Interview #1: Sue
The first parent interview was at parent-teacher conference night with Sue. She is the mother of a current Clay student and very active in his high school career, but she wasn’t very active in the high school decision process. Their family lives in the district, so she was set on sending her child to Clay well before the 9th grade. The most important thing to her was that her child wanted to go to school with the students that he grew up with his entire life. She minimally considered other schools, but the biggest driver was her son’s friendships. “It was important to be with people he was familiar with.” Her child is not involved in the magnet program, but has knowledge of the AP classes and programs that Clay offers. “There’s a ton offered here.” Sue, however, found out about these programs after she had already made the decision to send her child to Clay. She attended an introductory event for the parents before the freshmen begin school, but this served as more of a reinforcement and not a decision point. Overall, she was very satisfied with Clay because she believed that her child was happy here. She explained that her child went through “rough periods”, but the support from the guidance office and teachers was great. “They do a great job”.