New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
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“I am writing to discuss the unjust way New Bedford Vocational Technical School does their acceptances for incoming students.
I have a daughter who applied to the school. She has been working her whole educational career to be accepted to VT. She attends a private school since. She started 6th grade very rough. She overcame a lot of battles and did a complete 360.
All of her teachers as well as the principal can attest to her improvement. She strived for success and become an honor roll student which she has maintained all of 8th grade. She was told that her disciplinary was perfect (has no write up’s) her academics are perfect but she was absent 12 times in 7th grade all of which are not her fault. She enjoys school very much. She even does evening study which is optional for students to stay after and continue school work.
I understand the process VT has put in place is lottery first then criteria. I do not understand why it is done this way. I truly believe that it should be reverse. Criteria should be first then the empty seats be filled with lottery students. My daughter and our family sat in a roughly 2 hour long zoom meeting while numbers were picked out of a bucket and students were accepted based off of luck.
I do understand that to be in that bucket there is a certain criteria as well but VT now has students who have more absences than her, more disciplinary actions and lower grades then her attending their school while my daughter questions why she wasn’t good enough. I’m sure I am not alone in being frustrated with this system.
I’m sure many parents have contacted the school and have done everything they could to get their child into the school. I myself have wrote to the principal, two guidance counselors and the admissions department. I heard back from only the admissions department. I appreciate hearing back from very promptly. They were very informative and helpful.
I am not writing to get my daughter accepted because at this point she has prepared herself to succeed no matter where she goes. She has ambition and drive and I know she will flourish in life and become an amazing member of society. Her goal is to become a nurse. VT offers a good nursing program that would help her immensely. With the way our world is today we could use more healthcare workers in our future so why not give them the tools now to become productive in life.
If VT can’t or won’t decide to change this flawed system then I would strongly urge someone to take a look at New Bedford High School and giving those kids more options to receive something more than just a basic education. New Bedford High school should be giving the tools to give more to the students.
We complain about how lazy our kids are nowadays and how they have no work ethic or drive to be anything in life but here we are not providing them with the skills to be a productive member of society.
I do not expect to change a system based of my daughter alone but I wouldn’t feel right just sitting back and not advocating for all the students and families who have strived to do their best just to attend a certain school. I would like for someone to take a minute out of their day and put themselves in the shoes of the parents of students who are in my same position.
I could imagine how damaging this process could be to students who battle with mental health/self-esteem issues. I am lucky to have a child who will not allow this system to hold her back or crush her drive but some families are not so lucky.
I appreciate the time that was taking to read this and I hope at some point a change is made and the voices of students/families is heard. Education matters and every kid should have the opportunity to be giving the means to succeed.”
I wholeheartedly agree with your point! I am working hard to make sure my children do not have excessive absences, I am in communication with the teachers, I’m trying to support them as best I can as a parent. they have earned their good grades, and have no disciplinary action against them throughout their years in junior high ;these are the markers that should be looked at for acceptance into Voc Tech. It’s interesting because if you ask the majority of the students in this position who have applied,they disagree with the lottery, but what I’ve heard is that they try so hard to stay in the “right path and at the end of the day it does not make a difference”. This thought process for young adults is unacceptable.
Totally agree. Although publicly funded, there needs to be a system that rewards student successes, not leave the access of a specialized education to a lottery, where yes, less deserving students will gain access to an education they may not have worked hard enough for, and students that worked for the opportunity will be left behind. I agree no system is perfect, but this is wrong…it leaves no incentive to do well in school!