Why Would You Consider a Change?

Maybe you’ve finally realized that no matter what you do, whom you talk to, or how many meetings you attend, your school is not giving your child what she needs.

You’ve got an unhappy child and she has frustrated parents. The teachers have been trying, but they face too many constraints on their time, too many students, and little freedom to modify the curriculum or change their methods.

Or your child may be coasting through school, garnering good grades and regular—if vague—teacher praise. So, you’re not worried about school, but you know your son and you know in your heart that he’s not being challenged and stretched and that he’s not really known by anyone at school. He’s mastered the routines of school and knows just what he needs to do to succeed, but he never sounds excited about something that happened at school; he never talks about a favorite teacher, never wants to learn more about something he’s doing in science class, never seems interested in extracurricular activities, and never makes the teams he wants to be on. Maybe that’s just the way things are and maybe it’s no big deal. There’s always time later for him to get really engaged in school, isn’t there? But you’re starting to wonder if things could be different, if your son could catch fire and thrive now in a different setting.

Or maybe you’ve just come back from parent-teacher conferences at your daughter’s school feeling unsettled because you realized that her teacher not only doesn’t know your daughter well, but also he barely knows who she is and has never had any interactions with her outside of class. And maybe that is just the way things are in every school where teachers have too many students. But could it be different in another setting?