brookspr Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I was hoping someone on this board could help my friend and neighbor, who wants her daughter to study in Spain for a semester in 8th grade so she can become more fluent in the language. We live in Illinois and her daughter is currently in public school. The father is from Spain and has family there, the daughter would be living with her aunt and uncle while she is there for school. The middle school principle is not very supportive of this idea and they are not sure if they will "allow" it. I put it in quotes because I don't know how they could deny their request, but I'm sure there is some law that might allow them to do just that. I know the Illinois homeschooling laws (which don't really apply in this situation) require the education to be in the English language. I haven't been able to find any kind of study abroad information for students younger than high school age. I think the big problem is the parents would still be in the US and she would be staying with relatives abroad. I wonder if they might have to give temporary guardianship to the relatives in order to make it legal. Does anyone have any experience with a situation like this or know somewhere that I might find more information for my friend? Thanks very much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Why should that not be legal? The parents have the right to decide where and with whom the child resides. I do not see why they would have to transfer guardianship either (they should give power of attorney for medical decisions to a local contact). On what grounds?? Some kids spend extended time with a family member. Kids do foreign exchange all the time. I do not see what business the school has in that decision, and how a US law that mandates homeschooling in English would apply to a student who lives in Spain. Friends of mine sent their daughter to Germany for a semester when she was in 4th grade; she lived there with an aunt. We spent a semester in Europe and our kids went to school there. Son returned to ps after our return. Nobody asked any questions. I do not believe there is any law that allows a school to determine where somebody's child lives with parental consent. The only thing the school could do is to refuse to re-enroll the student upon return if it is a private school. A public school must take the student back if she lives in the school zone. And the fact that the student will not be living with parents, but with aunt is not information the school is entitled to have. The one area where I can see issues is on the Spanish side. Is the child a Spanish citizen and allowed to stay in the country for this long, or does she need a visa? Is the Spanish public school required to educate her, or have they made special arrangements? THAT is something they need to look into. I had contacted the prospective schools for my kids before our stay, but the public elementary school had to take my son. DD went to a college prep school that did not have to guarantee acceptance, and we inquired with several schools and sent transcripts to get her accepted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 My Danish cousin sends her kids when they hit grade 8 to stay with my parents for two months to attend school and improve there English. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4KookieKids Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 So I don't know that I have "experience" in middle school study abroad, but here are a few thoughts. First, if you google "study abroad" & "middle school", you get quite a lot of hits, and lots of stories from people who've done it. So I certainly believe it's possible. Second, and this might offend the school in question (so they'd have to consider that beforehand), I think the middle school shouldn't have any say whatsover, legally or not. I think that they should deal directly with the Spanish school, get her placed and ready to go. Deal with the "return" part later -- the school will *have* to deal with it. We moved around a ton in middle school: I attended 6 different schools in 3 years, and also spent two months in 7 grade not in school at all. Long story short, is that school deal with this all the time. It may be a bit of a hassle for them, which is why they're discouraging her now, but there's just not a thing they can do about it, once it's done, honestly. We usually didin't even get things figured out before hand; I'd just walk into a school with hardly anything on me (I started just taking care of it myself in 7th grade), giving them my info, getting placed and then taking home paperwork for my parents/guardians at the time. Just saw that regentrude got a post out before I finished this :D -- and I totally agree that the worst they could do (other than empty threats and lots of bullying) is not let her back in (which they *can't* if they're a public school). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arborite Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 My motto: Ask for forgiveness, not for permission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 There is an exchange program in Europe where children who have not reached puberty exchange for 6 months with a family with same age and gender child. Each child spends 6 months with the other's families and become fluent in the foreign language. So one year total. No prior knowledge of the new language required or desired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 If the child is living abroad during that time, then the American school has no jurisdiction. The US school can still choose to be sticky about placement on return, so it's worth trying to mollify the staff. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 On paper, child is withdrawn and "moves away" for a term. When back she gets re-enrolled in ps or starts up as a homeschooler. Kids move away all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccolopy Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Because she's living with family and not part of an exchange, I agree with swellmama. The child isn't studying abroad, she's moving to Spain for a few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Χά�ων Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 My motto: Ask for forgiveness, not for permission. This. It really isn't the schools choice or bussiness. If they throw up too many road blocks when she returns file a grievance with the school board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brookspr Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 If the school won't allow her to transition back into 8th grade and makes her repeat part or all of the 8th grade year, they probably won't send her. This is where I get confused, since I can't really find any graduation requirements for middle school, just high school. I wonder if it would be easier for her to do the overseas studies at the end of the 8th grade year instead of the beginning. Technically they don't need the diploma from middle school to attend high school. She might have to take competency tests for placement, although that would seem a bit ridiculous to me considering she would have completed 2 1/2 years of middle school in the district. If anyone else has information or ideas, please continue posting. I appreciate all of the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Χά�ων Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 If the school won't allow her to transition back into 8th grade and makes her repeat part or all of the 8th grade year, they probably won't send her. This is where I get confused, since I can't really find any graduation requirements for middle school, just high school. I wonder if it would be easier for her to do the overseas studies at the end of the 8th grade year instead of the beginning. Technically they don't need the diploma from middle school to attend high school. She might have to take competency tests for placement, although that would seem a bit ridiculous to me considering she would have completed 2 1/2 years of middle school in the district. If anyone else has information or ideas, please continue posting. I appreciate all of the help! Hmmm when you put it like this I would probably just withdraw her from 8th grade, send her and then enroll her in high school the following school year as a high school freshman. The prinicipal would have no jurisdiction then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 The middle school principal is out of bounds on this one. He has no say on a parent's decision for where a child moves. When I was growing up, I moved every couple years. When in a new school district we just went and signed me up at the appropriate grade level and moved on. I remember once I had to take a placement test for math, but that was it. Edited to add--It might be easier to do this in junior high, where the requirements for graduation are looser than in high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 It was a Danish school going to a Canadian school. But with my cousins kids they all had permission to go, as long as they did a few extra projects for the Danish school. They had to keep a journal about being at a Canadian school. They had to do a presentation when they got home to one or two classes about Canada. Also because of different cut off ages for school they came over when in grade 7 in Denmark, went to grade 8 for two months in Canada. Then grade 8 ended, they graduated grade 8 in Canada and spent a part of summer here. Then next school year they went to grade 8 in Denmark. So they all joked that they got 2 grade eight graduations. The Canadian one, and then the Danish one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 brookspr, on 23 January 2013 - 08:09 AM, said: If the school won't allow her to transition back into 8th grade and makes her repeat part or all of the 8th grade year, they probably won't send her. This is where I get confused, since I can't really find any graduation requirements for middle school, just high school. I wonder if it would be easier for her to do the overseas studies at the end of the 8th grade year instead of the beginning. Technically they don't need the diploma from middle school to attend high school. She might have to take competency tests for placement, although that would seem a bit ridiculous to me considering she would have completed 2 1/2 years of middle school in the district. If anyone else has information or ideas, please continue posting. I appreciate all of the help! Hmmm when you put it like this I would probably just withdraw her from 8th grade, send her and then enroll her in high school the following school year as a high school freshman. The principal would have no jurisdiction then. This. They should be talking to the high school counselor, not the middle school principal. If the middle school doesn't like it, she can always stay in Spain all year instead of one semester. In fact, I'd recommend it. Dd (then 7th gr) took two months to become relatively fluent (Swiss German)and the whole first semester to become proficient in grammar and writing (high German). The second semester solidified it. ETA. The middle school principal is probably concerned with his second Tuesday in October headcount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 @OP Since the father of the child is Spanish, I assume that he is totally familiar, with the incredibly difficult situation in Spain at this time and that the relatives his child would be living with have no financial difficulty at this time. The official unemployment rate in Spain is now 26% and I personally know a Spanish family that will be emigrating to Colombia on February 22, 2013. There are other possible issues. If the schools in Spain are like those here in Colombia, the students take more subjects than they do in U.S. Public Schools. Also, it is quite possible, because of her not being fluent in Spanish, and not having experience with certain subjects, that she would be placed one or 2 school years behind where she is in the USA. That would be the case, if someone were arriving in Colombia from the USA. They would drop back to a lower grade level. There is another possible issue and that is whether or not Public Schools in Spain would accept her. Here in Colombia, the Public Schools are for families who can least afford to send their children to Private Schools. IMHO, it would be better for this child to stay in U.S. schools and to spend a Summer vacation with her Aunt and Uncle in Spain and take an intensive Spanish language course during her Summer vacation. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Spam reported L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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