Changing classes/switching teachers midyear
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Anonymous
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We have had some issues with our daughter's teacher and at this point, the relationship cannot be repaired. Is it possible to switch teachers/classes in the middle of third grade or no?
Our daughter comes home from school in tears and no longer wants to go to school. The teacher does not have control of the classroom and no one is learning. |
Anonymous
What have you done up until this point? It's hard to request a change out of the blue. If you've already met with or communicated with the teacher about your concerns, have you gone to the principal? I think you are better off meeting with the principal in a problem solving mode, rather than requesting a change right off the bat. |
Anonymous
| I would expect administrators to be very wary of changing a student's classroom if they think that everyone else will also want to change. If it something very specific to your child, then that is less of a challenge to the whole system. If you haven't already met with the principal or an administrator about the situation, I would take the "my daughter comes home crying every day and no longer wants to go to school; she wasn't like this at all last year" concern to the principal, saying that you have worked with the teacher in X, Y, Z ways but it's not helping and you're worried about your daughter and need help finding a solution. If they come up with moving her on their own, so much the better. |
Anonymous
Whose relationship? Yours with the teacher? Is this a specific problem with the teacher and your daughter, or is there a problem with the teacher in general? |
Anonymous
| Have you spoken with the teacher? Gotten the counselor involved? I'd do both of those things before going to the principal. And at our ES, it is very rare for a kid to change classes, because they can't accommodate everyone and I expect others are unhappy with the teacher too. |
Anonymous
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I've known a kid to be transferred, but it was relatively early. The teacher was abrupt, and the mom was seriously ill. Another kid was transferred in 4th grade I think, early in the year. I don't know what the parent said to get the transfer.
I think it can be done, but I agree w/ previous posters who advise going to principal to with all your support data asking for solutions, not demanding a change initially. |
Anonymous
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I've seen it happen and the good principals will make it happen at any point in the school year if the situation warrants a switch. It's not good for the child or the teacher or the rest of the class for there to be a negative relationship.
When you get a child with school refusal or near school refusal like yours you need to do everything you can to make the school positive. This can become even more serious really fast. |
Anonymous
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OP, have you talked with the teacher, or are you assuming that everything your daughter is telling you is true/accurate?
Where are you getting your evidence for the assertion that "no one is learning"? From your daughter and one or two of her friends/their parents? Have you tried to arrange a meeting with the teacher, and then gone in with an open mind and willingness to listen? And then escalated to meeting with counselor/principal if that didn't work? |
Anonymous
We're in an elementary in the Richard montgomery cluster and there has been two kids switching classrooms recently in 4th grade. I would meet with the principal! I'm sorry your daughter is having a rough start.. |
Anonymous
| DS switched classrooms in 2nd grade. There were documented issues between the teacher and DS and the teacher and myself. I can’t provide more details as our situation was fairly unique and I don’t want to out myself but my advice is to document, document, document. |
Anonymous
| Last year, several students switched into DD’s wonderful math class at MP2 and destabilized it. Simply too many kids. Very frustrating as there were now two sets of unhappy parents. |
Anonymous
If it's a teacher problem that impacts all the students, it won't happen. A parent uprising might get some support for that teacher, however. We did a class switch for our DC one year in elementary school. It was a situation in which the teacher clearly had it in for our child in particular. She sent me very long, nasty emails about my child showing extreme hostility. You could almost see the teacher's venom oozing off the monitor as you read the email. The school offered a teacher change, and we accepted it immediately. It was the first teacher change under that principal in more than a decade. It takes a lot to get a teacher change. |
Anonymous
| I’ve seen it done too. Similar reason. The child was such a problem for that particular teacher. She was a new teacher, but good nonetheless. She didn’t know how to handle him and he became extremely disruptive. They moved him into another class with a seasoned teacher who agreed to have her class size increase. For whatever reason, he had a good relationship with his new teacher and no longer had a rep. as a problem-child. It was the school that did this, not the parents who requested it, but of course they had to get the parents on board. |
Anonymous
| My child did in 1st grade.. We had several meetings prior to the switch. Intervention plans made and not followed or effective. He was a whole new kid after the switch. Push for it. No kid should be miserable in school if it can be avoided. For my child, it was just a bad match, he has adhd and anxiety and her efforts at managing them made it worse. The first teacher was also overheard complaining about my kid in a public space and the person who heard shared that information. |
Anonymous
| Document issues specific to your child and this teacher. Drop the" no one is learning anything" because they can not let everyone change out of the teachers class because she is not the strongest one. |