Did you special request teachers for next school year?

Even though you can't request do you think the school will take it into consideration? Have you done any special requests?

Re: Did you special request teachers for next school year?

Nope, from what I've heard in our schools if you request a teacher you will definitely NOT get that teacher. YOU can request NOT to get a teacher and they should honor that request.

Re: Did you special request teachers for next school year?

I did. I know that my principal honors requests and I happen to work in my kids' school and they actually asked me if I wanted to request teachers before they assigned classes.

Re: Did you special request teachers for next school year?

No. I really don't think you need to unless you have 1st hand experience with the teachers. Children respond to teachers differently. So one that may not have been good for your friend's kid may be good for yours.

Re: Did you special request teachers for next school year?

I have never heard of this. Amazing to me!

Did you special request teachers for next school year?

I did not request a teacher but did write a letter. The letter outlined what I thought was critical in their placement decision for my child. I wrote that my child responds better to a teacher who was more structured, is in an environment where she is challenged (she reads 3 grade levels above her grade -- so she finishes work early -- she needs a teacher who can give her the challenge work as opposed to a teacher that has her help the other students). I only did this early on with my child b/c I felt they didn't know her well and the teacher she had was a leave replacement so she wasn't involved in the placement decision b/c she was gone before the year ended.

Message edited 6/8/2013 11:34:29 AM.

Re: Did you special request teachers for next school year?

Re: Did you special request teachers for next school year?

We are allowed to request. The letters have to be into the Principal by a certain date. I didn't request one though. I went back and forth, but I think they are all pretty good teachers.

Re: Did you special request teachers for next school year?

Robbie is in Middle School.. I did not bother making any special requests for him.. I never have.

Noah will be going into 5th grade and was just denied services from CSE.. but the teacher DID mention that she is requesting a particular teacher that she feels is more nurturing and less demanding relevant to at home work given his issues with attention. She is ALSO going to request that another child NOT be in the same class as Noah... and I know that parent is hoping for the teacher Noah is being placed with..

I think it's just good business to be in communication with your child's current teacher so you can discuss what you both feel is a good placement for your child.

Message edited 6/9/2013 9:29:51 AM.

Re: Did you special request teachers for next school year?

In our school district the principal invites all parents to write letters in April (if they want to) regarding: child's personality, learning style etc. with respect to what personality would be a good fit. Additionally you can request that your child NOT be in a class with another child. You CAN NOT request a particular teacher - ever. You can, however, request your child NOT have a particular teacher if their older sibling had such teacher and you had an issue with them. I can't imagine a situation where it would be fair to request a particular teacher and have that request granted. I'm sure in every district there are some teachers everyone wants and some everyone doesn't. It would be ridiculously unfair if the principal would allow some parents to request such teacher and not others... I would also tread carefully in this respect because I know at least in our district if you request a teacher in writing you are probably NOT getting that teacher so as to not seem unfair. I would however definitely write a letter outlining your child's needs and learning style etc. and requesting a teacher that would be a good fit. That is as far as I would go.

Re: Did you special request teachers for next school year?

No. A letter went home to ask if the parents thought their kids had any special needs and maybe they would use those letters to fit the kids with certain teachers but since DS is pretty average across the board, I didn't do anything.

Re: Did you special request teachers for next school year?

i am an elem. school teacher. In our school, parents may only request NOT to have a certain teacher if they have had that teacher in the past for a sibling. those requests are granted. teachers can also request a child not be in their class if they have had a sibling in the past. that said, though, we have had parents request a teacher again because their other child had a good experience. that's a win-win for both sides because the parents are automatically happy with who they got. we do occasionally get letters requesting certain teachers, but more often we get letters from parents requesting that certain kids are with or not with other students. usually, we already know the social issues, so we do try to split up those kids where possible.

we spend hours on class placement-- there is so much to consider that parents don't even realize. the learning needs of all the students have to be balanced, boy-girl balance, ethnic balance, etc. what kids need reading or math support? what kids have a 504 or an IEP?

we are explicitly told that we can NOT share with parents who we think their child will be good with for the following year (even if we know). it puts us in an awkward situation later if their child cannot be placed in that class for whatever reason.