In my experience, these classes have always been offered from middle school through high school, and in the younger grades, they have always been required. DS13 had a FACS class in sixth grade in his previous middle school.
This year (7th grade), we changed schools (open enrollment) for several reasons. One of the reasons was because according to what was presented on the school website, it actually looked like they offered more and better classes than the school we were in.
It has recently come to my attention during a conversation with my son, that they don’t have a FACS class in seventh grade. (I should have noticed earlier in the year as I check his grades online all the time, but I just didn’t think about it) I looked at the list/descriptions of the courses online again, and sure enough, it shows required FACS courses for grades 7-9, and then optional foods, sewing, life skills, and other similar classes for grades 10-12 (this school is K-12).
I asked the principal about this, and she replied that a while back, the teacher for those classes retired, and they haven’t been able to find anybody to replace her, even though they have kept the department open and have tried to replace her. The problem with this claim is, throughout this year, I have looked several times at the employment page on their website, and this position has NEVER been posted during this entire year. So I believe this may not have been a completely truthful answer. I think the more likely scenario is that they intentionally left the position open for budget reasons.
In addition to being concerned that my son is missing what I feel is an important part of his education, I also worry about what other classes I have been led to believe he will have the opportunity to take, but they will no longer offer (including several college credit classes we want him to take in the upper grades)
So my questions are:
If you have a middle schooler or high schooler, does your school have a FACS/Foods/Life Skills/Sewing/etc program?
For what grades are they offered?
And finally, how important do you feel these classes are in your child’s education?
This year (7th grade), we changed schools (open enrollment) for several reasons. One of the reasons was because according to what was presented on the school website, it actually looked like they offered more and better classes than the school we were in.
It has recently come to my attention during a conversation with my son, that they don’t have a FACS class in seventh grade. (I should have noticed earlier in the year as I check his grades online all the time, but I just didn’t think about it) I looked at the list/descriptions of the courses online again, and sure enough, it shows required FACS courses for grades 7-9, and then optional foods, sewing, life skills, and other similar classes for grades 10-12 (this school is K-12).
I asked the principal about this, and she replied that a while back, the teacher for those classes retired, and they haven’t been able to find anybody to replace her, even though they have kept the department open and have tried to replace her. The problem with this claim is, throughout this year, I have looked several times at the employment page on their website, and this position has NEVER been posted during this entire year. So I believe this may not have been a completely truthful answer. I think the more likely scenario is that they intentionally left the position open for budget reasons.
In addition to being concerned that my son is missing what I feel is an important part of his education, I also worry about what other classes I have been led to believe he will have the opportunity to take, but they will no longer offer (including several college credit classes we want him to take in the upper grades)
So my questions are:
If you have a middle schooler or high schooler, does your school have a FACS/Foods/Life Skills/Sewing/etc program?
For what grades are they offered?
And finally, how important do you feel these classes are in your child’s education?
