i fought the law and the law won

Today was the dreaded meeting with Helmut’s Science Teacher. For those of you who don’t know the whole story, here is a quick catch up. I was checking Helmut’s grade on-line the other day and to my utterly horrified dismay discovered Little Helmut is getting a 70 in Science. This is the boy who loves Science and has never gotten below a 98 in the class. I looked through the meager four grades he had so far this quarter and realized the teacher had given him a 60 for “Materials for Science Project.” We had only been in this school for about 10 days on the due date and where still living in the hotel. I stewed about it for a day and then wrote her an email explaining my concern and frustration over his low score. She replied that she had “looked at him disapprovingly when he told her about his project, but that he insisted he could do it.” (Hmmm…I can’t imagine an eleven year old not picking up on your non-verbal communication).

So today I met with her and I did not achieve complete satisfaction on the subject. She refused to discuss the specific grade with me because it was not my grade. I disagree since it is impossible for an eleven year old to hop in the car and drive down to the hardware, electrical and stationery stores to buy his supplies. She told me, “We will have to agree to disagree.” I don’t like being told that. She did tell me his project is going well and she thought he was a bright boy. Blah, blah, blah. I really just wanted her to tell me he would not fail his class and get kicked off the basketball team; in fact she is sure he can raise his grade to a B by the end of the quarter. No such satisfaction granted.