Pete and Repeat

Since it's May, the school likes to let parents and students know their status for promotion into the next grade level for next year,  so they can prepare for Summer school, a repeated grade, deportation back to Yemen, etc....

Out of 56 middle school band students, 21 of them are considered "promotion in doubt", or 37.5 percent.

Out of 34 high school general music students, 16 are considered "promotion in doubt", a staggering 47 percent.

Combined, this means that roughly 41 percent of my students are likely to repeat the grade that they are currently in.  Assuming this rate of failure applies to the entire 6 - 12 student body of 430 students (not an outlandish proposition), then this means that 176 students will be repeating a grade.  

At this rate of retention, the population of the school will be 200% over capacity in a mere 3 years.

Almost made it

Efforts to avoid classwork increase in direct correlation to the temperature.  A student of mine, H, attempted to leave class having written and signed a pass for himself (without permission, of course).  I intercepted the pass, though even if I hadn't, I'm quite sure his attempt would have still be unsuccessful:

"Pass to the labbarary for H and D"

After I confiscated the pass, he made another attempt, albeit a cryptic one:

"Door

Don't go out"

I'm not really sure.

Jumping the shark

I never thought my blog would come to this, but...

You might teach in an urban school if:

- The presidential inauguration is viewed on cable stolen from the police

- The Principal creates a lottery system with prizes because there is  40% absence rate on rainy days

- One standardized test is administered to five students in five different languages (English, Haitian Creole, Arabic, Spanish, and Chinese)

- During "random scanning" day with metal detectors, police finding three knives and two sets of brass knuckles is a "good" day