Camping to save site is a skillful strategy. Teenagers do it at concerts or at rock festivals, but for a parent to have to camping in a tent in front of a school for 16 days to enroll your child I think it's crazy.
Would you do it instead? I try to answer the question and the truth that I cannot do without seeing myself in that specific situation. Not because I was not willing to do what it took for a child, but because I wondered if I would be willing to submit to those absurd rules that circumstances sometimes impose on us.
The coveted school
The father is Gerard Sychay, a computer scientist, who left all his adventure written in great detail, and the school is Fairview-Clifton German Language School in Cincinnati. This is a highly coveted public school (that's clear) for being one of the first schools magnet (magnet) opened in the 70s with the idea of integrating the children of the neighborhood with those who came from anywhere in the city.
Academic programs focused on art and languages worked really well, making the school attract people and becoming increasingly selective. To the point of having to queue in the park in front of a tent if you want your child to study there.
It has always been mission impossible to target a child in school. In the '90s, the registration method used was what was known as Super Saturday. The list of accepted children was announced on the last Saturday of January and registration should be formalized. The parents took turns to make rounds by car waiting for the moment when the lists came out and quickly notify the other parents.
The waiting rules
In the 2000s the system changed and has become what it is now. According to Gerard, the first person began queuing the Monday after Halloween, at 7.30 in the morning. When he arrived, an hour later, he was already the eighth in line. And at night, there were already 50 families signed up waiting for "the rules" to organize the wait. The rules, which are the ones below, were announced the next day. From there, the father encamped for 16 days in front of the school.
There were 71 places available in order of arrival and for the children who obtained the highest score according to enrolled siblings and other scales. On November 18, with temperatures below zero the enrollment of children began. That night 60 families enrolled, of which at least ten remained on the waiting list for not reaching the required points.
The rules were very strict: everyone had to be present between 10 and 5 am. She would be ready twice a day (10 am and 10 pm) and after three absences, they would be off the list. They only allowed the shops at night, so they had to set them up every night and take them apart every morning so that the park was clean for the children to enter the school every day.
As you can imagine, family logistics must have been a bobbin lace those days. Ask for work permits, sleep outside the home, use the car as an apartment, eat poorly ...
Anyway, evidently this family compensated the effort that Dad camped for 16 days in front of the school to enroll his son. Have you seen yourself in a similar situation? Would you do it if necessary?
