There's a lottery for mid-year enrollment for Colorado Virtual Academy (COVA). I have the kid's names in it (Randy's to increase our odds--that's what they told me to do). It's supposed to be today but weather is not cooperating. I talked to the girl this morning and she said they're going to try and do it, but it may end up getting pushed back until next week. She'll let me know as soon as she knows something. Public school for Robin has just gone from bad to worse. Then I found out this morning that they're adding 15 minutes to the day for middle and high school students to meet requirements because of all the snow days we've had. That means 7:30am for Robin instead of 7:45 which means the bus will pick him up at 6:40. Good grief, I can barely get him up as it is! We really need this. It will be hard, but Robin really just isn't handling public school well right now. So if anyone wants to send good vibes, prayers, thoughts, whatever, please do. I'll let you know when we know.

By Tink on Friday, January 5, 2007 - 01:17 pm:

I certainly will be. Everything you've written about COVA has sounded so much better for Robin than public school. Keep us updated, Cat. {{{Hugs}}}

By Cat on Friday, January 5, 2007 - 03:02 pm:

Thanx, Cori. It's still going to be hard, even if Robin gets into COVA. He really doesn't like to work and at this point he hates school to the extent where anything that even resembles school or a school setting will automatically turn him off. I can't say I blame him though. He's been to 8 different schools and none have been really good experiences (most have been horrible!). I'll definately keep you updated.

By Cat on Saturday, January 6, 2007 - 04:01 pm:

He got it!!! I don't know which kid's name was picked, but Robin's in. We just got two emails saying both kids had won slot in the lottery. We declined Randy's so another child can have it (Randy doesn't want to go and he did end up passing first semester--he is under the threat that if he doesn't do well second semester he'll be with COVA next year). I've completed all the online enrollment forms. We have to mail some stuff to them by next Friday and Robin has to take online placement tests. Yeah!!! Their second semester doesn't start until the 29th so now we need to decide when to pull Robin from public school. He's supposed to go back Tuesday (our break isn't over yet). I think I'll call the girl I've been dealing with at COVA Monday to see what she thinks. She'll probably say to go ahead and pull him so he can decompress for a bit first. We're really excited.

By Tink on Saturday, January 6, 2007 - 04:51 pm:

Congratulations!!! I really hope this is a turning point for Robin and his reaction to school. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed!!!

By Tripletmom on Saturday, January 6, 2007 - 07:42 pm:

WOOO HOOO!!!!! A fresh start

By Marcia on Saturday, January 6, 2007 - 08:15 pm:

Sounds like a great change for Robin. Congrats to both of you!

By Tarable on Saturday, January 6, 2007 - 09:35 pm:

Woo Hoo!!!! I know what a great thing this is for Robin!!! I am so glad he finally gets this great opportunity!

By Kaye on Monday, January 8, 2007 - 08:11 am:

Woo Hoo Cat! Glad to hear this worked out. Hopefully he will take to the change easily. (I know, but you can hope!)

By Cat on Monday, January 8, 2007 - 09:02 am:

Thanx, everyone!

Kaye, Robin will be thrilled to be home. He loved hs'ing for 7th grade.

I've got all my paperwork together (except his report card--we didn't get them before the break because of the snow days). Robin's taken one of the five placements tests. They're supposed to take about 30 minutes. It took him 1 1/2 hours! He got 33 out of 40 though so at least he did well. We know processing speed is a problem. That's in his IEP so I'll talk to the special ed coordinator about that.

No school today. They go back tomorrow. Robin will probably finish the week just to make sure the enrollment is final before I pull him. We're all doing happy dances at my house!

By Nicki on Tuesday, January 9, 2007 - 03:53 am:

I'm so glad, Cat! I think about Robin and I want him to be happy. You have both been through so much. How great!

By Cat on Tuesday, January 9, 2007 - 08:57 am:

Robin finished his second placement test last night. It didn't take as long, but still took an hour! It was another math one and he didn't do as well, but the questions were a lot harder. He only got 17 of 39, but I guess that tells them where to place him! I'm keeping him home from school today to finish the LA/English placement tests. I would have to pick him up at about 1:15 anyway because the boys have dentist appointments and like dh said, is it fair to ask him to go to school all day, get three teeth filled and then take tests? He also has a pretty nasty cold. Really there's no point in him going back at all other than turning his books in and getting his friend's phone numbers. They're just going to put him in ISS or the self-contained classroom anyway. So tomorrow and Thursday are it. If we get all this snow they're forecasting there won't be school anyway. I'll let you know how he does on the rest of the tests.

By Kate on Tuesday, January 9, 2007 - 10:01 am:

That's wonderful, Cat. I hope all goes well. I cannot BELIEVE how long your break is!!! Especially with all those snow days I'd have thought they'd have you guys back in on January 2nd! Wow....we only had from December 25-January 2 here.

By Cat on Tuesday, January 9, 2007 - 12:21 pm:

Our break was supposed to start the Friday before Christmas (half day) through yesterday, going back today. We ended up having snow days Wed-Fri so the kids have been off for almost three weeks!!! They have next Monday off, too. Too bad my daycare parents don't! lol

Robin took a reading placement test this morning and scored 23 of 25. Another test popped up because he did so well. He's not happy about that. He wants to do well because he wants to place high, but if he keeps this up he'll have a dozen tests to take! I asked how long he had to finish and they said they'd like them by Friday but if it takes longer that's okay. They just want him to get all his materials before the 29th so he can get started by then. He's vegging right now before I make him take another test.

By Cat on Tuesday, January 9, 2007 - 11:16 pm:

Another update on placement tests scores. Robin got a 24 out of 25 on the second reading placement. Another one didn't pop up thankfully! lol He then took a language skills placement and got 20 out of 45! So another one popped up at a lower level. This test was going over grammar, usage, and terms (something their current district doesn't teach--I asked about it once and they said they didn't think they were important). So he's working on that second one now. I have no idea how he's doing since I was at a meeting tonight and dh was home with him, other than dh is ticked off at him big time. Robin sure knows how to push his buttons (and vice versa). So he'll have probably two writing tests to take. I'll have him do those tomorrow night. It's interesting to see where his strengths and weaknesses are. We never really got a true look from his grades at public school.

By Cat on Friday, January 12, 2007 - 04:26 pm:

Robin's finally finished with all the placement tests. The LA/English tests took forever because he'd finish one and another would pop up. He didn't do as well with those. Oh well. He'll get it now, won't he? lol There was a writing test where he had to write an essay on creating a new national holiday. He wrote one and I gave it back to him to redo because what he gave me would probably be considered a rough draft. I had the rubic on grading and his first draft would have only gotten a 13 out of 27. So he wrote it again and got 23 of 27. So he's done. They'll schedule an IEP meeting for probably next week and he'll be assainged a teacher and placed in classes. Then they'll ship his books and whatever else we need. I did have to add long distance to our home phone because I will need to fax things to Denver every now and then. I've never needed to fax outside my area code! lol No biggie. It's only $2.99 a month for 60 minutes and I've been wanting to add that anyway. There have been times when I've needed to make long distance calls and sometimes our cells don't work very well inside our house. It was a good excuse to finally add it.

So now we wait. Hopefully the rest will happen soon so we can get started. I'm anxious to get into a routine. Robin needs structure and hopefully they can help set that up for us.

By Mommmie on Saturday, January 13, 2007 - 12:25 am:

That all sounds so exciting! I hope you keep us posted as Robin progresses through the program.

By Cat on Saturday, January 13, 2007 - 10:43 am:

We ARE excited! I talked to his SPED teacher yesterday (she called). Not only does she sound like someone that's going to be great for Robin to work with, I think we'll get along really well. You know how with some people you just click? I think she's going to be like that. We're having the IEP meeting Thursday morning and we're holding it as a "play date". She has three small children, 22mo, 2 1/2yo and 3 1/2yo and I have three small child care children, 9mo, 2 1/2yo and 3 1/2yo. She suggested it! She also has a school age child that attend a small (13 students) private, Christian school. She said she'd love to have him home with her but he'd end up being her helper all day and never get anything done. She sent me an email to get started (like things to look at on their site) and said Robin's welcome to join their chats on Tuesdays and Wednesdays if he wants to go ahead and start. We'll get his materials ordered after the meeting next Thursday.

It's like a weight has been lifted. I know we'll have some hard times (like him not wanting to work!) but this will be 100 times easier for all of us than the stress of the district he was in. Yes, we're very excited.

By Nicki on Saturday, January 13, 2007 - 01:21 pm:

I'm so happy for all of you, Cat! Robin is off to a good new year!:-)

By Kaye on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 12:51 pm:

Cat how is it all going?

By Tink on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 01:00 pm:

I've been wondering too. Let us know.

By Cat on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 04:37 pm:

We have an IEP meeting tomorrow with COVA. The sped teacher and his regular homeroom teacher will both be there. We're going to decide on his placement and classes. I tried to get the results of the tests the local district did before the break and they don't seem willing to give them to me. Both people I've talked to so far have said they want to have the scheduled IEP meeting in February. Why??? He's not a student there anymore! It's frustrating. I may have to call the director of sped and see what he thinks. I don't see why they can't just give me the results and be done with it.

The people at COVA are great, though! Robin's new sped teacher has called me two or three times and his classroom teacher called yesterday just to introduce herself. They both live close, too (within 10 minutes) so if we need to meet it's not a big problem. So far Robin is placing a little below grade level, but he'll still be considered 8th grade. I'll know more after the meeting tomorrow.

By Tink on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 07:58 pm:

So how'd it go? Fill us in when you get a chance.