The Wonders of Charter Schools
I've gone back and forth from public schools to christian schools to public schools and everything. I've also spent three years of my high school career so far in three different states. I suffer from PTSD, depression, insomnia, dissociation, and a number of other things. Here's a brief summary of my experience in all these areas and why my charter school is my new best friend.
Private Christian School: High School Population of 110. It isn't exactly the OC in rual Michigan, since most everyone is related in some way and there are only so many last names that a person can have. Just about everyone has a family clan they belong to. It's small and cozy, and you have a good chance of making it into the student council. Everyone knows everything about everyone, this works for both the bad and the good depending on just how much you want people to know about you. Yes, there are bible classes, yes there is prayer, yes there is a chapel committee. For a postmodern such as myself, it may be frusterating. For an athiest, it may seem stupid. But it isn't completely intolerable. So it may be rated PG, and you are likely to be stuck with a bunch of self-righteous folks. But you learn to tolerate it. The small community feel suits some better than others. You don't select friends because of common interests necessarilly, you have a chance to eliminate anyone who you don't have a remote chance of getting along with, and then stick with the rest. First impressions go pretty far here. So if you come in third grade a total little geek, you will likely remain so until perhaps highschool (my own personal experience). Even if some classmates may not be your favorite people, everyone still gets along for the most part and everyone knows everyone. In that sense it can be a bit like a family. Some disadvantages to the class structure are that you hardly ever have an option in your schedule. You will very likely be with your whole grade for at least four periods of the day then you may have the option of band or chior, gym or art, business or psychology, etc. The classes are pretty easy though. A 4.0 isn't difficult to manage at all. Neither are making the basketball team or band.
Public School: Over 2,000 peers in three grades. They're a lot pickier here and you'll have a much more diverse crowd. If you happen to be a new kid in that crowd though, you had better hope you're charismatic enough to naviagate you way through the social grid and find the group that's right for you. You will very likely find a variety of classes here. You can pick different challenge levels too. Customize your class schedule all you want with perhaps the chance of even a more conservative or more progressive health class. You won't find a chapel service every other Thursday here, but you will probably find a youth group if you so desire. You'll also find a number of other after-school clubs. Ranging from a philosophy/discussion Salon group after school to an anime club to weight training. Provided you aren't easilly lost and you have a decent guidance counselor, this may work for you although I know it didn't do wonders for me. Towards the end of my stay here, I was put on a 504 plan which basically sort of ditches attendence and asks that I come collect homework and take tests and attend lectures whenever possible but if I'm feeling unable to, attendence is not required. I also had a late start arranged so I only had four classes to juggle. This sort of took place when I was spending some time in an inpatient psychiatric hospital and was never quite lifted once I was released. I moved before I went off the plan though and had to drop some of my credits in the process. Which brings us to the Charter School sweet magic.
Charter School: An independent studies program. They aren't completely common or widely available yet but it is definitely worth looking into. It's a homeschool program for middle schoolers and highschoolers that allow them to still graduate with a high school diploma. Right now I cover my US History credit through a sheet of 40 short essay questions, have a basic english curriculum in which I will be doing various projects on various books mostly to do with American Literature, and possibly a few essays, I also have a series of vocab questions to go through to prepare me for the SAT, any book I read in my free time I can count down as long as I do a small report on it, I go in to the public school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to cover my language credit and take a french class with the local public school kids. I audit a math class which basically means I follow the precalc curriculum at the local public school without being required to attend those long tedious lectures (I'm pretty good when it comes to math, those lectures are just a waste of time) but still coming in for the tests. Gym and art credits you may ask? I dance and then volunteer for theatre projects. Any other conventions I attend such as a young Writer's convention that I attended not far back, I can log too. My transcript won't appear as a normal highschool transcript and I will have to jump through some extra hoops when applying to colleges. Next year, rather than take classes through the highschool, I will very likely take my classes through a community college nearby. This is a perfect fit for me. Under my current condition I have no problem researching and doing work. I mainly have a problem going into school and have both social and academic expectations of me on a daily basis. But I can go into the Charter center and use those materials there almost as a study hall. I'm accountable to them so I don't just sit at home and play video games every day without ever working on my graduation requirements. But yeah. I'm pretty smart...looking into becoming an author. But the highschool attendence life just never worked for me. We are invited to the prom and theatre productions down at the local public school, but I doubt I'll do either.
The magic of charter schools. I just happened to be surprised they haven't been brought up yet. It's that homeschool alternative without the smock dress conservative stereotype. I mean...my Mom isn't really involved in teaching me at all. I just research and teach myself. I do wish I had this alternative earlier on.
EDIT: Holy crap, I didn't mean to write so much. Oh well. I ramble.
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