Are these students failing all the classes? What is GPA of the
students? Does your school practice social promotion?

I think most students are expected to achieve at least a C average
in most private schools and are then put on probation. Students
with diagnosed learning disabilities are not usually subject to
this, but most show continued progress.

If students can't achieve a passing average, they are held back.
At that point, a lot of parents take their children out of the
schools and put them in either public schools or a school that will
socially promote them. If a student has already been held back for
several years, the schools may not allow them to continue.

However, even though most private schools have academic probation
policies, a lot of them don't enforce them because they need the
"numbers." In the case of the socially promoted student, they are
often given a certificate of attendance rather than one of
academic achievement.

Times are hard and are getting worse, so perhaps your school may
want to consider holding off on that get tough policy and perhaps
require that the children receive after- school tutoring or join a
"homework" club instead of "booting them out." Some kids get
motivated when they find out they can't participate in sports or
cheerleading unless they have a C average.

Regarding parents agreeing to the academic policy - most of the
schools in my area require that as part of the admissions
procedure.

On 6/17/09, Jenni/1st wrote:
> We're losing students too, and had to cut a few teachers for the
> coming fall. We talk a big talk, but when push comes to shove,
> I also wonder whether we can actually afford to boot out these
> students despite them holding back the rest of the class. Our
> waiting list is much shorter than previous years unfortunately.
>
>
> On 6/16/09, wondering wrote:
>> Do you still have a waiting list in these times? Can your
>> school afford to boot students in these times? I'm impressed.
>> We're starting to lose students to the times.
>>
>>> I teach at a private elementary/middle school in southern
>>> CA, and we've always threatened an academic probation
>>> policy in the past, but we never followed through. The
>>> students continue doing miserably year after year, holding
>>> back the other students, and they really aren't getting the
>>> quality education that they deserve and could get in a
>>> public school with a special needs program. We've designed
>>> a committee to write up an academic probation policy for
>>> the fall that we will stick to; students not performing up
>>> to our standards will be dismissed from the school; this is
>>> one of the perks of a private school! My question is,
>>> would anyone be willing to share their school's academic
>>> probation policy? Do your parents sign a contract at the
>>> beginning of the year with certain steps to be followed or
>>> attained? Thanks so much for your time. This is my summer
>>> project, and I want to get it out of the way!

Share This Post | Report This Post

Next Post >>

Posts on this thread, including this one