Parents of the Class of 2019

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

Our semester ended before Christmas break too, DD did pretty well, all As and Bs. She's started swim team, actually is almost done with her first season, and has enjoyed it a whole lot more than I thought she would! She found some new friends on the team, who she's invited over to the house this weekend for a get together with a bunch of friends as a substitute "birthday" party. Archery did settle down, she's pretty much done shooting though until Spring, they have to shoot outside, so when the weather gets bad they don't shoot.

We've started driver's ed, I took her to the parking lot on a Sunday, just to let her get behind the wheel, and the kid who drives a Go Kart like she's auditioning for Fast and Furious 8 almost hit 5 miles an hour, once! I couldn't believe how incredibly timid she was behind the wheel! We'll keep practicing, she has to get 80 logged hours of driving time before she can get her license and we want her license pretty close to 16 so we can stop driving her around.

She's decided that she wants to try diving team, so she's finishing up the swim season, and then we're going to let her join the club diving team that DS is on, she had a "try it" practice and really enjoyed it once she figured out all the moving parts to an approach. It seems simple, but when you try and coordinate arms, legs, and a bouncy board, it gets complicated!

She's done with her Sculpture class which she loved, her teacher kept her final project so I haven't gotten to see it yet (just a picture) because the teacher wanted to put it in a show that she gets asked to participate in in the spring. She now has Leadership, with a teacher that she really doesn't like, which is going to be a fun learning experience for her on how to deal with a teacher that you don't like.

All in all, a successful first semester of high school!

 

[bjscheel]

Today was district large group speech contest. Earlier this winter I knew DD and her friends were making a movie which I thought was for TAG. Apparently it was for Contest. She was also in a one-act play that has practiced over the last two weeks (and it was a rough two weeks with kids not showing up, quitting, etc.). Both entries got 1 ratings and are going on to State in two weeks! She is so happy because she loves acting, and loves the kids involved, so now the fun gets to last another couple weeks.

 

[Sabeking]

We made it through first semester unscathed! I am amazed at all these super smart kids . My DD repeated so she really should be a sophmore. I was thrilled with her B's. She has more acronyms than I can name!

Being that she is an older freshman she will have her drivers license next month. All of her closest 200 friends have already asked for a ride. Uh....I think not!!!

 

[bjscheel]

Being that she is an older freshman she will have her drivers license next month. All of her closest 200 friends have already asked for a ride. Uh....I think not!!!

My older DD was one of the first to get a license in her grade- one of the reasons why we bought her a regular cab pickup- no room for a group!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

My older DD was one of the first to get a license in her grade- one of the reasons why we bought her a regular cab pickup- no room for a group!

DD is one of the oldest in her grade, but the first 2 years of the license, they're only permitted 2 non-related passengers under 18.

 

[dotfurio]

Jeez I can't imagine freshmen driving! I'm so glad it's 15 1/2 permit and 16 to drive here, and even then they can't drive around anyone under age 20 without a licensed driver age 25 in the vehicle with them for the first year.

 

[mom2rtk]

My DD has had her permit since September. She'll have a full license shortly after school starts in the fall. Since she doesn't have a car I'm not quite as worried about it as I might otherwise be.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

My DD has had her permit since September. She'll have a full license shortly after school starts in the fall. Since she doesn't have a car I'm not quite as worried about it as I might otherwise be.

We bought DD's car in 2014 & have been using it for us instead LOL She too turns 16 in September. Nervous about her driving alone, but SOOOO ready to quit carting her all over town!!!

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

We've got a 3rd car (an ancient Explorer that we bought when DD was born since a baby seat didn't fit in my Eclipse) that she'll get to drive. She did another driver's ed module this weekend, that stuff is worse that useless. They have a really dumbed down module of power point slides, but there's also a timer, and you can't move on to take the test without the timer being at 0. Because that state is more concerned with the time than the material.

 

[mom2rtk]

We bought DD's car in 2014 & have been using it for us instead LOL She too turns 16 in September. Nervous about her driving alone, but SOOOO ready to quit carting her all over town!!!

No extra cars in our near future (heck, we don't even have space to park another car!) but we might free up one of ours on occasion. It won't be a regular thing though.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

No extra cars in our near future (heck, we don't even have space to park another car!) but we might free up one of ours on occasion. It won't be a regular thing though.

We've actually had a 3rd car more years than not. That way I can park my truck rather than using it as a daily driver. Aside from the better gas mileage (our extra has always been a small car), the replacement cost of these kinds of cars is 1/3 that of a new truck. And luckily, we have plenty of space

 

[clori]

We also don't have space for another car. In terms of getting around without a car, dd can get to some places by public bus which she uses to get to/from school. There is no real parking at the high school and no way can I see dd trying to get to school by 6am (school starts at 7:45) on a daily basis to try and get one of probably 10 spots. We live about 2 miles from the high school and most kids take the public busses. While it isn't perfect dd can get to at least some places herself by bus including the subway into Boston.

Today is the first day of the 3rd quarter. DD switched from health to gym and messaged me that the gym teacher was out so ended up with study today. I doubt she was upset by this. DD should officially have all her grades by Thursday since Thursday night is parent teacher conferences but other than midterm scores knows all of them. Right now I think 4 out of 7 are posted online. Since she didn't do well in algebra 2 early in the quarter she was worried. She ended up with a 92 on the midterm so even though she has a B for the quarter we are both happy.

Do you go to parent teacher conferences? I went to the ones in the fall and debating on this one. I know the chemistry teacher is not able to make conferences since she sent out an email (making a presentation for a fellowship she has this year) plus I just talked to her. She will have had gym for 3 days and no need to talk to teacher even though I normally do since there is no wait. The wait for the ELA and Spanish teacher was just too much for me last time. I may go for the other 3 teachers then check the lines and decide but I have to make sure someone is home for when dd11 gets home.

 

[bjscheel]

Do you go to parent teacher conferences? I went to the ones in the fall and debating on this one. I know the chemistry teacher is not able to make conferences since she sent out an email (making a presentation for a fellowship she has this year) plus I just talked to her. She will have had gym for 3 days and no need to talk to teacher even though I normally do since there is no wait. The wait for the ELA and Spanish teacher was just too much for me last time. I may go for the other 3 teachers then check the lines and decide but I have to make sure someone is home for when dd11 gets home.

I have a junior and a freshman and I've never gone to a high school conference. If we had some issue, maybe I would, but I've felt no need to have a conference.

 

[soccerdad72]

Do you go to parent teacher conferences? I went to the ones in the fall and debating on this one. I know the chemistry teacher is not able to make conferences since she sent out an email (making a presentation for a fellowship she has this year) plus I just talked to her. She will have had gym for 3 days and no need to talk to teacher even though I normally do since there is no wait. The wait for the ELA and Spanish teacher was just too much for me last time. I may go for the other 3 teachers then check the lines and decide but I have to make sure someone is home for when dd11 gets home.

We went in the Fall. Seemed like a little bit of a waste of time. In fact, a couple of our son's teachers seemed surprised to see us there. I guess they usually only usually see the kids' parents that have issues. We don't mind spending a little bit of time talking with each teacher, just so there's no surprises, but I'm not sure if we'll go every time.

 

[mjkacmom]

We don't have middle school conferences, never mind high school. We can always schedule them.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

We don't have high school conferences, there's an open house at the middle school at the beginning of the year, but otherwise, the conferences were done when they left elementary school.

Our 3rd car is also just a commuter car, so a small car, easy on the gas so we don't have to drive the SUV. We save the SUV for long road trips with the dogs, and snowy drives up into the mountains.

 

[mom2rtk]

We were at Disney in the fall when they had conferences. We always did conferences when the boys were in high school, and mostly they aren't that helpful. Everyone goes and waits in line for a minute or two with each teacher. If you have concerns, it's really not a private setting to discuss things anyway. Mostly we just wanted to make sure we met the teachers and could put a face with the names the kids mentioned.

We're in our 3rd week of second semester already. I think they do spring "conferences" but historically those have just been for turning in enrollment forms for the following year.

They did have a big open house last week to help the kids select which "Academy" to enroll in for next year. Our daughter already decided, so we didn't feel the need to go. They also had information sessions on AP classes, financial aid, etc, but since she's our 3rd, we really couldn't face sitting through it all again. So yeah. We totally ditched.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We haven't been to a conference since elementary.

The driving for us will come in handy as DD's high school is 20 miles from our house via the bus route (with a stop at the elementary school where DW works) or 14 miles "as the crow flies". I work in the next town over. So, on extra-curricular day, it's a real hassle.

 

[design_mom]

Our first semester ended right before Winter Break, too... so far, I think my freshman is enjoying high school although it's had his share of ups and downs.

Overall I think he has enjoyed most of his classes and is doing pretty well. He got all As and Bs although I think he could have done better with a little extra effort. Unfortunately, his least favorite class/least favorite teacher/hardest subject is the LAST period of the day, which I think makes it extra tough. He's "done" by then.

He had a great time at football games and homecoming in the fall though, and I think he really likes the high school "vibe."

He had a bit of disappointment, too. He tried out for the ice hockey team and got cut. Last year, the school fielded three teams: varsity, JV, and a JV-B/freshman team. This year, they eliminated the JV-B/freshman team, and ended up cutting 17 players, including my son. (I knew he would be on the bubble, but was hopeful for him. He is a good player, but he always just played in the rec-leagues, so he didn't have the travel/high-school experience that most of the other candidates had.) He was really disappointed that he didn't make the team, but he found a club team to play on and has really enjoyed that experience. He's hopeful that he's improved enough to make the JV team next year, so we'll see. He's also planning to go out for track, which is a no-cut sport. Conditioning sessions for track start after school tonight.

He also has a September birthday and is looking forward to learning to drive. (I am not as excited about the prospect.) He is eligible to get his temps at the very end of March, but I'd like to push drivers Ed off till the summer. DS really wants to start driving to school as soon as he gets his license and is convinced that "nobody" rides the bus, especially not Juniors and Seniors. But I am not very excited about the prospect of him driving to school. 1) I wasn't planning to buy him a car. I was allowed to borrow the family car, with permission, until I saved and bought my own car... and I thought that was fair. 2) I've been in the school parking lot when school lets out and it's NUTS. I don't want an inexperienced driver to be part of that.

However, starting junior year, he'll be eligible to start taking dual-credit classes at the local community college, but it's my understanding that you have to provide your own transportation between the high school and the community college. So we'll have to figure that out when the time comes. I don't think he'll be ready to buy his own car by then, but I also don't want to give up my car every day, and if it becomes a 'needed for school' item, then I sort of feel like we should provide an option. (I have no problem telling him he has to ride the bus as a junior if he doesn't have a car... but if there's no bus... then what?) I guess we've still got 2 years to figure it out.

 

[clori]

sorry I just realized I posted on the class of 2019. My dd is a sophomore and I accidently thought I was on the class of 2018 thread.