@@ NCEP random catchall thread @@

[pixy0stix]

Place for all random kid stuff - we haven't done one of these in a while

[pixy0stix]

I happened to catch a school district fb post that K registration was due yesterday. (Obvs you can register whenever, but they wanted it yesterday to help with planning purposes.) In filling out the paperwork I found out that we had been redistricted to a further away school, AND we had missed the incoming K parent open house. WTF. How the shit are parents supposed to be thinking about this in December 22 for an Aug 23 start? I swear previous years registration was in Jan.

[penguingrrl]

That’s wild! Our registration is the first week of March, but I have no clue how incoming parents hear about it. With our first kid we moved to town in June, so registered then. After that we got alerts from the school so that’s how we knew when to register the others.

[penguingrrl]

If folks don’t mind, I’d love some vibes for my oldest! They’re auditioning for our state’s regional honors band this Saturday and getting in is a huge honor. There are three regional honors bands and admission into one also allows you to audition for the statewide honors band. Freshman and sophomores rarely get in as it’s highly competitive, but their teachers think they have a good chance this year. They’re an instrumental music major in their HS and have been steadily preparing for this audition for 6+ months. Last year they got too nervous and bungled the audition, but this year they’re feeling confident. Vibes that the audition goes well would be appreciated!

[pixy0stix]

I just talked to the school (because I need to bring in some paperwork), and was told that the early registration date was a surprise to them as well. Not only that, but she's been fielding a ton of parent phone calls because everyone was bummed to miss the open house. They're going to do another one in the spring sometime.

[redheadbaker]

DS' first musical (Elf Jr) is this weekend! He's worked so hard, I can't wait to see it.

[Poeticxpassion]

Dec 8, 2022 12:08:02 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I happened to catch a school district fb post that K registration was due yesterday. (Obvs you can register whenever, but they wanted it yesterday to help with planning purposes.) In filling out the paperwork I found out that we had been redistricted to a further away school, AND we had missed the incoming K parent open house. WTF. How the shit are parents supposed to be thinking about this in December 22 for an Aug 23 start? I swear previous years registration was in Jan.

We had our elementary open house last Thursday, because open enrollment started this past Tuesday. It is so early!

[seeyalater52]

My wife’s dad and stepmom are visiting from out of state for only the second time in J’s life and he warmed right up to them. Considering how infrequently he sees many of these family members I’m grateful he is a very easy going and friendly 2 year old who can roll with the punches and he seems to be having a lot of fun. He’s a total ham and loves the attention!

[taratru]

pixy0stix Excuse me now? Kindergarten? Wtf? Where will he go?

[pixy0stix]

Dec 9, 2022 10:15:16 GMT -5 taratru said:

pixy0stix Excuse me now? Kindergarten? Wtf? Where will he go?

I can't believe it either! He'll be going to .

[taratru]

Dec 9, 2022 10:19:05 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Dec 9, 2022 10:15:16 GMT -5 taratru said:

pixy0stix Excuse me now? Kindergarten? Wtf? Where will he go?

I can't believe it either! He'll be going to .

Nothing but good things about that one. I still can't believe it, though.

[formerlyak]

We went to a presentation at teen’s high school for juniors and their parents about college. The average GPAs for admits at our state schools are insane. My teen’s 4.3 gpa is considered “average” for most of the state school campuses. And “below average” for the campus I attended. College applications are going to be interesting next fall.

[karinothing]

Dec 9, 2022 10:41:44 GMT -5 formerlyak said:

We went to a presentation at teen’s high school for juniors and their parents about college. The average GPAs for admits at our state schools are insane. My teen’s 4.3 gpa is considered “average” for most of the state school campuses. And “below average” for the campus I attended. College applications are going to be interesting next fall.

Not sure what state you are in, but this is how i feel about my state too (Virginia). It is hard to get in to a lot of the in state schools and they take a small amount of in state students. I find it frustrating as I think state schools should focus on state students first. 

[bronxgirl]

Tomorrow is my daughter's bat mitzvah. Everything is running smoothly, but I'm still completely nervous right now. We have our first event tonight so I'm hoping once we're there we will feel happy and excited. Now everything feels a little surreal and that we're running around doing a long list of chores. Hopefully the excitement will start soon. especially with my husband who's being a bit of a pill at the moment. We did the synagogue pictures and rehearsal last night and that felt good, so hopefully we'll be back on track soon.

[georgeglass]

Dec 9, 2022 11:06:49 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Dec 9, 2022 10:41:44 GMT -5 formerlyak said:

We went to a presentation at teen’s high school for juniors and their parents about college. The average GPAs for admits at our state schools are insane. My teen’s 4.3 gpa is considered “average” for most of the state school campuses. And “below average” for the campus I attended. College applications are going to be interesting next fall.

Not sure what state you are in, but this is how i feel about my state too (Virginia). It is hard to get in to a lot of the in state schools and they take a small amount of in state students. I find it frustrating as I think state schools should focus on state students first. 

We are in Va and my twins find out their early decision results in 45 minutes. BARF.

One should be a yes. The other is a maybe. I hate that it's the same time! Two different schools.

(also - I thought all Va state schools had to take 60%+ in-state students)

[formerlyak]

Dec 9, 2022 11:06:49 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Dec 9, 2022 10:41:44 GMT -5 formerlyak said:

We went to a presentation at teen’s high school for juniors and their parents about college. The average GPAs for admits at our state schools are insane. My teen’s 4.3 gpa is considered “average” for most of the state school campuses. And “below average” for the campus I attended. College applications are going to be interesting next fall.

Not sure what state you are in, but this is how i feel about my state too (Virginia). It is hard to get in to a lot of the in state schools and they take a small amount of in state students. I find it frustrating as I think state schools should focus on state students first. 

California, so yep. Pretty much the same as Virginia. The UC schools still let in a much higher percentage of in-state as compared to out of state, but there are just a lot of kids in state. And spaces at the UC campuses haven't grown proportional to the growth of the population. I actually just stopped working at a UC campus last Spring, but a lower tier one with less competitive admissions, and there is a mandate that the system needs to grow by (I forget how much) by 2024. Some campuses are throwing up their hands saying they can't, Merced and Riverside are going to take the bulk of the growth because they have the land and space. Places like UCLA is working to expand online offerings to give students an incentive to spend a year working or interning outside of Los Angeles while still taking UCLA classes online. I feel at least that is a creative solution and using what they learned about online learning during the pandemic.

[formerlyak]

georgeglass, good luck! I hope they get in!

[karinothing]

Dec 9, 2022 16:17:47 GMT -5 georgeglass said:

Dec 9, 2022 11:06:49 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Not sure what state you are in, but this is how i feel about my state too (Virginia). It is hard to get in to a lot of the in state schools and they take a small amount of in state students. I find it frustrating as I think state schools should focus on state students first. 

We are in Va and my twins find out their early decision results in 45 minutes. BARF.

One should be a yes. The other is a maybe. I hate that it's the same time! Two different schools.

(also - I thought all Va state schools had to take 60%+ in-state students)

Maybe it's 60% but it feels small! Lol

And I hope it goes well! Update us!

[Velar Fricative]

Dec 9, 2022 14:48:44 GMT -5 bronxgirl said:

Tomorrow is my daughter's bat mitzvah. Everything is running smoothly, but I'm still completely nervous right now. We have our first event tonight so I'm hoping once we're there we will feel happy and excited. Now everything feels a little surreal and that we're running around doing a long list of chores. Hopefully the excitement will start soon. especially with my husband who's being a bit of a pill at the moment. We did the synagogue pictures and rehearsal last night and that felt good, so hopefully we'll be back on track soon.

Uhhhhhhh how is your baby old enough for a bat mitzvah already?!?!

[seeyalater52]

I hope it went well georgeglass!

[georgeglass]

Dec 9, 2022 17:41:41 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Dec 9, 2022 16:17:47 GMT -5 georgeglass said:

We are in Va and my twins find out their early decision results in 45 minutes. BARF.

One should be a yes. The other is a maybe. I hate that it's the same time! Two different schools.

(also - I thought all Va state schools had to take 60%+ in-state students)

Maybe it's 60% but it feels small! Lol

And I hope it goes well! Update us!

It does feel small!

And YAY - both got in. Holy shit. I can breathe again. 

BUT my son's girlfriend (who is normally sweet) apparently picked a fight and he's moping and doesn't feel like celebrating so now I hate her.

[seeyalater52]

Dec 9, 2022 18:44:07 GMT -5 georgeglass said:

Dec 9, 2022 17:41:41 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Maybe it's 60% but it feels small! Lol

And I hope it goes well! Update us!

It does feel small!

And YAY - both got in. Holy shit. I can breathe again. 

BUT my son's girlfriend (who is normally sweet) apparently picked a fight and he's moping and doesn't feel like celebrating so now I hate her.

Omg congrats to them!! And boo about your son’s girlfriend. Don’t let anyone rain on your parade today!

[formerlyak]

georgeglass congrats!! The sense of relief must be overwhelming! Go have a glass of wine or whatever you like to celebrate. They did it … and being at the start of what is apparently a two year process with tests and essays and crap, I know you have likely done a lot in terms of supporting them!

[Jalapeñomel]

Many states have partnerships with CCs where you can transfer to four year schools after you get your pre-reqs (guaranteed admission programs).

I just Google, and VA has this with a whole ton of schools.


Just mentioning because there are many pathways to college, and, for some reason, guidance scares parents (and stresses out kids) from thinking they won’t be able to go to school without a perfect GPA and perfect SATS/ACTs etc. (for whatever reason).

[georgeglass]

Dec 9, 2022 20:08:32 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Many states have partnerships with CCs where you can transfer to four year schools after you get your pre-reqs (guaranteed admission programs).

I just Google, and VA has this with a whole ton of schools.


Just mentioning because there are many pathways to college, and, for some reason, guidance scares parents (and stresses out kids) from thinking they won’t be able to go to school without a perfect GPA and perfect SATS/ACTs etc. (for whatever reason).

YES! Va has incredible CC partnerships. We were SO lucky because our kids had great access to counselors through their schools. I'm helping my son's girlfriend who isn't so lucky. Virginia has a bunch of great state schools for all kinds of students and CC partnerships too. So glad to live here. Except for the governor.

[wawa]

My brother's oldest is waiting on college acceptance letters now, he got his first one to a pretty small school that's part of the extended state system where they live, and they offered him a full ride, but it's not a super well known school and he has fantastic grades at a competitive magnet high school and is super super bright so it's highly unlikely he won't get into at least one or two of his more reach schools.
At thanksgiving we chatted about it in some detail, and I've been following up as the annoying auntie who works in one of the field's he's considering, but I'm not sure how hard to push. Like, don't go six figures into debt when you could be zero figures into debt....but knowing how hiring in my field works and how bright he is - it'd be worth a ALITTLE loan to step up to a school people at least in the entire state have even heard of.

Honestly in my field, the state flagship school would be a STELLAR choice because alums LOOOOOOOOVE to hire from there for entry level. Combined with my network he'd have his pick of jobs if he did go this direction.

But he's also considering another STEM field where the specific school matters a fuckton less and doesn't know which one he actually wants yet, and is hoping to spend two years figuring it out...so maybe the smaller school with a full ride is the right choice and if a transfer later makes sense he could that then??

I'm the only one of my siblings who had a straightforward "went to school to do a thing, now does the thing. Am successful" career path, and I'm in at least one of the fields he finds interesting, so my brother poked me to talk to him about how all this works since brother has zero clue. But I don't want to give bad advice and I feel abit adrift.

I am NOT looking forward to do doing this with my own kids, it's stressful enough just with a nibling I text once a week.

[hermione]

Can I brag about my kid here? I won’t in real life bc a couple of my friends have kids who are struggling and I want to be as supportive as possible.

C is in 4th grade. She took on two sports this year with plans for a third this spring, her teachers call her a friend to everyone, and she brought her first trimester report card home yesterday with straight As. I am just so proud of her…and so relieved we didn’t hurt her academically or socially when we had her go virtual for all of second grade. As an only child her loneliness was always on my mind. This is the first year of her life that she’s attended the same school two years in a row. I’m just really proud of my kid today.

[hermione]

Dec 9, 2022 20:58:54 GMT -5 wawa said:

My brother's oldest is waiting on college acceptance letters now, he got his first one to a pretty small school that's part of the extended state system where they live, and they offered him a full ride, but it's not a super well known school and he has fantastic grades at a competitive magnet high school and is super super bright so it's highly unlikely he won't get into at least one or two of his more reach schools.
At thanksgiving we chatted about it in some detail, and I've been following up as the annoying auntie who works in one of the field's he's considering, but I'm not sure how hard to push. Like, don't go six figures into debt when you could be zero figures into debt....but knowing how hiring in my field works and how bright he is - it'd be worth a ALITTLE loan to step up to a school people at least in the entire state have even heard of.

Honestly in my field, the state flagship school would be a STELLAR choice because alums LOOOOOOOOVE to hire from there for entry level. Combined with my network he'd have his pick of jobs if he did go this direction.

But he's also considering another STEM field where the specific school matters a fuckton less and doesn't know which one he actually wants yet, and is hoping to spend two years figuring it out...so maybe the smaller school with a full ride is the right choice and if a transfer later makes sense he could that then??

I'm the only one of my siblings who had a straightforward "went to school to do a thing, now does the thing. Am successful" career path, and I'm in at least one of the fields he finds interesting, so my brother poked me to talk to him about how all this works since brother has zero clue. But I don't want to give bad advice and I feel abit adrift.

I am NOT looking forward to do doing this with my own kids, it's stressful enough just with a nibling I text once a week.

You’re a great aunt and he’s lucky to have you!

[rubytue]

Dec 9, 2022 17:41:41 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Dec 9, 2022 16:17:47 GMT -5 georgeglass said:

We are in Va and my twins find out their early decision results in 45 minutes. BARF.

One should be a yes. The other is a maybe. I hate that it's the same time! Two different schools.

(also - I thought all Va state schools had to take 60%+ in-state students)

Maybe it's 60% but it feels small! Lol

And I hope it goes well! Update us!

Back when I was in a VA state school. We were told it was 75% in state. The real issue being it’s 25% NoVA, 50% rest of VA, and 25% out if state. My floor had like 5 first from Burke Lake HS

[chickadee77]

Dec 8, 2022 12:08:02 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I happened to catch a school district fb post that K registration was due yesterday. (Obvs you can register whenever, but they wanted it yesterday to help with planning purposes.) In filling out the paperwork I found out that we had been redistricted to a further away school, AND we had missed the incoming K parent open house. WTF. How the shit are parents supposed to be thinking about this in December 22 for an Aug 23 start? I swear previous years registration was in Jan.

Our school in FL had the super-efficient (not) main communication of putting this stuff on the letterbox outside the school. Visible from the street, yes, but a four-lane road right off a busy intersection and speed limit 45 (so everyone going 55, ha). I wad like, "There's gotta be a better way." I ended up going to the district we site and just putting everything important-looking on my own calendar, but feel like I missed so.much due to crappy communication.