How do high school students get involved in large ISD (hotel, house)

[rantanamo]

I'm surprised by a lot of these answers. I participated in what I wanted to and had friends move in from others cities and jump right in. There are no football tryouts. Usually aren't baseball tryout. Basketball is the oneo that is hard to get in. Most schools have tryouts for the next school year for cheerleading or drill team as well as what band or orchestra if the school has multiple.. But there are many many other organizations to join. I was in NHS, Beta Club, A/V club, football and baseball. Was asked to join many others. There should be nothing scary about this. Teachers who lead some of these groups will advertise them anyway.

[loves2read]

lots depends on the size of the schools
larger schools just have more people competing in the sports fields for limited number of slots
if your children are TALENTED they probably will play because coaches even more than their players have a need to win...BUT if they are average with their abilities then it will be much more difficult because they are unknown vs the known of players in the system with relationships in place...
and be aware that there are MANY talented players already in Texas schools--it is a football powerhouse there is no doubt and even smaller schools have quality players...
basketball is probably #2 sport
ice hockey has picked up and might rank with baseball for #3
wrestling has started to gain support and some districts have a dedicated swimming program
Bell HS where I taught and Trinity in my district were top=rated for gymnastics both boys and girls for decades

as far as other activities--that depends on the school--where I taught band was second to football for bragging rights and while almost anyone could get in the band--playing rank was highly competitive and people could challange to move up in ranking--and there was lots of practice for any band student...

UIL drama, the newspaper, yearbook--decathalon team, debate, choir--those were less populated areas so people with those interests would not have any real problem getting in--depending on who is already signed up for the classes--
there all all sorts of clubs that students can participate in--check out any ISD web site for the high schools and you can see that most schools bend over backwards to offer students a reason to come to school...
but be aware that some activities are through election--like student council--so new students would have more difficulty getting in
National Honor society is usually pretty important group but don't know how long a new student might take to qualify--if you can just transfer from your old school to the new one...

[cobufa]

Thank you for all of your responses. We are very serious about the Lovejoy school system. Any thoughts about the Lovejoy ISD. Looks like all children are able to get involved easily.

[theloneranger]

It's a very well regarded district. It's very far out from downtown Dallas, and parts of the district are still rural rather than suburban.

The high school is brand new and is still working out the kinks, but it's definitely smaller and would be pretty easy to get involved. I believe all courses are pre-AP and AP so if your kids don't want to do that you might want to look for another district.

[loves2read]

what about special needs students--are they in AP classes as well at Lovejoy--or do they get sent to another district?

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by cobufa

Thank you for all of your responses. We are very serious about the Lovejoy school system. Any thoughts about the Lovejoy ISD. Looks like all children are able to get involved easily.

My daughter has friends in the Lovejoy ISD and the kids all love it. This is coming from the kids take on things. They have all been thru the elem. level, jr high and high school. The parents I've talked to like it as well.

Like any district, there are always going to be some unhappy campers. It might be because they didn't get their way or they can't rule the school or their little princess isn't the teachers favorite or something. I'm more concerned with the actual education of the students in the district. Are my kids getting challanged? Are they LEARNING?

Originally Posted by loves2read

what about special needs students--are they in AP classes as well at Lovejoy--or do they get sent to another district?

Being it is a very small district they might have an agreement w/ a neighboring district to provide any services they might not have. As big as the Garland and Mesquite ISD's are they have an agreement between the two. If a student needs services that the district they reside in doesn't have but the neighboring district does the student is transferred to that district. Even within a district each school is different. The childs "neighborhood" school might not be set up for their special services but another one is dedicated for that need. The districts then provide bus service from their door to the school that does provide it.

Any parents that reside in the Lovejoy ISD that throw a fit because their special need child doesn't have services there just needs to investigate further. The services probably are offered just not at the school right next door to them.

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

My daughter has friends in the Lovejoy ISD and the kids all love it. This is coming from the kids take on things. They have all been thru the elem. level, jr high and high school. The parents I've talked to like it as well.

Like any district, there are always going to be some unhappy campers. It might be because they didn't get their way or they can't rule the school or their little princess isn't the teachers favorite or something. I'm more concerned with the actual education of the students in the district. Are my kids getting challanged? Are they LEARNING?





Being it is a very small district they might have an agreement w/ a neighboring district to provide any services they might not have. As big as the Garland and Mesquite ISD's are they have an agreement between the two. If a student needs services that the district they reside in doesn't have but the neighboring district does the student is transferred to that district. Even within a district each school is different. The childs "neighborhood" school might not be set up for their special services but another one is dedicated for that need. The districts then provide bus service from their door to the school that does provide it.

Any parents that reside in the Lovejoy ISD that throw a fit because their special need child doesn't have services there just needs to investigate further. The services probably are offered just not at the school right next door to them.

They'd better be because they are legally required to provide them.

[Big G]

Originally Posted by theloneranger

They'd better be because they are legally required to provide them.

Not necessarily. Many small school districts contract with larger districts to handle unusual special ed situations. For example, Plano ISD handles the deaf ed program for all of Collin County.



One thing I'd be wary about is Lovejoy's plan to offer only AP & Pre-AP classes. Like they say in The Incredibles - "When everyone's super, no one will be."

If there are kids who really don't belong in honors-level classes clogging up daily instruction, it will be difficult for the teachers to maintain the appropriate level of rigor.

So I'm skeptical that they will be able to deliver advanced classes that really match up to those available in Allen, Plano, Richardson, etc.

[cobufa]

Does anybody really know what Pre-AP means. I have a hard time believing every child in the district can handle Pre-Ap. Can the average student handle pre-ap? Most kids would fall within the range of averge - right?

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by cobufa

Does anybody really know what Pre-AP means. I have a hard time believing every child in the district can handle Pre-Ap. Can the average student handle pre-ap? Most kids would fall within the range of averge - right?

I suppose anyone could be thrown in a Pre-AP or AP class. How do they score on the tests, though? That's the question. I think it's nutty to have a district say every class will be Pre-AP or AP, but that's just me.