trying new schools

Tues/Wed Calvin attended Sierra school. The visit went very well. He enjoyed the school, made new friends and did great. They enjoyed having him there. The staff is very nice, his teacher would be a young guy (late 20's) which is a great fit for Calvin.  When I picked Calvin up after the first day of his trial he said, "I liked it but I didn't get enough breaks" and "I just want to stay at Cook (his current school)"

Since then Sierra has called and said his visit went very well. They feel they can challenge him academically, they were impressed with some of his abilities, especially in science where he can do work at above grade level. They also feel they can meet his needs socially and emotionally. He seemed to get along well with the other kids and made new friends quickly. He was motivated by the point system they have there even though he has yet to see all the things he could do with those points.

Th/Fri was scheduled to be at Excelsior. Thurs morning we had a rough start getting out of the house in the morning and we arrived to school with Calvin in no mood to go in. Dave was going to work about the same time we were going to school and he threatened that he'd come over and get Calvin if he didn't cooperate. I think that's why he ended up going into school after about 30 minutes in the car whining about various things.  About 30 minutes after Calvin arrived at school I got a call from the school saying Calvin had had a couple of incidents they weren't sure what to do with. First, the teacher tried to introduce him to another student and he said, "shut up". A few minutes later he was given a book for some work and Calvin threw the book on the floor. They didn't know what to do with him since they had only known him for a few minutes. So, I decided to go back to school and get him.  It did not need to be spoken that he is not a good fit there. He didn't like it, they didn't like having him.

When Calvin got back in the car I said, did you do those things because you knew they would call me and you would  get to come home?  he said, "hard to explain but kind of". I told him that next time he can just ask to call me. He said, "do you think they would have let me call?" I really don't know that they would have, but he should at least consider a more reasonable option than behaving bad enough that they will kick him out and call me.

So now we have the option to keep him at Cook school, where he could move to a secondary program on the same campus, but with older kids, or we can move him to Sierra. I am waiting on a school visit to Cook's secondary program (even thought Calvin has been there 5 years I have never seen the secondary program in action aside from a glimpse of PE or karate when I come and go).  I am also hoping Dave can get over to Sierra and take a look before we make our decision. I have made two appointments for him so far but both times he's had to cancel last minute.