It was another beautiful day and I enjoyed riding my bike home the long way around in Villa Borghese. Once home, I was starving for lunch and made myself a pizza and waited for the kids to come home from school.
Things at school seem to be sorting themselves out but we've had a few "issues "relating to Charlotte. First, her history/geography teacher has been complimenting her work in class and as well as her homework -- and then giving her a "B." When asked about the grade, the teacher would point to a small tear in the paper, or the lack of color in a diagram as the rationale for not getting an "A." Furthermore, Charlotte took a geography test which she found relatively easy and then was told she got a "B." She was surprised by the grade, and was anxious to find out which questions she'd answered incorrectly. However, the teacher never returned the test to the students. Charlotte asked him several times and he promised to pass them out but then kept "forgetting." We felt this behavior was odd enough to schedule an appointment with the teacher. At RIS, you don't just show up and chat with a teacher without an appointment. Each middle and high school teacher has one day per week that he or she sees parents. So this morning at 8am, Josh went to meet with the history/geography teacher. Had I gone, I would have demanded to know if this was an art class or a history class, and whether the teacher was paying attention to the content or the colors used for decoration! Therefore, I thought it better that my more relaxed husband represent the family. According to Josh, the meeting went well. Apparently, details such as using a ruler to underline, having perfect penmanship and paying attention to color are very important in the British school system when determining if a project deserves a perfect grade. In the end, it does not appear that there is a better student in the class than Charlotte, but the teacher likes colorful and well-maintained work. Admittedly, not returning the test was his mistake and he apologized.
The other matter at RIS relates to the large number of students that have been out ill recently. For instance, in Olivia's class of 17, she told me there were only nine of them at school last week. But, when Charlotte told me on Tuesday, that her science teacher had given them "free time" the past two days at school because so many kids were out sick and she didn't want to start a new unit, I felt that was unacceptable. I wrote an email to the head of the middle school inquiring about the policy. It is really a shame that so many kids are sick but what a waste of a school day to give the remaining students free time. The reply, copying the science teacher, stated that they were working on a poster (great! It seems it's all about art here in Rome!) In reality, Charlotte told me she read her novel and did her homework. Still, the teacher was now aware that a parent was "on to her" so now the students are back to doing something constructive.
There is a lot of strange things that go on in Italian schools -- not just at RIS. Things that would never in a million years fly at home. For instance, at another private school, AOSR (American Overseas School of Rome), parents were asked to come to the school in the morning to make an appointment with their child's teacher for parent/teacher conferences taking place that day. This is not a centrally located school. People send their kids to AOSR from all over Rome and its environs. Can you imagine driving to the school at 9am, only to get an appointment at 2pm and then choosing to either spend two hours in the car (with traffic) driving to and fro or spending the entire day at the school waiting for your time slot? Well, at least AOSR had a parent/teacher conference. At RIS, we've been told the conferences will take place in December but they don't know exactly when, yet. So Italian! In fact, we'll be discussing the quarter that ending on October 23rd, for which the report cards won't be mailed until November 27th. I keep reminding myself: "charm and efficiency do not go hand in hand."
In case you're interested, the Italian public schools have a unique schedule. Children attend school six days a week, Monday through Saturday, but only until lunch time each day. The kids are dismissed between 1 and 1:30pm to go home for lunch. From what I understand, the teaching methodology is very rigid and each school follows exactly the same (national) curriculum.
The bottom line is that no school is perfect; each will have its own pros and cons. Our children will survive the fact that RIS may not be the most academically rigorous institution. We didn't move to Rome for the education our kids will get from their school. They will learn far more from the experience of living in Italy.
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