A couple years ago, my daughter was having a difficult time adjusting to a new school. She was telling me everything was fine, so I was shocked when I was called into the principal’s office. The school social worker proceeded to point out where she had highlighted the word “impulsive” every time it appeared in the comment section of my daughter’s report cards, going back to kindergarten.
I felt completely blindsided. This was the first I was hearing that there was a problem, never mind a serious problem and never mind that it had been going on for a couple months. It was several weeks before I really grasped the whole situation: my daughter felt vulnerable and insecure in the new environment and was acting out because she didn’t know how to handle it. Unfortunately neither did anyone at the school, and when they realized they had dropped the ball, they went looking through her records to find a way to avoid accountability for it.
Both her morah and her GS teacher were first year teachers (and the GS teacher was fired a couple months later), the general studies principal was new, and the special services coordinator was either new or on maternity leave. Plus my daughter was one of 4 new girls in a class of 24 – seemingly she just fell through the cracks.
I felt horrible and told them I would do anything I could to help her. I also told them I wanted to be informed MUCH sooner than I previously had been. If only they had been upfront sooner, maybe things would have started out much better for my daughter.
This school also seems to keep parents at bay unless they need them to do scut work. The office is not a warm place. I haven’t found another school that’s a better fit as far as hashkafa, so we’re stuck for now. I will say that her morah this year was just fantastic, but I dread next year, because I can seeing it being like oil and water…
This evolved into more than I planned, so to answer your question… yes, I do read report card comments!