Reasonably motivated teen, crummy school

**Enigma** · 02-19-2006, 06:53 AM

My sister is in 10th grade and goes to a socioeconomically disadvantaged school. The expectations are abysmal. She scores 90th+ percentile on tests and wants to go to college, but she was not allowed to take college prep classes. This was the same guidance counselor who forced another student to take a class he had already passed for 5 weeks until finally letting him take the right class, by which time he was hopelessly behind. My sister is bored stiff and afraid of some of the gangsters. She socializes with neighbors but I've never seen her socialize with classmates outside of school. The school is generally unresponsive to parents and there is currently an initiative to separate from the school district. Because my sister is not getting much out of high school, she is teaching herself algebra and geometry so that she can take the California high school proficiency exam. I am helping her with the math and our parents are paying the exam fee.

I used to tutor at the local community college, and my first reaction was to be appalled at the number of high school graduates who couldn't write a coherent sentence or add 7+4 without a calculator. While she'll have to take Algebra 2 in college, she will be ahead of a lot of high school graduates who come in taking pre-algebra and grammar.

I think this is a positive step for her. I'm not sure how she'll handle the transition to an academically challenging environment though. She whines that her classes are easy so she should be able to handle college. I know she's smart enough, and she would have ended up dealing with this in 2 years anyway, but are there any suggestions for smoothing the transition from a high school that passes anyone with a pulse to community college? I know several who did this and did fine, but I was still wondering what you thought.

Personally, I think I might want to teach at the college level. I'm not sure though; I'm still in college figuring out what I want to do. I went to a better high school, but she wasn't lucky enough to get out of the assigned school like I was.

**Maya39** · 04-19-2012, 06:08 PM

This is a problem in many schools around the country, unfortunately. It's a shame the school made it difficult for her to learn there. I think that supplementing high school with community college courses is a good idea. You might also decide that online high school is a better idea.

**CatherineT** · 04-20-2012, 01:49 AM

Bright children will always have to supplement their studies at school with learning outside the school environment. That has always been the case. Luckily, we have access to the Internet where all sorts of things are readily available. Advise her to keep a book with her all the time and use any time at school she has to twiddle her thumbs to read.

**Lindy** · 04-29-2012, 02:49 AM

I really admire the drive both you and your sister have. The major issue she may have in the transition period is throwing off the below par learning expectations that will have shaped her, regardless of her personal self belief.

**Carolynn** · 05-09-2012, 12:47 AM

I agree with Lindy that the transition in expectations will be the toughest part for her. I came from a high school that was a little better than your sister's and I did get to take some AP classes. I went to college instead of high school for my junior and senior years of high school. The biggest thing to me was the college professors just saying on the first day of class these are your assignments and don't expect me to hold your hand through them.

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