this further! Another thing that bothers me is there are at LEAST 4 kids in the class on medication for ADD/ADHD and another child with Down's Syndrome (we had her in our 1st grade class). I truly feel that Alyssa will not get the most out of her 3rd grade year being in this class. HELP! Am I jumping the gun here? Should I wait and see how things unfold - or if I feel as I do now should I get an appointment with the Principal ASAP? I have never been in this posistion before and I need some good advice like what to say to the principal if I decide to go forward to try and get her class changed.

Thanks so much for reading and letting me vent!!!

Jody - mom to Alyssa (8) LOBPI

[cherie_hohertz]

Hi Jody.

Sarah's not school aged yet, but I'm hoping I never have to go through this.. However, here's what I would do.

GO TO THE PRINCIPAL NOW!!!! Any teacher that is not willing to listen and take note about all the things that have to be done for Alyssa, does not need to be trusted with her care for 7 hours daily. I realize that teachers have a lot to handle, especially at the first of the year (I was a teacher and remember all too well the chaos of those first few weeks), but do you think she will be careful of this during the next few days BEFORE she reads the materials on the seriousness of BPI?

Just my $.02

Cherie

[alyssasmommy]

Hi again,

Just had to mention that we do not have an IEP as it was NEVER needed. All her previous teachers were very eager to listen and learn about her injury and asked questions. Am I being to tough on this teacher on her 2nd day of school????!!!

Thanks!

[Marcel]

After such "discussion" with the teacher I would also go immediately to the principal.
But, when about the principal, I would consider the fact that unusually many "special" children are in the same class. This leads me to suspect the principal (I assume the principal has a significant role in distributing the children into classes and in assigning the teachers) of wrong thinking, such as "let put all children with problems in the same class". Since you feel "that Alyssa will not get the most out of her 3rd grade year being in this class", I would point to the principal that BPI is not brain related and Alyssa doesn't need any special assistance from this point of view.

Another question related to the principal: why he decided to assign such insensitive teacher to a class with many special children?

[Marcel]

Oooops! Sorry, I forgot to sign the above post.

Marcel - father of Vlad (10) ROBPI

[katep]

Is it possible the teacher was truly busy, and perhaps trying to give you a hint of that? I think that her suggestion of making an appointment is a very good one, and I would make one immediately. I wouldn't judge her based on one spontaneous interaction on a very busy second day of school (*with* all the kids there?!)... see what she's like when she can make adequate time and devote proper attention to you and Alyssa, before you go to the principal.

I think you are likely to get more respect from the principal (rather than possibly being dismissed as an overreactive mom) if you exhaust the proper "channels" before you meet with him. You definitely want to be your child's advocate, but the more reasonable you are, the more likely that they will take what you say seriously. They might still blow you off, but you'll have a much stronger argument if they do. And it might turn out the teacher was just frazzled, and you might actually turn her into a strong ally, by recognizing that and working with her to help Alyssa.

Kate

[Tanya in NY]

My two cents is that you need to give it a couple weeks. The first few days are always frazzled. Maybe she was just overwhelmed as our children can get overwhelmed. I don't think she should have been so nonchalant about the BPI issue, but you should approach this again say maybe on Monday. I would schedule an appointment with her and not go directly to the principal. She may truly be the best choice of a teacher for your daughter in the long run but you have to give it a chance to even see.

I do have a devil's adovcate type of question for you though...how do you know that there are at least 4 children with ADD/ADHD on medication in her classroom? Who told you that? I truly wouldn't be worried about these children as they have been recognized as having ADHD and are being treated. I would more worry about the other couple children in the classroom who are undiagnosed with ADHD, depression, abusive families, etc. that you don't know about. Having ADHD doesn't make them problem children, but rather make it difficult for them to focus, but it seems as though their families are trying to get them the help they need. I just wanted to put it into a different perspective for you. Just my two cents.

Tanya in NY
(Amber's Mom, ROBPI, almost 3
and Casey's Mom, ADHD, 10 years)

[brandonsmom]

I think you need to go to the principal now.....I had these feeling last year with my son's first grade teacher....I was right, to solve the problem I voluteered many hours in his classroom !
Gayle mom of Brandon ROBPI

[alyssasmommy]

Hi Tanya,

I don't mind the question of how I know about the medicated kids - I know because I know the children and parents. I ran into one of the parents at the store lastnight and she was telling me that she was called to pick up her son yesterday because he was out of control. She said they have him on "new" medication that is not working so well. Like you say - it is a good thing these parents are seeking help with their situation and I don't knock them for that. I just want what I feel is best for Alyssa and if there are too many distractions, this may not benefit her being in this class. The teacher tells me the class is not Special Ed. by any means. Ihave some doubts about that - I have put in a call to the principal and am waiting for a call back.

Thank you to everyone for your responses!

Jody