update: would you homeschool?

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About a month ago, just after joining mylot, I posted about my son who was being harassed and bullied at school, and my dilemma about pulling him out of the school to homeschool him. I just wanted to update the good folks who responded to me and let them know what has happened and how well it has turned out. First, the school took my concerns very seriously. They're aware that the situation has been going on for most of last year and has grown far worse this year - and none of their attempts to curb it have helped. They held a meeting, with my son and I in attendance, to discuss what options we had to deal with it, and were very open about all of the options, including the ones that they admitted would be very costly to the school department and which, they said, they would fight with me to get for him if another option weren't right for him. (That option was for the school department to pay for his tuition at a private school of my choice. It's not a right but it is an option, and it is usually reserved for children who must be schooled in residential settings because of severe disabilities.) They openly admitted that they were not able to do anything to heal the harm, and that without that, my son was likely to fail in school again this year and drop out as soon as he reached 16. They also agreed with me that home schooling was not the best option for him for a number of reasons. We looked at various special education programs available, and all of us felt that honestly, he doesn't qualify for special ed services. As we were kicking around options and ideas, the school principal suddenly recalled a program that he seldom used and wasn't sure was still in existence - one that was created for students who had failed their first year of high school, but who were capable of doing the work. He promised to look into it and get back to me. The program is housed in a community youth center away from the regular schools. It is run in conjunction with the youth center staff and contains a community service/lifeskills training component along with the academic component. There is a maximum of 25 students in the program at one time, with two teachers. The kids work on a computerized curriculum that is designed to fit the state standards and covers all the coursework for both 9th and 10th grade. They work independently at their own pace. The teachers monitor, tutor where necessary, help with explanation, motivate if needed - but the kids basically learn on their own. They have 2 1/2 hours daily of concentrated computer time that they must use to work on the school curriculum. They can also access the program from a home computer or one at the library. They move on when they've completed a unit - and must take a scored test on the material and get at least 75% right. Afternoons, they work in a variety of community based programs, including a community garden, helping out with the farmer's market that's held in the parking lot of the youth center three days a week, assisting people with filling out applications for fuel assistance and other city and state programs... as well as work on building a resume, appropriate work behavior, personal finances (how to balance a checkbook, how to plan a budget, how to calculate interest on loans, how to invest wisely). My son started in the program on Wednesday. In just three days, he has completed the review of a year's worth of math and started in on the next year's math work. He is sitting here on a Saturday morning, knocking off a couple of units of work so he can start a new unit Monday morning. He has not scored lower than 90% correct on any tests. He has taken the initiative to return to his old school to get his work permit and applied for a job at the cafe across the street from the youth center. He is excited and energized, and for the first time in two years is actually talking about going to college and the college that he'd like to get into. THIS is the boy I used to know - the one that disappeared after just a month or two at his old school. It is purely amazing to me that things have changed this quickly for him. I knew the school atmosphere had an effect on him, but I had no idea how MUCH it was affecting him. As soon as he knew that he was accepted into this program, it was like a huge weight lifted off his shoulders and he could see a future ahead - and he gave himself permission to dive into it full speed ahead. I want to thank everyone here for their support and information, and mostly for bolstering my courage to go in and advocate for what I believed was the best thing for my son. (for the record - the school principal and the school guidance couselor personally apologized to my son for their inability to curb what was happening, and committed to helping him access any resources he needs to succeed - if he does well in this program, he may even finish high school with a year of college credits under his belt!)