Aura Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 My dd14 wants to visit a public school, just for a day, to see what it's like. Has anyone ever done this? Is this even possible? Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Contact your local school principal and ask. The worst they can do is say no! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Many schools have open houses and/or allow potential students to shadow another student this time of year. I'd call the school. At this age, I would allow it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtnTeaching Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Both my ds and my dd wanted to visit a 9th grade class for a day when they were deciding whether to go into ps for high school or continue homeschooling. Our local high school absolutely refused to let us. Said it would be a huge disruption. Right. :glare: Hope your dd has better luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Some schools DO let kids come in for a day. Some don't at all. Some have a certain time frame when that is allowed. Call the school and find out, as PPs have recommended. I have found that our local schools tend to be more into this if they are private schools rather than public schools, since they want your business. But it can't hurt to ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loowit Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 We are talking about doing this for our DD. However, we know one of the high school teachers and DD would be in his classroom all day. When he asked the principal he was told we can do it with advanced notice. We haven't decided yet if we are going to do it or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 My dd shadowed her best friend at high school one day. It was eye opening. She came home and told me that all the kids were on their phones (texting) for almost every class, and the teachers didn't care. The kids didn't pay attention to anything, and nobody could answer any questions. She raised her hand to answer in history class, because she felt so sorry for the teacher. The teacher was thrilled and she and my dd had a great conversation about the Civil War. The other kids couldn't believe she knew what she knew. The teacher's response, "She's homeschooled. What do you expect?" :lol: Anyway, my dd had absolutely no desire to ever visit again. She thought the whole day was a total waste of time for the students, and that it was the worst possible environment to try and learn anything. If your dd has a friend, most schools will allow her to be that student's guest for a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 My 2nd oldest shadowed a friend. The school was very accommodating. She did end up attending in 10th grade for one semester; then she came home with no desire to return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aura Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 Thanks everyone. The biggest problem that I see is that she'd like to shadow her cousin, but her cousin is 16. Maybe I could just get away with saying dd's grade instead of her age, since they're in the same grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 DD15 has done this numerous times at private schools. Privates usually allow one full day, and two if there is a reason. (On a transitional year between middle/highschol, DD spent one day with the students who would have been her classmates and one day in the upper level school to meet the teachers and see the classes she would actually be attending). One elite school she went to, allows kids to attend up to one week to make sure they are a good fit for the school and the school is a good fit for the student. That is uncommon though. DS19 did it once for public school, but they were reluctant and had to be talked into it. They said they have strict rules now about allowing anyone who is not an active student on campus, due to school shootings and potential gang issues. I had to show that DS was an honors student (they called to verify that he was not a problem student in the home school program we attended) and that the person he was shadowing (his cousin) was in good standing and was an active club leader and stable student. They still only allowed a half day and he couldn't stay through lunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 This would not be allowed in my district. It can be a disruption. Your dd may not be disruptive, but who knows. The school has to plan for worst case scenario. Allowing students to do this really opens doors to a lot of unknown people coming in the school. When you consider most public schools are now making efforts to know who is in the building and why, allowing a nonregistered child to just hang out all day does not make sense. Additionally, who is responsible if the nonregistered child is injured while hanging out all day. My local high has over 2400 students, I can't imagine the administration wants to be responsible for a random unregistered child and know where that child is all day. Private schools in my area allow shadowing for students who are considering applying or are in the application process. Some schools charge a fee for this, some do not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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