If you don't remember the process we went through in skipping Elisabeth into 2nd grade, as well as our reasoning for doing so, see this past post: http://4peanutsandacashew.blogspot.com/2011/10/sweatin-bullets.html
Dear Sheri,
It is with a gleeful heart that I update you with the news you were so dreading to hear. You may or may not remember my daughter Elisabeth Flynn who you IQ tested to see if she possessed the cognitive ability to skip into second grade, after missing the deadline of a birthday requirement of September 1 by 11 days. Your worst nightmare has come true: Elisabeth has not only acclimated to her class, and is on grade level, but according to her teachers, is excelling and in the top tier of her class. Your parting, extremely condescending last remarks to us were that you "would have to put a note in her permanent record", stating how vehemently you disagreed with placing her in 2nd grade. How incredibly pompous, insensitive, and condescending that remark was to two parents who you did not know and whose most important priority in life is the well-being of their children. You severely underestimated both us, and Elisabeth. It would seem your only hope at this point is that as she progresses into further grades, that you could trade that note in for a smug "I told you so", were she to regress in her progress. Unfortunately for you, this will not happen because not only is she infinitely smarter than your wise and educated 1 hour observation of her stated, but she has proven that attempting to test cognitive ability of a child in 2, 4-hour testing sessions is ludicrous and in her situation, not indicative at all of her ability. She was bored and distracted with the testing process, and like we said, had regressed in 1st grade due to not being challenged enough.
If you did indeed put that letter of strong non-support in her "permanent" record, I would hope that you might have some introspection at this juncture and remove it, as it only points to your inability to correctly assess our daughter and it was extremely offensive to us as her parents. My guess is, based on the way you treated us, that you wouldn't think of removing it. If I could write a note on your permanent record, it would read: "Condescending, insensitive, and arrogant in her treatment of those she is supposed to be helping or working for." I truly hope that this was just a bad first impression of you that we experienced and that in the future you can improve the way in which you interact with parents who desperately love and care for their children. Hmmm. Maybe we do know our children and their abilities after spending their lifetime with them better than an "expert" who knew them for an hour. And just maybe, the sum total of a person's intelligence can't be necessarily tested. Especially on a 7 year old.
Sincerely,
Sandra Flynn
**And yes, this letter will be stamped and mailed.
6 comments:
She was a real piece of work. State funded usuelessness! I will never understand people whose sole job is to help others who hate and refuse to help others.
Like school counselors whose only advise is 'to give up, you'll never succeed' or 'you'll never get accepted into that program' or 'there's nothing I can do to help you rearrange your schedule or get you into the class you need--my hands are tied'. What the what!!!!? Why are you even here if you can't help me?
Sheri is a bitter, miserable soul whose fear of her own failure trumps any good she could have accomplished if she had believed in any of the kids she could have helped.
My favorite part of the whole thing was this:
**And yes, this letter will be stamped and mailed.
Hooray for you Sandra. I hope you also put a copy of this letter in a permanent place for Elisabeth to read one day when she is a mother herself. Nothing like letting our children know how much we really do/are fighting for them.
xxx
You did the right thing for Elisabeth. So many children don't have the benefit of parents who have the ability, knowledge or desire to go head to head with the system. I'm so proud of you and Robert for being true advocates for your children. You need to do one more thing. Sherri certainly has a supervisor. A letter needs to go to that person. She needs to take full accountability for her poor judgement. This is for the sake of future children whose lives will be negatively impacted by her lack of professionalism and judgement.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading each word! I'm SO happy Elisabeth is excelling. It's amazing the power of parents who love their children and do everything in their power to help them excel in life! I hope Sherri learns from this experience.
Wow! All I can say is kudos to you and Robert for trusting your intuition and belief in your child and moving her forward despite strong opposition from authority figures. My friend and I have talked many times about how his life may have been different if a parent or someone else had stood up for him. He was smart and gifted, but as a poor minority child in a single parent home he was often judged and discounted by the adults and school leaders that could have made a difference in his life. What he is today is out of his own shear persistence, but he can see many paths not taken because an adviser or leader told him it was not for him.
My first comment was going to be: I hope you send it.
Glad you are! Sometimes people forget that parents know their kids more than they do.
So glad she is no longer bored and now thriving. I would love to be a fly on her wall when she reads it.
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