BTSN for high school - does anyone go?

[Anonymous]

Anyone other than freshman parents (which I am) go? is it worth the time to attend?

The schedule seems ridiculous — I think they’re giving us 7 minutes to sit in each class. I know it isn’t the time for teachers to meet and greet each parent, but come on….

[Anonymous]

Yes. As a high school parent, I went every year. Plenty of parents go besides freshmen, but I will say the senior parents are understandbly a lighter crowd than the rest.

[Anonymous]

Junior parent here. I am going for sure. Good way to "assess" the teachers somewhat (ie form your own opinion if DC's complaints are valid). Also for AP and higher level classes actual useful info (prep help, recommended books) is shared.

[Anonymous]

I go every year to meet the teachers, get an understanding of the workload, what is expected, etc. Usually the teachers share helpful tips as well -- like if you figure your child is going to want to get a study guide, which is the best guide to get, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Junior parent here. I am going for sure. Good way to "assess" the teachers somewhat (ie form your own opinion if DC's complaints are valid). Also for AP and higher level classes actual useful info (prep help, recommended books) is shared.

+1

[Anonymous]

I think it's important to go if you can. Especially as a freshman parent but I still go in the upper grades as it's good to know what your kid's day is like. It's hard enough to get a high schooler to talk--at least this way I have some idea what their school life looks like and can make conversation.

[Anonymous]

I've always gone. It's good to get an understanding of the teachers, the schoolwork, and the logistics. It's definitely a way to feel a tiny bit more engaged.

Some high schools are huge. One year, my kid had a class in the basement, and the next class was on floor 3.

I also enjoy chatting with the parents that attend. My kids have been in the same cluster since KG, and it's fun to see familiar faces.

[Anonymous]

I've gone the last twelve years! Love it!

I currently have a junior and ours was last week. And most classrooms were almost full. So I'm not the only one!

[Anonymous]

I’m a senior parent and went. I was able to ask dc’s teachers if they had received their recommendation requests.

[Anonymous]

PP, recommendation for what?

[Anonymous]

I just went to my first middle school back to school night. It’s not high school but my take sways were 1) an impresssion of each teacher. I now have a face to put to the name and understand why a particular teacher is the least favorite as of week 1. 2) ive seen the classrooms and walked their schedule. I understand why the love a particular classroom, dislike another, and don’t have time to ask the teacher a question in a 3rd, and are worried about missing the afternoon bus.

[Anonymous]

Every single year for every single kid. 39 BTSNs for me.

[Anonymous]

I’ve attended them every year. It’s nice to put a face to the teacher’s name, hear what they’ll be covering in class, get a feel for the teacher’s personality and how they run their classroom, and see the inside of the school. I’ve been really impressed with my kids’ teachers.

I have kids at two different high schools, and both of them had BTSN on the third day of school. One of the schools tried something new this year for BTSN and it was sh!tshow. Instead of following your kid’s schedule and visiting all of their classrooms, they set up four 15-minute sessions. Different teachers were assigned to cover different courses, and the same courses weren’t covered in all 4 sessions. You might have to go to a classroom your kid’s never been in to hear a teacher your kid doesn’t have talk about a course your kid is taking. You couldn’t plan out your evening in advance because the only way to know who was talking about what and where was to have a paper handout that they didn’t distribute until people arrived for BTSN. They didn’t have enough copies of the handout, so parents were left standing in the lobby with no idea where to go. When staff finally produced more copies, it took some time to figure out what to do for each session. Not one of my dc’s courses was covered in the first session. A couple courses didn’t appear to be covered at all. The teacher I wanted to see in the second session couldn’t make it that night. I only got to meet one of dc’s teachers. Very frustrating and disappointing.

The other school stuck to the traditional evening where you follow your dc’s schedule, visit each of their classrooms, and actually meet their teachers. My spouse attended that BTSN and said it was great. I got the short end of the stick.

[Anonymous]

There is a meeting for parents of seniors immediately preceding BTSN, and it’s really useful. You get a better understanding of how far ahead of college application deadlines your senior needs to request certain items from teachers, counselors, and the registrar. Everyone needs more lead time than most of us realize.

[Anonymous]

I've always gone. My youngest is a senior this year so I know I'm not going to miss the last BTSN!