Concerns Over Grade Child Received

[Anonymous]

My kid has been a straight A student throughout middle school. So it came as a shock when I reviewed this semester’s grades in the school‘s network with an annotation that my kid barely passed an elective class (yearlong elective). My kid had the same elective the first year of MS and is now barely passing the same class in their last year of MS.

All work for the elective class is done exclusively at school so it’s not like I’ve been able to monitor their work this past semester. And there are no tests or homework in the class.

The concerns I have is that if my kid was struggling in the class I would expect the teacher to contact me to discuss the situation. And I feel my child was blindsided by the grade and thought everything was going well.

Am I wrong to contact the teacher with my grievances? Or am I being a K@ren?

[Anonymous]

Sure. Just make sure you start from a place of curiosity. Don’t go in hot with accusations. First ask if the grade posted is correct, and if so, can they share more about what led to that.

[Anonymous]

Let you kid advocate for him/herself.

[Anonymous]

Was your child aware of his grades?

[Anonymous]

Does this involve the study of a foreign language ?

If not, what is the course or subject area ?

[Anonymous]

If it’s a year long elective and this is the semester, then frame it as learning how to help your kid for S2.

“Hi Ms. James,

I’m reaching out to gain more insight into Larlo’s Spanish grade for first semester. Can you help me understand where his deficits are? Is it work completion or understanding? Do you have suggestions on how I can support him at home for second semester? I want to make sure he is prepared for Spanish 3 in the fall.”

That being said, do you have a gradebook portal? You should be able to see grades along the way so that this doesn’t come as a surprise and you can support it earlier.

If it’s something like art or music, I’d be less concerned about the grade/understanding (since they aren’t graduation requirements) and more concerned about the fact that my kid hid it. Change electives for high school, talk to your child, and move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was your child aware of his grades?

OP here.

My kid was not aware of the grade received. And there is supposed to be a mtg with each student to discuss grades prior to being released, but the teacher was too busy.

Also, grades are always released a few days after the Christmas holiday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does this involve the study of a foreign language ?

If not, what is the course or subject area ?

It’s not a language course. It’s a course that is usually considered one of the easiest electives. That’s what makes the grade so troubling.

[Anonymous]

Now that your child knows their grade, what do they say? Presumably, they knew how they were doing on each assignment and whether they were putting effort into the class.

[Anonymous]

You don’t advocate your kid does

If your kid doesn’t have proof they did better than that grade your kid is the issue

[Anonymous]

Your kid 100% knew things weren't going well. If it's supposed to be easy and there are no tests or homework, it means they were putting in zero effort in the classwork and participation in class.

[Anonymous]

Your kid is in middle school and should be checking their grades online. Furthermore, it is 2025 parents also have 24/7 access to their kid's grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You don’t advocate your kid does

If your kid doesn’t have proof they did better than that grade your kid is the issue

OP here.

The issue that I have is that I would expect a teacher to contact a parent if a child is struggling in a class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You don’t advocate your kid does

If your kid doesn’t have proof they did better than that grade your kid is the issue

OP here.

The issue that I have is that I would expect a teacher to contact a parent if a child is struggling in a class.

That has not been my experience in middle school, and I have one child who struggled a lot.

[Anonymous]

By 2nd year of middle school, you cannot expect the teacher to contact you with concerns. That will not happen.

The teacher should make some information available to the student as they are going, like grades on in-class assignments. If the student was truly blindsided, they (not you) need to contact the teacher to set up a time to meet. They need to ask what they missed, and how they can track their progress going forward.

Every public middle school around here has a way to track grades online, although admittedly not all teachers are great about keeping it updated.