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I am impressed with our schools holding the kids accountable. The school also has a computer program where I can check the kids grades daily. So I know fairly quickly if they have not been turning things in or if they get bad grades on something. I was pretty impressed with it for how small a school it is, especially considering the very, very high number of ESL kids we have. Part of the reason they started this in the higher graders was the fact that parents either couldn't or wouldn't hold the kids accountable. The computer program helped some kids, but most of the parents who bother to check it were the ones who already paid attention to what the kids were doing. The Zap one is working well for most of the kids. It wakes up parents (litterally since we have to get them there early! or pick them up late after detention) and it takes away the kids free time. They also have one period a day called tutorials. If your grade is below a certain number in any class, you must go to that clas during that period for tutoring, if not you have free time, in junior high they let them have recess, in high school they can do a longer lunch or they can go to the library. They are allowed to go to any teacher during that time even if they are not failing to ask questions, work on UIL stuff, or do extra credit stuff. Many School clubs also meet during this time. For such a tiny town, the schools are doing great. I was worried at first becuase they ratings were not like the schools we left, but the schools we left had no ESL kids, only upper class kids pretty much, these schools have a better mix that probably better prepares the kids for life. They also teach more loyalty. An entire class can get punshed if enough of them are misbehaving, the the classes compete against each other. (this would be thier graduating class) The kids have all been very accepting of my kids with disabilities and the school has been very accomodating.
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