Have you ever known a child who took a class at another school during the school day?

[american_mama]

This is a very specific question, but has anyone ever known about a child taking a more advanced class at a different school or location during the school day? This will be an issue for DD next year. I wonder how the logistics of this work. i think a public school will usually pay for transportation, but because of transportation time, doesn't the kid miss a good chunk of the subjects taught before and after the advanced class?

I just listened to a web seminar about acceleration, including subject level acceleration, and there are some alternatives that don't require transportation (i.e. online courses, webcam to the class at the other location). But the most familiar method is just busing the kid, and one I might want to advocate for due to DD's preference for learning in a group and my own uncertainty about how effectively the school can implement a non-traditional choice.

I just don't know how the transportation option works.

[egoldber]

I do not personally know of any, but I know this happens occasionally in our district. Typically it is for very advanced math students in upper elementary. They will take a math class (Algebra or Geometry) at a MS and then go back to the ES for the rest of the day. This works here because our middle schools typically start around 7:30 - 8:00 and elementary schools start 8:15 - 9:15. I don't know if the school provides the transport or if the parent has to do it.

I have also know of elementary schools who let advanced math students use an on-line program like CTY or EPGY in the classroom. This seems like it could be a good fit for your DD. She could have math in class with other kids and do enrichment activities, but when they are working on their core curriculum, she could do parallel work with her own curriculum.

[crl]

My niece did this, much as Beth describes. As far as I know it went well for her. I believe there was another child or two with her from her grade school. I think her parents transported her to the middle school early in the morning and a school bus took her back to her grade school after math class. Due to the staggered start I don't think she missed much of the day.

Catherine

[Fairy]

My HS shuttled kids back and forth between ourselves and another nearby HS to take a language class. We offered German, they offered Italian, kids from both schools shuttled to take the other class their school didn't offer. Now, we're talking HS here. It took 2 class periods. Not sure how it would work in elementary school, but i'd imagine a process wouldn't be too hard to deal with for a 1-6 grade. Or 2-6, maybe.

[MommyAllison]

My DH was supposed to do this as an elementary student, but his dad didn't allow it because the school he would have bussed to was in a "bad part of town". It was less than 10 minutes drive from his school, so wouldn't have cut out much time from the school day.

Otherwise, I know there were kids in high school that bussed to take orchestra. I think they did excuse them from class a few minutes early, and they would be a bit late coming back too - that was ~15 minute drive each way.

[jenmcadams]

I do not personally know of any, but I know this happens occasionally in our district. Typically it is for very advanced math students in upper elementary. They will take a math class (Algebra or Geometry) at a MS and then go back to the ES for the rest of the day. This works here because our middle schools typically start around 7:30 - 8:00 and elementary schools start 8:15 - 9:15. I don't know if the school provides the transport or if the parent has to do it.

I have also know of elementary schools who let advanced math students use an on-line program like CTY or EPGY in the classroom. This seems like it could be a good fit for your DD. She could have math in class with other kids and do enrichment activities, but when they are working on their core curriculum, she could do parallel work with her own curriculum.

It's much more common in our area for math. We're lucky that there's a middle school right next door to our elementary school, so I think they normally have kids go there 1st thing in the AM for their math class or last period.

My son is in K, but is subject accelerated to 2nd/3rd grade for language arts and the principal actually told me yesterday that they're already talking as a staff about what they'll do for him if he stays ahead as he gets older as they haven't had to do it for language arts before and they're particularly worried b/c our school may be switching from K-6 to K-5 in the next year or two which would give them even fewer options for those kids. We may end up switching him to a center GT program (which they do not provide busing for), but I was pleased they're talking about what they might do if we stay at our neighborhood school.

[Pear]

A few of us did this in high school. The 2nd school started earlier. Inwas still occasionally late to my first class at the main school. My tea her knew what was going on so it didn't matter.

If you split the day evenly then the district provided busing, but for just one class we were on Our own for transportation. It was easy enough since we were all old enough to drive.

[noodle]

At our elementary, math is first thing in the morning, so kids get dropped off (by their parents) at the middle school for math, then are bussed back to the elementary.

Last year the MS had math every other day, so those kids had a study period or mentored other kids in math on the days they didn't have math. Now the MS has math every day (though the rest of the schedule, save one other class is, on an A/B schedule).

[Swallowbird23]

We do this in our school district for 5th grade students one day per week for almost the whole day. The kids come to their regular school in the AM, then a bus picks them up and takes them to the other school for most of the day, and then brings them back to the school in the afternoon. They are excused from some of the work they miss but do have do make up some of the work as homework. They are gone most of the day (leave soon after morning announcements and return about an hour before the end of the day) but they do more than just one subject. I went to school in this same district and was in this program. It was a little bit of everything, including problem solving/puzzle activities, critical thinking, reading, math, etc. I think it was a great program and never really minded making up the work. Our teachers never scheduled tests on those days so we never missed tests or quizzes, and we only had to make up the more substantial assignments.

I work in an elementary school now and kids and parents seem to love it. Of the parents I talk to regularly, I don't ever hear them concerned about their child missing the class time in their regular class (and they are missing a whole day once a week)

[catsnkid]

Yes there was a 7th grader in my precalc class in HS. In our school system, the older you were, the earlier school started, so he would go to a HS class first thing and then go to the middle school. I have no idea how they worked transportation.

[C99]

I did this when I was a kid. I was in a G&T pull-out program, so once/week, they bussed us to a neighboring school in the district for the program.