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I am not asking for special treatment, but… 2011-11-04 Author: Clay Nichols |
Dear School Administrator,
Ordinarily, my wife and I would never ask for any kind of special treatment for our daughter Pookey (last year’s letter was an exception), but I do have a few small requests on behalf of my child.
Frequently, when we ask about school, Pookey complains that her teacher “doesn’t like” her. I am supremely confident this is not the case (who could resist Pookey?), but feel some gesture needs to be made before there is self-esteem damage. A note perhaps (if it were passed in view of the other students it would be best)? Or, hey, let’s get “outside the box” – would it be too much to ask that this teacher bring my child a bouquet of flowers? How about if I provide the bouquet of flowers?
I think that somewhere my child got the idea that my coming to school lunch every day to eat with her is “not cool.” While some of these “opinions” may be coming from her homeroom, I suspect that there may be a few critics in other classes and other grades providing this negative feedback. Moving forward, I would like to offer leadership on this issue by addressing a whole school assembly. I have a powerpoint on the studies demonstrating the benefits of family meals I would like to share.
Also, my daughter was very upset last week because another girl in the class was given an award for “selflessness.” While we have serious doubts about the value of such an award, we think our daughter should get one, too.
As far as grades are concerned, we trust the professionalism of the teachers completely. Objective assessment is key, and we know our Pookey will struggle from time to time. Don’t worry, you’ll never hear from us on this one unless our girl isn’t working hard or is in danger of not passing a class. (FYI, A = Pass, B or lower = Fail — that’s how Princeton sees it, anyway).
Please know that we appreciate and support everything you do despite our vocal opposition to the last school bond proposition. Water under the bridge, right?
Sincerely,
Pookey’s Proud Dad
