Parents of Class of 2018 thread

[Hikergirl]

My ds starts the day after Labor Day and he got his schedule last week. He's thinking of dropping a class so he needs to go see guidance before school starts to pick something else.

 

[Vicki926]

How soon do your schools put out schedules before school starts? My daughter got her schedule on a Monday night, school started Wednesday. She had scheduling conflicts with 2 of her AP classes and could not get into both. My problem with this is she spent hours doing summer homework for that class. I thought that was so wrong of them. She ended up getting switched to another AP class which meant she had to hurry up to catch up with summer homework. She found out first day of school that she was able to add the other AP, but a friend with the exact same issue did not get schedule fixed until a week after school started so he was a week behind. Just wondering when other schools post schedules and deal with problems.

That really stinks. Summer work is really a lot of work, and to do it all fir no reason...grrrrr.

We got our schedules the beginning of last week and we start 9/6.

Julia was going to try and see if there was any med class at all she could take instead of marketing(which they randomly put her in because nothing else she wanted fit)..but she has gym per. 4, marketing per. 5, AP Bio per. 6. So..she has heard you always have gym before AP Bio because once every 8 days you have bio lab and miss half the class before it.
But somehow she got marketing before Bio..and her boyfriend is in her gym class, lol, so she doesn't want to bring it to their attention in case it was a mistake and they switch up her gym class. lol

Btw my incoming freshman, her brother...has gym the same period.

She's going to guidance to try to switch her locker, and to get the paperwork to start volunteering at the hospital.
I want her to get it all settled now before school starts. That has be a huge pain to have to do everything last minute.

 

[Vicki926]

Hope everyone had a great summer and getting ready for what everyone has said is the year of all years! Thursday is technically my son's first day but he has to go Wednesday for the Freshman first day to run some ice breaker classes and tours. Schedules came out last week and he is pretty happy. He has Honors English, US History, Physics and Math 2. He also took AP Chem 2 and Finance & Investment Our school runs on a 6 day rotation and the only issue he has is 3 of the 6 days he has lunch twice a day! He wants to try to move one of them to a study hall but does not want to mess with anything in schedule and has the 2 labs to work with . He got a job this summer at a local grocery store and he is really loving it. He works in the Shop From Home department. They are really great as far as school and schedule. The said school comes first. Hopefully that sticks. We have a college visit set for September, October and November and we went to his first choice in August for a 2nd visit. Will be taking SAT a few times and ACT as well.

I am trying to remain calm but my head is literally spinning between trying to decide if it is best to work with someone to help us with applications and aid or just do it on our own.

Julia goes tomorrow for Freshman Orientation(juniors are peer leaders). She's hoping to get her brothers friends in her group. Lol

2 lunches?? How'd that happen? LOL I would love that.
There's only one lunch period here for the whole school, which I thought would be horrible, but works out really well.
Can he use his extra lunch as a study hall-go to the library or whatever?

How many hours does he work?

We have done zero college visits. Uggghhhhh. What's his first choice, Penn State?

 

[clori]

Time for updates: DD has finished driver's ed and is just waiting for a date for her license since she will be doing it with her driver's ed school. I bumped into her driving teacher at a store and she said dd is ready. I don't feel ready after pricing insurance. Let's hope for nice weather for the test since dd has not drive in snow. In Massachusetts high school students in public schools have to pass a state test (MCAS) in 3 areas to get a diploma. You only need needs improvement but if you get at least proficient in 2 and advanced in 1 you might be eligible for a free tuition scholarship for state schools (doesn't count fees so not worth that much). DD did science at the end of 9th grade and was proficient . She just got her math and ELA scores back from 10th grade and was advanced in both. I knew she would do well but glad it is done.

Since dd is taking dual enrollment classes she just registered for the spring semester. Of course as a new student she couldn't sign up until the last day for returning students. DD had a schedule picked with the high school guidance counselor but had to be revamped with the college dual enrollment coordinator. She found out she can't take nutrition/lab as her science and the only one that fit her schedule is environmental science that she isn't thrilled with. She also doesn't like the time of her accounting class since it interferes with her figure skating time but school comes first. She is going from 4 classes (13 credits) to 5 classes (17 credits) so should be more time consuming. She won't have classes on Friday.

 

[mickeyboat]

My girls have been doing really well so far this year. I was pleased with their first quarter grades. Field hockey just ended and ice hockey has begun. They have their first scrimmage tomorrow. DD16 got her license in September and I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have her driving. They are involved in so many activities, and I no longer have to worry about getting them there and back. She needs a lot more practice driving in the snow. DD16 is coaching hockey again this year. They are both working on their applications for National Honor Society, and are working on their Honors Program Capstone projects (DD16 wants to start a school store). They are working on student council and are on prom committee. We have done zero college visits, but they need to start narrowing down their choices a little before we start taking trips. So busy, but so much fun!

DD17 has been having some nausea in the mornings lately (no, she's not pregnant, lol). She has also had some dizzy spells. I have taken her to the doctor a couple of times and they are not finding anything physically wrong with her other than maybe a virus. She took Zofran for a few days so she could make it through the day at school. She is feeling a lot better now that midterms are over, and I strongly suspect she is having some anxiety. We are working on ways for her to combat it. Exercise helps a lot. Anyone else have kids with anxiety? What helps? I want to help her learn some good coping mechanisms before she leaves for college.

 

[mrsv98]

Oh how I wish DD would drive!!! It is a thing amongst her friends, only one has a license. We offered her a car for her 16th bday and she said no thanks! What kid does that????

School is good. She is doing fine in all her classes. A bit of a slow start in Honors Pre-calc but we just had conferences and her teacher says she is doing much better. I am so glad we let her take regular physics rather than AP. She is doing great and enjoying it. Chem really put her off science and we wanted her to go back to liking it. She isn't going to pursue a career in science and we found out that many colleges don't even accept AP Physics taken as Jr!!!

They have already done a preliminary pick for Sr year classes. I know the school has to plan but they aren't even done with one sem of Jr year and they have to choose Sr!

We did have a tragedy this week. We received a call from the school at 5:20am Tuesday postponing classes for two hours. It turns out a young, 39 yo teacher, collapsed and died in her class room on Monday afternoon and no one found her for hours. It was really shocking and DD says the atmosphere in the school has been really strange all week. The school brought in counselors and comfort dogs to help the kids and staff. Really sad all around.

We are all looking forward to a nice little break next week, we can all use the sleep! I can't wait until next year when they change the calendar around and DD will have finals before Christmas break. The teachers are also supposed to ease up on the homework load. I completely agree with needing to practice to further understanding but 3 or 4 hours of hw every night is ridiculous.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

Oh how I wish DD would drive!!! It is a thing amongst her friends, only one has a license. We offered her a car for her 16th bday and she said no thanks! What kid does that????

School is good. She is doing fine in all her classes. A bit of a slow start in Honors Pre-calc but we just had conferences and her teacher says she is doing much better. I am so glad we let her take regular physics rather than AP. She is doing great and enjoying it. Chem really put her off science and we wanted her to go back to liking it. She isn't going to pursue a career in science and we found out that many colleges don't even accept AP Physics taken as Jr!!!

They have already done a preliminary pick for Sr year classes. I know the school has to plan but they aren't even done with one sem of Jr year and they have to choose Sr!

We did have a tragedy this week. We received a call from the school at 5:20am Tuesday postponing classes for two hours. It turns out a young, 39 yo teacher, collapsed and died in her class room on Monday afternoon and no one found her for hours. It was really shocking and DD says the atmosphere in the school has been really strange all week. The school brought in counselors and comfort dogs to help the kids and staff. Really sad all around.

We are all looking forward to a nice little break next week, we can all use the sleep! I can't wait until next year when they change the calendar around and DD will have finals before Christmas break. The teachers are also supposed to ease up on the homework load. I completely agree with needing to practice to further understanding but 3 or 4 hours of hw every night is ridiculous.

That is so sad about the teacher! I can imagine the kids must all be really upset.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

My DS is taking his driving his driving test Monday. I really hope he passes. I feel like I've become a taxi this year! Neither of my boys is into sports, but they are busy with other activities, and we are driving my oldest about 35 minutes away twice a week for dual enrollment classes.

Dual enrollment classes are putting a damper on vacation plans since college doesn't have the same breaks as high school. So I'm kind of sad about that. My boys take a scout trip every summer, and DS doesn't like asking for a lot of time off during the summer from his job. So a summer vacation is hard too. Christmas break is becoming our only practical option, but that means missing time with extended family. DS still works year round, but we live in a tourist driven area. So his work isn't busy in the off season. This vacation dilemma has me kind of down lately. I feel like suddenly my boys are no longer little boys, and I don't know how that happened so fast!

 

[Vicki926]

My girls have been doing really well so far this year. I was pleased with their first quarter grades. Field hockey just ended and ice hockey has begun. They have their first scrimmage tomorrow. DD16 got her license in September and I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have her driving. They are involved in so many activities, and I no longer have to worry about getting them there and back. She needs a lot more practice driving in the snow. DD16 is coaching hockey again this year. They are both working on their applications for National Honor Society, and are working on their Honors Program Capstone projects (DD16 wants to start a school store). They are working on student council and are on prom committee. We have done zero college visits, but they need to start narrowing down their choices a little before we start taking trips. So busy, but so much fun!

DD17 has been having some nausea in the mornings lately (no, she's not pregnant, lol). She has also had some dizzy spells. I have taken her to the doctor a couple of times and they are not finding anything physically wrong with her other than maybe a virus. She took Zofran for a few days so she could make it through the day at school. She is feeling a lot better now that midterms are over, and I strongly suspect she is having some anxiety. We are working on ways for her to combat it. Exercise helps a lot. Anyone else have kids with anxiety? What helps? I want to help her learn some good coping mechanisms before she leaves for college.

First quarter is done. she did well, after a rocky start-her first grade in precalc was a 64 on her summer packet test(her summer packet that she did in June and never glanced at again), she has a great math teacher this year, so she ended up with an A.
AP Bio...we went in for the p/t conference and her teacher says did Julia tell you about her breakdown? Yes, yes she did. They had a quiz, Julia got hers and started crying. Finished way after everyone else did..sent me a text afterwards about how disappointed she was with herself, how she's not going to hang out with her boyfriend the day before a quiz ever again, she needs to work harder and do better, etc etc..
She got a 93 on that quiz.
She gets herself so worked up, I don't know why.
Conversely, she took a quiz that she was like yeah I think I did ok, and she got a 55 on that one. LOL So...I don't know. Thankfully, her teacher drops the lowest quiz grade so that went bye bye.
She got a B+ for the marking period, so she was happy- but it's definitely her hardest class, the one she works the most in, studying.

NHS acceptance just came in, she also applied to social studies and math honor societies, says she forgot about math til the day it was due and half assed her application so she thinks she might not get in that one.

Kids get their license at 17 in NJ, her birthday was in October, and she went that morning for her test and passed. It has been GREAT having her drive. She has a car-my FIL gave her his to use since he doesn't drive anymore. It's a 2005 Altima, with 39,000 miles. We put in a new stereo as a birthday gift, since it didn't have an aux cord/USB port. the one we got is Bluetooth as well.

Still no college visits here, we have to get on that this spring.

Football cheer is done, now she does winter competition cheer(they don't cheer for basketball here). That's slightly annoying because, since basketball and wrestling practices take up the gyms for after school practices, her practices are now at 6pm every day. So the family is all in a different schedule as far as dinner goes.
But, she can drive herself, so it's not all bad.

 

[Vicki926]

My DS is taking his driving his driving test Monday. I really hope he passes. I feel like I've become a taxi this year! Neither of my boys is into sports, but they are busy with other activities, and we are driving my oldest about 35 minutes away twice a week for dual enrollment classes.

Dual enrollment classes are putting a damper on vacation plans since college doesn't have the same breaks as high school. So I'm kind of sad about that. My boys take a scout trip every summer, and DS doesn't like asking for a lot of time off during the summer from his job. So a summer vacation is hard too. Christmas break is becoming our only practical option, but that means missing time with extended family. DS still works year round, but we live in a tourist driven area. So his work isn't busy in the off season. This vacation dilemma has me kind of down lately. I feel like suddenly my boys are no longer little boys, and I don't know how that happened so fast!

Vacation does get so hard as they get older!
We went away last spring break, but my daughter missed 3 softball games. She wasn't on varsity so it wasn't a huge deal, but if she really cared about softball, it would have been drama.

My kids cheer and play football, which starts right after school ends, with the first week of August being the "no-contact" week where they don't have practice. So that's our vacation week.
The issue is that my daughter only works 6 weeks as a summer camp counselor, and that's one of the weeks, so she misses a week of pay, which she doesn't love, but she loves vacation more.

Miss the little kid days when we could go whenever!

 

[Mickeypooh99]

My DS passed his driving test after a little drama! He had all his paperwork, except the proof of insurance on the car. My husband assured me it was in the glove box so off they went. Well we should have double checked. It was expired, and the new one was on our desk at home! So DH calls me and asks me to look for it, and send a picture. In the meantime he calls our insurance company, and they said they'd email a copy to his phone. The instructor gave him 8 minutes or we'd have to reschedule at our expense of course. The insurance company came through and they had it in 5 minutes! DS went on to pass the test. Now we have to wait until his 16th birthday on December 12 to go get the license. This time next year younger DS can take the test. I think we will double check all the paperwork next time!

The driving instructor told DH that the kids can drive in other states with their permits, but I feel like that information isn't accurate. I figure they'd need a full license outside of Michigan. It came up because we went out of state for thanksgiving, and during the test the instructor asked what we were doing for thanksgiving.

 

[mom2travel]

My DS passed his driving test after a little drama! He had all his paperwork, except the proof of insurance on the car. My husband assured me it was in the glove box so off they went. Well we should have double checked. It was expired, and the new one was on our desk at home! So DH calls me and asks me to look for it, and send a picture. In the meantime he calls our insurance company, and they said they'd email a copy to his phone. The instructor gave him 8 minutes or we'd have to reschedule at our expense of course. The insurance company came through and they had it in 5 minutes! DS went on to pass the test. Now we have to wait until his 16th birthday on December 12 to go get the license. This time next year younger DS can take the test. I think we will double check all the paperwork next time!

The driving instructor told DH that the kids can drive in other states with their permits, but I feel like that information isn't accurate. I figure they'd need a full license outside of Michigan. It came up because we went out of state for thanksgiving, and during the test the instructor asked what we were doing for thanksgiving.

My recollection from when I looked this up a year or so ago for DD is that it varies by state as to whether a teen driver with a permit can drive in other states. Some say if you have a permit from your state you're good as long as you follow your state's requirements (having an a licensed driver and max number passengers). Others say you must meet that state's rules to drive (so, for example, if my DD had a permit at 15, she couldn't drive in a state that requires its laws to be followed and doesn't allow a permit until 16.

Junior year is so much fun, huh?!?! I don't know how DD does it all, but so far so good. APUSH is by far her most time consuming class for homework.

We have one official college tour behind us, and she's been to DS's college and a couple of local schools. She hopes to work on a list over winter break so we can come up with a plan to visit more. And study for SATs. And catch up on sleep

 

[gemini2727]

One SAT down, her results were good, but I'll be signing her up for another in March, I believe, and the ACT after that. I feel like I just did this yesterday with my older daughter (1st year college student now.)

Narrowing down a school was much easier with my oldest, since her heart was set on becoming an OT. My second daughter is all over the place, it makes choosing so much harder! Trying to steer her toward one of our state schools that has a broad range of majors, so she'll have time to sort out what she wants to do.

I'm glad I'll have an extra year between her and my youngest, this process ages me!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

My Daughter is driving me nuts - she doesn't want to get her driver's license, doesn't know what colleges she is interested in visiting, doesn't want to look at info regarding colleges and has told me she doesn't want to grow up.

I offered to make her an appointment to talk with someone since I think it's all anxiety about her future (I didn't tell her that!) but she said no. Luckily her brother has been home from college and talks to her about how great it is and how he likes driving so she has been going out driving with him (she has her permit). Plus my husband has been taking her out driving to get all of the driving hours she needs in.

I have no idea how we'll handle the college visits when she won't even look at info. Yesterday I mentioned that Summer 2017 is when the High School takes senior photos with the graduation drape for the yearbook and she said that will be awful. Ugh.
At least she is interested in taking her first SAT in May. I'm really hoping her attitude changes soon.

 

[mrsv98]

My Daughter is driving me nuts - she doesn't want to get her driver's license, doesn't know what colleges she is interested in visiting, doesn't want to look at info regarding colleges and has told me she doesn't want to grow up.

I offered to make her an appointment to talk with someone since I think it's all anxiety about her future (I didn't tell her that!) but she said no. Luckily her brother has been home from college and talks to her about how great it is and how he likes driving so she has been going out driving with him (she has her permit). Plus my husband has been taking her out driving to get all of the driving hours she needs in.

I have no idea how we'll handle the college visits when she won't even look at info. Yesterday I mentioned that Summer 2017 is when the High School takes senior photos with the graduation drape for the yearbook and she said that will be awful. Ugh.
At least she is interested in taking her first SAT in May. I'm really hoping her attitude changes soon.

Man, I am right there with you! DD won't drive, we offered her a car! Almost none of her friends drive so it is a "thing" with them. Trying to get her interested in looking at colleges, I feel like I am applying! I just want her to look, if she wants to go to community college and work for a year, we are fine with that but she should at least consider her options.

We haven't talked about Sr pics yet, that is another battle I am sure will be "fun"! lol lol

She is a great kid doing well in school, she tends to anxiety so I know that has something to do with it. She is working with someone on strategies to help. Luckily, the high school has mandatory SATs. The whole Jr class takes a practice test with immediate feedback on Jan 30 an then the real one in March.

Sigh....

 

[clori]

DD got her license the first Sunday in December. She doesn't have a car so not a big change but she can drive some nights and weekends for now. As to out of state with a MA permit the driver's ed teacher said dd couldn't drive in NH. I'm not sure I understood the reason but something like NH doesn't have a permit so it doesn't recognize MA permits.

DD ended up having to change her 2nd semester science class from environmental science II to human biology. Now she will go Mon/Wed 8ish to 2ish and Tuesday nights she will take a class at the local branch instead of the main branch which happens to be in our city. It ends at 9pm. If she took a night class on campus they tend to end at 10pm plus she would have a longer commute home. She won't have any classes on Thursday or Fridays.
The one negative of dual enrollment if you are nitpicky is that dd had high As in 3 of her 4 classes and at her high school those would be A plus (98 and up) but the college recognizes 94 and up as an A grade and doesn't do A plus grades for anyone.

 

[Aliceacc]

@GaSleepingBeautyFan and @mrsv98 , Our kids sound like they would be great friends, except for the driving thing. Mine drives every chance she can get.

So we're FINALLY going to visit a college!

My daughter absolutely wants to go away to school, to major in Fashion Merchandising. And while FIT is 40 minutes away (and is part of SUNY, which makes it so affordable!!), I seriously don't think it's the right environment for her. It's too competitive, and a small school in the 'burbs would be a much better fit than Manhattan for her as she gets a handle on her anxiety issues. (She's been working with a counselor since June, and it's been a huge help in the day to day stuff.) But she doesn't have any real interest in starting the process. Right now all she knows is that she wants to go away, she knows her major, and she doesn't want the same school as her brother. (She wants to build her own life. That's OK-- his school doesn't have her major.) But she doesn't want to talk about colleges, she doesn't want to look at colleges, she just wants to live in the moment.

I've taken the lead on coming up with a list of small and medium sized schools that are within a 4 hour drive and have her major. By hook or by crook, we'll see some of those schools in the coming months.

My son is returning to school near Philly on a weekday, so he'll have to take Amtrak. One of the schools I want my daughter to look at is half an hour from my son, and they're having an Open House on MLK day (Jan 16). So we'll drive down on Sunday, drop off whatever stuff he doesn't want to lug on the train. (Translation: probably his Xbox-- he'll have to live without it for 5 days) We'll get a hotel room near the King of Prussia Mall, spend the afternoon there after dropping stuff off with my son, and see the college the next morning. I told her she could bring a friend; it will only cost an extra breakfast and dinner. I'm hoping that once she hears about her future, she'll show some excitement in seeing some of the other schools on my list. I don't think it's a lack of interest, I think it's fear of the unknown. In that respect, being half an hour from her brother and less than 3 hours from us would make this school a good fit. So I told her we were doing it as a road trip, threw in the mall info as a perk, told her she can invite a friend, and she agreed that it sounded like fun.

For some reason, she's not taking any sort of SAT prep at school. So I went online the other day and ordered 2 books:
Up Your Score: SAT: The Underground Guide, 2016-2017 Edition by Larry Berger, Michael Colton, Manek Mistry, Paul Rossi, Guest Editor TK
8 Practice Tests for the SAT 2017: 1,200+ SAT Practice Questions by Kaplan

The first I can vouch for-- it's all about strategy in beating the test and I've used it in my own SAT prep classes. She'll be taking the SAT in May and needs the prep. The books should be arriving one day this week.

The one thing she's really ahead on is her college essay for the Common App. She had a real, real hard time when my husband suffered a medical crisis last spring, and writing about it helped a lot. She used it as a springboard for a big essay she had to write for English on a time when you had to take on responsibility or something. So she has a head start on the essay on when you became an adult... we'll work on that over the summer.

She started a new job in December-- she's spent the past 2 summers working at a seasonal ice cream shop, but wanted something year round. She's doing well, and loves the idea of a weekly paycheck all year.

 

[gemini2727]

I went online the other day and ordered 2 books:
Up Your Score: SAT: The Underground Guide, 2016-2017 Edition by Larry Berger, Michael Colton, Manek Mistry, Paul Rossi, Guest Editor TK
8 Practice Tests for the SAT 2017: 1,200+ SAT Practice Questions by Kaplan

Thank you for these, just ordered both. One SAT down, another to go in March. My oldest went up 100 points between her first and second try, so here's fingers crossed for the same!

 

[Aliceacc]

What a lovely college visit we had on Monday!

We visited Immaculata University in the suburbs of Philly. It's a small Catholic college. They announced on Monday that they were starting a tuition rollback of 25%-- wonderful, since my primary reservation was financial. (Not that we can afford to send 2 kids to college, merely that this means that Immaculata can stay on the list.)

The two girls who did the tour were pleasant, knowledgeable and obviously loved their school. The facilities are beautiful, the dining halls and dorms are clean and welcoming, the admissions requirements are probably doable-- all in all, they set the bar very high for any future college tours.

My daughter was barely awake as the presentation began-- arms folded, eyes closed, body language just shouting "I do NOT want to be here!!!" She started to thaw a little during the 15 or so minute presentation as they revealed the new policy. Five minutes into the tour, she started a refrain of "This is really nice, mom!" And I heard it over and over again for the next hour or so as we saw more.

 

[dvcfamily41801]

Hi All!
Well this Junior year thing is really getting to full gear. I can't believe it is almost half over. We have so much in the coming months for school - Gym Night - it is a HUGE thing in our district. Practices 2+ nights a week and then it is a weekend in March of competitions. Jr. Prom, Jr. Class Trip, Sr. Prom, plus taking ACT for first time and SAT for second. Oh and throw in we are going to Disney for Spring Break. It will be June before we know it. My son has one college that is basically his 1st-5th choice and then basically 1 1/2 of another LOL. One he was interested in and I am sure he will apply. It is the polar opposite of his first choice. The other, we went on a visit and said he was "not really feeling it" during the info session, and after the campus tour, felt a little bit better, but I am not sure he will apply. We would like to visit a few more and would like to fit that in before they break for summer. Every now and then I peek at the 2017 Parents thread just to see where they are. Seems that all the kids there are waiting for acceptances. I can't imagine.