KatysBlog

Just for fun, here our two of our pets, Valentino and Garbo.
Tino is one of the prettiest and friendliest cats we have ever
had but he is also very dumb. He purrs when you turn him over
to rub his tummy. His sister Garbo is much smarter but does
not like to be picked up. Both are grey
and white with green eyes.

Valentino and Garbo:

Tino at the Window:

Images by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher (Copyright 2006)

While my daughter is one set of final exams (next week) away from
being a Senior in High School, my 13-year-old son
is almost a High School Freshman. Jessica is going to
Harker, a private college prep school
but Paul will go to Palo Alto High School
or “Paly”, an excellent public school. Paly is better able to
support Paul’s learning disabilities than Harker would be.

We are in the middle of Paul’s IEP (Individualized Education Plan) discussions
now. The IEP is set of documents in which the school, parents, teachers,
school administrators, and the student himself write down their needs,
expectations, and the support needed for a disabled student. Since we will
be moving from a superb 3-year special day class
at Jordan Middle School into a
new school in September, we want to be sure that we put together the
best possible set of classes and services so that Paul can succeed at Paly.

The discussions about classes next year for Jessica and for Paul could not
be more different. For Jessica, we have passionate talks about whether taking
Solo Vocal Performance or AP Biology-Environmental would be more interesting. That is, discussions are about how many hard classes Jessica can squeeze
into her Senior year.

For Paul, we are trying to balance his social and behavioral needs
against his academic and intellectual needs. Our discussions for Paul
are around whether he should take 1.1 Algebra
(the first half of Algebra I, a much smaller class), or Algebra I (closer to
his academic capabilities but a bigger and faster-paced class). Harker’s
Freshman High School math class is Algebra II (most Harker students having
completed Algebra I in 8th grade), so even if Paul takes Paly’s harder
Freshman math alternative, he will start High School a year behind his
Harker peers. If he takes the recommended math class (1.1 Algebra), Paul
will only be able to complete three years of Math in High School unless
he takes a summer school course. Math is Paul’s best subject,
where his test scores are in the Superior range. Imagine our discussions
about writing and spelling, where Paul is still working toward grade level.

Paul himself does not seem very interested in these discussions. His
focus this summer is getting confirmed in the Episcopal church,
reading as many books as fast as he can (he is currently
finishing Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring), trying to talk
me into allowing him to play video games all day (no way!), and growing
taller than me. Paul and I are almost exactly the same height today so
that last achievement will come all too soon.

My 17-year-old daughter Jessica is taking her SAT-II tests
right now in Math and Biology. I dropped her off at 7:45 a.m.
at Lincoln High School here in San Jose. The Junior year of High
School at Harker is all
about creating objective evidence of who you
are and how good you are so that you can have your choice of
universities. So far, Jessica has taken Advance Placement (AP)
European History, the SAT-I (Writing, Reading, Math), the SAT-II
in U.S. History and English Literature. After today, she has
one more big test this year, in AP U.S. History (or “A-Push” as
she calls it). She will take her SAT-II in Latin and maybe
Chemistry too next year, plus two more APs.

When I was Jessica’s age, I too went to a good college prep. school
(Burke’s in San Francisco)
but there were fewer standardized tests available. I only took
SATs (like the SAT-I today – in Math and English) and one
AP (in English). I think it was the only AP class my school had.
Harker offers AP courses in at least a dozen subjects, plus as
many honors classes.

Jessica (who takes mostly honors classes) tells me that the
material for an AP class and an honors class is about the same
level of difficulty but that an honors class has tests all through the
year while an AP class is aimed at one test given by the

College Board national testing company. Ironically, many
colleges have started treating High School honors and AP classes as
the same. Because of this, some students take the AP course but
not the test. In my own case, my high SAT and AP scores got me
out of at least a year of boring Freshman year survey courses at
the University of
California, so the tests were well worth the trouble.

I know I never studied as hard as Jessica does. She has a stack of
large format SAT and AP prep manuals that she carries around. At
most meals lately, she has one in her lap unless I take it away from her.
She has gotten very high scores on the tests so far but the pressure
and expectations are still intense. If Jessica wants to go to Princeton,
Georgetown, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Brown, Tufts, Oberlin, or any other
top school, high standardized test scores seem to be an unavoidable
entry requirement. It is a painful and stressful process and I can only
admire how well she is handling it.

[Jessica came back from taking the SAT-II tests on Saturday and said they
went well. She also patiently reminded me that she had already taken her
A-Push exam. She is waiting to take the first of her four
final exams at Harker this morning. After the last exam on Wednesday,
Jessica is done for this year!]