Dear BVSD Superintendent and School Board,
As a parent of five (three graduated from the public school system and I am currently homeschooling two), I am very much in favor of having more educational options for my children. I am interested in a charter school that is NOT a clone of public school because isn’t the point to give an option to parents (and their children) who are looking for a different solution?
I pulled my boys out of public school 3.5 years ago and have been homeschooling them ever since. As they are getting older, I would love to have a school that they could go to that would be similar to the curriculum they are getting at home but is more rigorous and taught by expert teachers. I have done my research and I feel Ascent Classical Academy could be that school.
Not only am I looking for a school that is rigorous but also has an enforced dress code, that demands a certain standard of behavior, and a place where my children would not be bullied for their beliefs. In public school, my daughter had to wear headphones to simply walk down the hallways because the amount of profanity spewing all about her was so disturbing to her. My son had a teacher swear at him. My daughter was told by another teacher she must have a mental illness because she didn’t have any friends (we had just moved to Colorado). In a choir class, all those who supported a particular political issue were invited to stand. My daughter was the only one sitting. She got a lot of grief for that.
My daughter told us that high school was rated “R”. My son told us that it was actually rated “X”. My youngest son who has been diagnosed with ADHD labeled a “problem child” by his teacher. These things were only part of the many reasons that I pulled my youngest two out of school and determined to homeschool them. I was also frustrated that my children knew less about the Founding Fathers than they knew about Rosa Parks. She’s a great lady but still. I was frustrated by the choice of books my children were told to read. Some of them were incredibly inappropriate that I often had to opt them out of reading them. There are so many marvelous classics, why would teachers waste my kids’ time with drivel? I also hated the heavy use of technology in the classroom when there are multiple studies that have shown that this is an ineffectual way to learn.
I want my children to know who Shakespeare, Homer, Dickens, Plutarch, etc. are. I want them to learn via the Socratic method (one of the best ways to truly understand and learn a concept). I want them to push themselves academically and not be distracted by all the extra curriculum that the government insists on adding in the public school. I want them to have a good understanding of Western Civilization and its people because like it or not, that is where we as a country come from. There are studies that show the value of art and music in the learning process and I love that these are incorporated in the classical model of education. I want them to be able to do mental math and learn about some of the great scientists of our age. I want them to be taught by passionate teachers who are excited by their subject and be surrounded by other students who are respectful and ready to learn.
I know there has been some negativity from people in the community and some lies being spread, but I don’t understand why anyone has a problem with a classical charter school in the community. If someone doesn’t want this type of education for their children, then he/she doesn’t have to attend this school. However, I support freedom of choice for all parents, not just those who fit a certain political category. These are our children and we have a constitutional right to educate them as we see fit. And if the school isn’t approved, then I will continue to homeschool them in the very best way that I know how.
Thank you,
Jodi