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Parent Perspective: Back to School, Again


A new ninth-grade parent reflects on their child's academic journey thus far, and how Denver Academy is changing their outlook on the educational process.

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The day had come. We were finally having our New Parents' Back-to-School Night. After the school visits, the testing, and the numerous forms that had been completed and submitted, we were through the door and the start of school was in sight!
 
I wandered along following other ‘lost-looking’ parents and gravitated towards a table full of name tags and markers. I failed miserably at the first hurdle. I wrote my name on the white rectangle but could not for the life of me remove the ‘sticky part’ from the whole sheet. I bent the paper, tried to peel off the backing - nothing happened. I finally pleaded with another parent to come to my aid and they took said sticker off the sheet with ease. I felt my face flush as I put my partial name on to my shirt. Of course, I had written my full name OVER the edge of the sticker.  
 
After a snack of pure sugar (cookies were great - bananas weren't doing it for me that evening), we progressed to the other hall where the rows of plastic seats awaited our parental bodies. Lots of sticker-laden people filled the seats with a wide variety of grades announcing their offspring. The intake was across the board and as I sat and waited for the entertainment to start, I looked around and took in my fellow colleagues as we embarked on our Denver Academy adventure.
 
The lights were dimmed, the slides were displayed, and the teaching body gave their speeches and touched upon many of our nerves, no doubt.  This was not my first rodeo, nor the first school for my child. I had heard the reassurances before - that a school THRIVED on a challenged kid…. that they had the teachers who would LISTEN to our concerns, that they UNDERSTOOD differentiation in the classroom.  (And I can pout like a supermodel in my bathroom mirror but Paris fashion week hasn’t called my cell just yet……).
 
But then there was the quote, which others had perhaps seen before - I had not:
“Teaching a room full of learners the same thing in the same way over the same time span with the same supports and expecting good results from all students has never happened and never will.” 
Carol Anne Tomlinson, University of Virginia
 
That struck a nerve. That MADE SENSE. I had NEVER heard this before despite the educational establishments (many) we have visited in this state. This gave me hope.  
 
I looked around at the other parents to see how this resonated with them. Surely I wasn’t the only one here advocating for my child and deciding to make financial sacrifices to give him the opportunity he needs after so many fruitless attempts to find a school to make him feel whole. I wondered what sort of collective tales we would have of homework frustration and souls being shattered, for not ‘fitting in’ or ‘asking too many questions.’
 
The inspiring teachers stood up to introduced themselves and waved to us and we clapped along and tried to remember names and perhaps wondered how many emails we would be receiving from them in the next year.
 
On we went to the next ‘stage’ where we met other parents in our grade level and wrote down logistical expectations and some day-to-day requirements. Questions were asked and more hope was given. I felt I had found MY PEOPLE. My questions were not met with cold stares. The others nodded along as though I had asked about a relevant issue. Others asked things I had worried about myself. It felt like I was surrounded by people speaking my language.  
 
If my weary limbs would have allowed it I would have skipped back to my car. I felt excited about the start of school. I know, I know, I had felt this at the start of other school years, but this time I wasn’t worrying about HOW my child would cope/fit in/adhere to ‘their’ rules. 
 
Denver Academy made me excited about the school year again.
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