A split class

The lists were posted on the front doors of Elizabeth School today. These are the class lists that indicate the classroom and teacher for the 2008-2009 school year. Josh will be with be in grade 1 with Mrs. Harris as his teacher. John Nathanael will spend his 4th grade year in a grade 3/4 split with Mrs. Georget as his teacher. My initial gut reaction when I realized John was in the split was "oh yuck." I really don't want this for him. I talked to my husband John about it and he had the same feeling.

Just recently John's cousin was telling us about her experience in a split and how the following year felt like a repeat of the previous year. That's only one issue. Where I come from, those in the higher grade of a split are the students who need remedial help to review some concepts they just didn't get in the lower grade. The principal at Elizabeth School assures me that is not how they do splits around here, but I still approach it with that mentality. At the moment I have some serious doubts about how well John is really doing in school. I excelled when I was in school and I want all my boys to excel (I'm trying not to lay on the pressure, but Josh is reading fluently already).

So John and I have discussed it. He suggests that I talk to the principal about our concerns, but indicate that we are willing to give this a try. Our biggest concerns are:
1.) John N. should not suffer academically. I'm going to have to keep on top of his progress and be communicating with his teacher. I'll try not to smother him and I'll try not to be one of those dreaded parents. I just don't want him to be repeating grade 3 when he is in grade 4.
2.) John N. should not suffer socially. The gossip around Kindersley is that at Elizabeth School they try to separate good friends when they set up classes. Unfortunately, that means John N. will be stuck with the social misfit of his grade level, who drives him nuts. It also means the arrogant little rich smarty-pants will also be a member of his class. This already means lots of coaching and counseling about how to be a loving Christian when you just don't get along with someone.

Now, how do we measure success or failure in this situation? If we're saying we will give this a try, we need to know if it really is or isn't working for John. If it's not working we would ask to put him in the regular grade 4 class which has 19 students, or we could transfer him to Westberry School, which would mean we would have to drive him to school everyday (as if I'm not going to be busy enough getting everyone out the door every morning). So we'll see how this goes.