Catholic school it is.

Jake creamed the entrance exam. Said that the toughest thing about it was the time constraint: 298 questions in 3 hours. But he still managed to answer at least 293 of the questions.

Jake said the test was Easy. Disturbingly easy.

At one point, the other kid taking the test asked Jake, “What’s perpendicular?” Jake stared at the kid and pressed on. He said to me afterwards (and this really cracks me up): “How does someone get to 9th grade and not know geometry?”

Okay, so I’m bragging. So sue me.

No place in town to buy the uniforms. I gather most parents have already gotten stuff mail-ordered weeks ago. Perhaps we’ll have to make a trip down to LA to go to the uniform store this weekend. Meantime, we shlepped down to the mall tonight for a white polo shirt and khakis so that Jake wouldn’t look too much out of place tomorrow. (Tomorrow’s the orientation, Friday is the first day of school.)

Next to the best thing about creaming the entrance exam: no interview! We don’t have to worry about the dreaded “What is the role of faith in your life?” question! We won’t have to fret about the impression Jake would make while explaining lynchings in Mafiascum! (As in the response to the question, “What do you do for fun?”)

But the best thing about going to the Catholic school: we can tell the public school system to blow it out their Board of Education!

D.

Back to school . . . but which one?

If things go as we expect/hope them to go in the next week, our little heathen son may soon be a freshman at the local Catholic preparatory school.

Here’s how it played out. The “best high school in town” continues to be a pain in the ass. As you know from the previous post, they now want Jake to take another Algebra II test (excuse me — they’ll allow him to take another test. They’re doing us the big favor) but now he has to score a 90 to pass on to Math Analysis/Trig. We were given one of their textbooks, but yesterday, I asked for a second one — that way, Karen can prep for the next day’s work while Jake is doing today’s work.

They refused. Only one book per student, we were told. “We’re giving out textbooks next week, so we can’t spare another.”

I don’t believe that for a second. Either they’re being sticklers for rules (there is, indeed, a district policy of “one student, one book”) or they’re being dicks. And if it’s the former explanation, they’re still being dicks.

We’re tired of their attitude. They regard themselves as the best school in town, and their comments suggest we should feel privileged that our son can go to their school. We, of course, being parents of an only child, and a bright one at that, tend to take the opposite view. They should be bending over backwards to satisfy Jake’s needs.

I called the District’s office and spoke to a woman who confirmed my worst fears. The schools are allowed free rein in determining student placement. We can fight it out at the District level, but guess what, there are other schools in town.

We thought it best to skip the local Full Quiver Academy, and only briefly considered another Dominionist school. Sorry, but if our kid’s gonna go to a nonsecular school, it had better be one that’s cool with Charles Darwin and an Earth that’s older than 6,000 years.

I called the Catholic high school, talked to someone in administration, and felt very good about things afterward. I don’t know how much flack they’ll give us if we insist on our son taking Math Analysis/Trig, but hey, the snooty public high school is always another option. Anyway, Jake will have to take an entrance exam this Tuesday, and he’ll have an interview (with us present) some time this upcoming week. Friday is the first day of school.

If he becomes a student there, he’ll have to wear the school uniform.

Should be interesting. I keep worrying how Jake should respond if asked, “What is the role of faith in your life?” I wonder if, “I consider that an intensely personal part of my life, one I would rather not talk about with strangers” would wash?

In other news: my weight is down to 173.5, about 8 lbs down from my post-Nut Creek weight. Woot! Funny what diet and exercise will do.

D.

It’s over

I think I might have mentioned that Jake will be getting back into the public school system this year. He’ll be a Freshman. A Freshman taking Math Analysis/Trig (which, here, is a Junior year course), if we have any say in it. A few weeks ago, we learned that they would require him to test out of Geometry and Algebra II, so he’s been cramming away, weekends too. This kid hasn’t take a summer vacation for the last three summers and it’s not something that was ever an issue for us. I think it really bothered him, how much math he would forget between the end of one school year and the beginning of another. So we decided to press on through.

As a result, he’s way ahead of the game. You’d think the school would be satisfied reviewing his homework (we’ve saved EVERYthing) but no, they like their tests. He took the Algebra II test on Friday, the Geometry test today. We still don’t know how he did, but he doesn’t feel bad about either test.

Anyway, I’m not sweating how he’s going to do in Math Analysis/Trig. I’m sweating P.E.

P.E.
Team sports.
Showers.

Well, a guy can get used to showering with a bunch of other guys, but team sports? Truly traumatic. I told him he should just start getting used to hearing, “Hoffman, you SUCK!”

D.