Creative School Experiment

Our Principal pulled us aside at the Fall conference recently to ask if we'd be interested in trying out a new situation for our son who is struggling with many of the issues parents in this forum have described. He knows he's a good kid inside and doesn't want to send him to our region's "troubled kids" special school yet, so he's gotten creative. (We still don't have diagnosis and meds, and won't for months, so need to get by somehow in the meantime. Probably ADHD, but maybe anxiety/OCD/depression?)

So, this is a public school, but they found an available teacher somehow who will meet with just my son and a few other middle schoolers to work through curricula in a specialized way. Small group, project-oriented, student-driven. E.g., teacher said she'd find what their interests are and work in social studies, math, etc. around that subject. My son is obsessed with sneakers right now, so designing a brand, setting up a "shop," marketing, etc. could work in the core elements somehow. I hope it works. I'll update the group. I bring this up in case others might be able to suggest it in their districts someday.

School is our biggest problem, so this would be fantastic if it works to get him learning again and boost his confidence.

[anirush]

Wow, I am so impressed that a public school will do this. I have struggled to get much support at all for the ADHD/OCD issues. MY grandson's grade school vice principal told me he could control this if he wanted to. And he supposedly had ADHD, too.

[Hidden in reply to anirush]

Yes, we are fortunate. But they are tired of dealing with my son through detentions that don't work. They have to do something (as do we, of course, and we're trying) because he's disrupting the other students' learning. A private school probably would have kicked him out by now.