posted
I just got a call from the school. I have caller ID, so I saw that it was the school before I answered. First thoughts: someone is sick or hurt. My brain is already moving in a "something is wrong with one of my children" mode.
Then it is the secretary saying: "We are calling to check on Tasha and see why she isn't in class."
What?!?!
Tasha loves school, loves her teacher, and was looking forward to Pirate Day today, and watching Treasure Island. Today is also the last day off track, and is basically play day.
She was also driven to school.
Any possible reason why she wouldn't be in school is very very NOT GOOD.
So the secretary checked with the teacher, and it turns out that her card was sent to the office by mistake. Now, my intellectual side understood that this was the most likely cause for the call. But still... it stops your life cold for a moment. And you react physically to the fear too. You're brain can't control that.
posted
We have made a couple of calls home like that and it really hurts when we find out we made the mistake. But at least we are letting everyone know we are on top of missing students. We know parents want to have missing students reported right away.
About the only thing to do is make dang sure that teacher knows how important accurate attendance is...for everyone's nerves.
Posts: 440 | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
Thank you, screechowl. If you do it, you hate to be wrong. But unfortunately, it is a system. It will likely have chaos in it at some point.
Boy Amka. I would've been out the door and in their face before they could have told me that they made a mistake! You kept a cool head about you, though I know it must still hurt to think about.
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When I was 15 I came home from high school one day and my mother asked how my history class went. Now, she always asked me about school so I thought nothing of the question. I casually said that it was pretty boring and I didn't remember class very well.
Then she told me she knew I hadn't BEEN in class because she got a phone call.
I suddenly remembered class in great detail Apparently it was an office mistake. My parents believed me and we cleared it up. My parents were pretty cool about the phone call too.
Posts: 1990 | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
Last year my teen called halfway through the day and asked if he could skip a class. I was so surprised (and, frankly, flattered) that he'd actually asked first, that I let him.
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The worst is when you're skipping class to do homework for the next class, and you run into the professor whose class you're ditching on your way to the library. All you can do is just say "Hi!" and keep going, hoping he'll be too perplexed to call you on it.
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posted
That gave me a panicky adrenalin rush just *reading* your post Amka! That is so scary.
You know though...our public schools don't call if your child doesn't show up for class. They might if it has been several days, but they don't on the first day.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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I asked my parents if I could skip class once, and spent some time convincing them. But then I realized I couldn't afford to miss any school, and went anyway... LOL..
(There needs to be a dork smiley)
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
My first year as a principal a girl was missing from the beginning of school. So we called the parent right away.
The father answered and I explained his daughter was missing from school. Now 99 out of 100 parents want to know when their child is missing, but this guy just came unglued. Why was I calling him? So what if his girl was missing?
I let him rant and when I could a word in I just told him in exactly these words "Would you care to know that when your girl is missing from here she might be in a ditch on the side of the road? That is why we call you and why we will continue to call you each time she is missing."
End of conversation.
But I hate it when we make a mistake, which is pretty rare.
Posts: 440 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Professor Funk, nine times out of ten, the professor is most definitely NOT perplexed. She might be mildly irate, perhaps, but there is very little mystery about class-skippers (even if it's for an understandable reason!).
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I get a call about once every two weeks from my husband's boss (also his stepdad) telling me that he can't find Jes. "I found his truck on the side of the road and he isn't in it? Did he call you?" It scared the stuff out of me the first two times, but now I realize he's leaving out important info and just getting unrealistic. Usually, the truck has broken down, he's late for work, Djemai goes looking for Jes, and he's 100 yards away trying to call him on a pay phone.
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One day the bus stopped in front of the house in the afternoon and Natalie didn't get off.
The bus went further into the subdivision, and I thought, maybe she just missed her stop and he'll drop her off when he gets back by here. Nope, he drove on by.
I freaked. She'd gotten on the bus this morning, but now she wasn't getting off. No one had called me to tell me she missed the bus. I called the school - line's busy.
Keep calling. Line stays busy.
Finally get through. "My daughter didn't get off the bus!"
"What's her name and who's her teacher?" I tell her, she says "Please don't panic, it's usually nothing big, she might have missed it or something, we'll call you back as soon as we check with her teacher."
Before she called me back the bus driver came back and dropped her off. She had fallen asleep, lying down on the bench, and he didn't see her until one of the students at the last stop said "This girl's still here."
Everything was fine, but man - those were some terrifying minutes.
Amka, glad it was just a mistake. *hugs*
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Thanks folks. Yeah, it was very scary. All my kids are home now though, and I am happily tormenting them with chores.
Screechowl, despite getting freaked out, I really appreciate that the school calls. This is the third school our kids have been too, since their program keeps getting moved around, and the first school that has called about student absences.
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