Anonymous wrote:We are new to private schools. Is it unusual for a school to just start a conversation about a school not being a good fit a few weeks before reenrollment contracts go out? Never had an indication it was a thought until a meeting today. There were no prior meetings indicating it was a possibility. Wondering if this is normally how the process works? I would think they would try to let families know in time to apply other places? Just wondering other experiences. Thanks in advance.

WHICH SCHOOL?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had a contract held back, but we worked with a therapist and had improvements, and were then offered one in April. Yes, conversation started in January. Stayed for a few more years. Private schools don’t want to deal with behavioral issues or ADHD at all, even minor things.

This is completely untrue.

— mother of a child with ADHD and dyslexia, who has been totally embraced by her private school for 4 years so far

+1, with 11 years under our belt here. College on the horizon!

Anonymous wrote:We had a contract held back, but we worked with a therapist and had improvements, and were then offered one in April. Yes, conversation started in January. Stayed for a few more years. Private schools don’t want to deal with behavioral issues or ADHD at all, even minor things.

This is completely untrue.

— mother of a child with ADHD and dyslexia, who has been totally embraced by her private school for 4 years so far

Anonymous wrote:"Counsel out" is a process that lets families find a better fit for their child and that process begins in the fall. It is not a happy situation for parents who have joined a community thinking they will be long term members but it often helps the child long term. Not having a contract renewed is a different matter. That is a direct result of a family not following the school's recommendations re: testing, therapy, tutoring.

This just isn’t true. Our friends who didn’t receive a contract renewal had no notification at all from the school (one of the ones that everyone on the board is obsessed with).

Anonymous wrote:"Counsel out" is a process that lets families find a better fit for their child and that process begins in the fall. It is not a happy situation for parents who have joined a community thinking they will be long term members but it often helps the child long term. Not having a contract renewed is a different matter. That is a direct result of a family not following the school's recommendations re: testing, therapy, tutoring.

The first few sentences are not true. It depends on the administration and the pressures that they are facing. Schools do counsel out all throughout the year.

The second part of your paragraph may or may not be true. It also depends on the family, child and school.

"Counsel out" is a process that lets families find a better fit for their child and that process begins in the fall. It is not a happy situation for parents who have joined a community thinking they will be long term members but it often helps the child long term. Not having a contract renewed is a different matter. That is a direct result of a family not following the school's recommendations re: testing, therapy, tutoring.

Anonymous wrote:Our friends at our school found out about a counsel our decision this week when the school didn’t send a contract for one of their children. No warning. They had been looking at other schools because their child was having a tough year and they didn’t like the administration response so they had applied to other options, but what if they hadn’t? Shocking.

This to me is the most shocking and unacceptable part. Of course schools have the right to counsel out students who for whatever reason aren’t thriving or are creating issues or whatever. Parents may not like or agree with the decision, but the school has the right to do it. Barring a major incident that crops up in January after applications are due, these conversations *should* be happening in the fall to give families time to explore options and apply out. I’m surprised that’s not somehow written into the contracts (which I admit I’ve never scrutinized), but at a minimum that seems like a pretty basic concept and it’s very sad that schools are not doing that.