I'll email him, I actually texted my mom how I was feeling and she picked me up from school right away. But I think it added to much stress for her to handle

How do you know? My mom doesn't want me to go to public school because she says I'm to sensitive and that I'll get more hurt

Private schools are expensive in general, and this one keeps kids there for 14 hours a day and makes them take 11 or 12 classes. They must be running double shifts of teachers to handle all that, and even though teachers aren't super well paid it still wouldn't be cheap to pay all those salaries.

I live on the expensive side of town myself so I know what kind of extra features you get in a high-priced house. Your house is probably a lot more expensive than mine lol. Some of the kids at my son's high school were the children of other peoples' live-in maids.

You ARE sensitive, that's just the way some people are. There might be some things that upset you at any school you go to. I hate to sound like a snob, but there's usually a better learning atmosphere and fewer behavior problems at public high schools that serve an affluent neighborhood, because the parents have higher expectations from their kids than the parents in a poor neighborhood. A while back you said you were fine in middle school (or junior high, I don't remember which), and if your local high school has a similar atmosphere you should be OK there. You probably live in an affluent area so the chances are good that it's above average for a public high school. Middle school kids are actually a lot meaner than high school kids, because high school kids are more mature and less likely to tease and bully other kids. So if you were happy enough in middle school you'll probably be happy at a good public high school.

Maybe there's another private school in your area that would provide a good learning atmosphere with a lot less stress. You said you lived 20 minutes away from Susanne, and I know she's in Ft Lauderdale. That's a well-populated area so there should be some options.

I found a list of ratings for every public high school in Florida: http://www.usnews.com/education/best-hi ... int=c0b4c1

I don't know what county you're in, but here are the ratings just for the schools in Broward: http://www.usnews.com/education/best-hi ... ic-schools If you're in a different county, just go to the ratings for that county. There are some excellent public schools in Florida and hopefully you live in the district for one of them.

For comparison purposes, here's the rating for my son's high school: http://www.usnews.com/education/best-hi ... school-933 You've seen what he was able to do with the education he got there, and two of the Broward County schools are ranked higher than this. A LOT higher.

I hated middle school. I was bullied relentlessly because of the way I looked and because of my anxiety and panic attacks. People called me nasty things (including some crude sexual remarks), spit on me and one time someone tried to steal my $20 bill literally right behind me. I couldn't go into some teachers classrooms because they hated me so much for leaving. One teacher would try and push me into her room because she thought I was skipping her class on purpose. She went in her room without me and I was so stressed out I felt faint. I tried to walk in the room to get my bag but I fell walking to the door. I heard someone in the room say "She fell" and I heard the teacher say "Leave her." I laid there for a bit until I was clear enough to stand up. I just left school that day without them knowing. The worst was my principal. Biggest jerk I ever met. Hated me. When my mom was dropping me off I didn't want to get out of the car and the principal called me out and told me to go stand somewhere so he could talk to her. The next thing I knew my mother was driving away. I was heartbroken he made her leave. I didn't leave the office the whole day just to stick it him. I was homeschooled for the rest of 8th grade.

High school was very different. I love it. Although I am under special education (high functioning) because my anxiety is so bad, everybody is so nice and patient.

So if you liked middle school, I think you'll love a REAL high school.

I'm glad things have gotten better for you Stephanie, I had no idea that you had gone through all these things. Have you found that your birds are a big help to you, as a pleasant and relaxing activity and also as someone you can take care of? I'm guessing that the answer is yes, because you want to get another one now.

I'm so sorry!

Some people make me sick! They really spit at you? That is so not nice and very unfair!
I'm just so glad you are in a better atmosphere! What is your public school called? The one here is called Beach High

Yes. I am sometimes extremely disliked by some people. I go to Rocklin High School. It's one of the best schools in California. We are second most successful high schools in California, right behind a private school, and we are a public school too.

Middle school age is when most people are the worst human being that they will ever be. I definitely wasn't at my best then lol.

I tried to look up the ratings for Beach High School in Florida and discovered that there are 21 high schools in FL that have the word 'beach' in their name. (Number of high schools in Arizona with 'beach' in the name = 0. I wonder why.) If you're talking about Pompano Beach HS that's an awesome school.

The reason I was fine in middle school was because I didn't care about my grades. I was fine with C's D's and F's because it didn't count, but now that I'm in high school and every little nitty thing counts it's very hard for me to try to get a decent grade for everything

We also never had midterms or finals in middle school. Just SAT's

It would be easier to get a decent grade in everything if you didn't have so many classes. It's probably a factor too that your grades were average-to-low before, because this means your background isn't as strong as it could be so you aren't as well prepared for your current classes as some of the other kids probably are.

Does this school have the flexibility to provide any kind of alternative course of study? Because I think you'd be better off if you could be taken out of the non-standard 'extra' classes and spend some of that time getting some tutoring to help you do better in the standard academic classes. You're spread pretty thin right now, and more focus on the stuff that matters would be better for you than trying to learn every subject in the world at the same time.

If this school can't accommodate your needs then honestly I think it would be best to get out of there right now and into some kind of educational arrangement that would set you up to do well during the rest of high school. It's not going to help you any to finish out the year at your current school with not-great grades, and changing to a different school or education plan doesn't have to mean that you'd get held back a year. Work with the adults on this, and on any other strategies that you might need to keep the stress under control. I know your mother isn't crazy about the birds, but if she could just cut you some more slack on them it would remove some of the stress from your life.