Page 7 - May 2014 Dell & Cannon

Ransom Everglades School I Dell + Cannon I May 2014 5
activities they are committed to (clubs, volunteer service, outside commitments), and the overall
strength of schedule. Sometimes the recommendation is made to drop a course or to drop one
or more levels of a course from AP to Honors or Honors to regular.
In addition, students who are not pre-approved for Honors or AP courses after third quarter may
appeal to the department chairs during the last two weeks of May. Directions for appealing will
be detailed to students and they can then do so through our online Google Docs system. They
will be reviewed by the department chair once final grades are in during the first week of June.
The department chair will give them a yes or no on the appeal and then the student must contact
the academic dean to either accept or decline the new course.
Of course, students should only appeal if their performance has improved during the fourth
quarter, or on the final exam, or in the case of 11th grade students, if they have more
standardized test scores on an SAT or ACT exam. We do offer students the opportunities to
improve and to eventually enroll in the AP or Honors courses if they show that they can handle
the increased responsibilities of those courses. What I caution parents not to do during this
scheduling process, is to keep calling department chairs, or the schedulers or the Director in an
attempt to sway one of them to change the schedule. We do recommend strongly that you allow
your child to advocate for themselves and to handle the details of the process. They are perfectly
capable of clearly communicating their desires and to find out what level of performance is
needed to have a successful appeal.
The last piece of the scheduling I want to share with you is the special requests by parents
or students to be in a particular teacher’s class rather than another. There are circumstances
that we recognize and honor when these requests are made. That doesn’t mean that all of the
requests can be met, but that at least a conversation can take place. If we deem it appropriate,
we will attempt to place a student in a particular section. If we cannot, we will tell you that. What
we need for you to do is to accept that answer and to assist your student to accept it as well.
The schedule is complicated for 608+ students, and all requests cannot be fulfilled. I do urge
all of you to work professionally with us in order for the scheduling to be done well, and with a
minimum amount of difficulty.
Good luck to you and your students during this lengthy, but impressive process. Hopefully, each
of your students comes away with a challenging, appropriate and enjoyable class schedule. Best
wishes to you all.
All the best,
Mike Ferguson
MESSAGE
from the
Upper
SCHOOL
Parents and students are consulted in these decisions
because it is better to get it right before school begins
than have to change a schedule during first quarter or later.
However, please note that the final decisions rest with
department chairs, academic deans, advisors and ultimately
the Upper School Director.