School Policy

Your Future

I recently spoke(individually) with two of my favorite kids from the lower level eleventh graders, who are going to graduate in May and have the right to be officially finished with school.

Most of these kids are going to be finished in May and have no plans to ever darken the doorway of an institution of higher learning ever again. They hate school. Having a teacher in the front of the class talking just confuses them. (Why does that man just keep talking?) Most of them have no plans beyond getting out of school.

These two boys confused me at first. Why are two bright, well-spoken boys in this class of hoodlums? I asked them both what their plans are after school. One is going to continue Dutch schooling by going to another school and one is going to continue Dutch schooling by staying at our school. The way they continue their schooling is that they stay in the eleventh grade, but switch to the higher level eleventh grade class. They they graduate one year late after moving to the higher level twelvth grade class. Lots of trouble, but then they can go to university.

The other day at a meeting, we were talking about the lowere eleventh graders. Problems and solutions. I didn't have a solution except that I said, "They don't know what they're doing. They have no goals. The higher lever kids are all university bound. These kids have no idea what they will do." Of course these are generalities, but life is so full of generalities.

posted by Philip @ 12:49 PM