I talked to a kid ( now adult) that should have been in my graduating class. He said he was encouraged to "run away" by Henry Milton. I wonder if there is evidence of that still happening. It sound like they turn the screws to kids that they think they can make jump to skew the numbers of college placement.
Oh, I think they use several methods. The purges are part of that (the purges are also used for other reasons). There is also something to making life so difficult for some kids that the parents take the kids out for fear of the kid's psychological safety.
And I think they get rid of kids for more reasons than just college placement. E.g., SF, who I don't believe would have had much difficulty in that department. Don't know about the Dubinsky case, but whether or not the parents pulled that girl out or Hyde got rid of her by making her life pure hell is probably a moot point. The image of that now former student yelling out "Get out while you can!" while Billy Procida was conducting a tour with some prospective student and his/her parents also comes to mind...
It may be self serving, but I think is some cases resistance to hyde is a better indication of character then graduation. To be clear: I respect many of the people that I attended with , the ones that graduated ,the ones that did not and the ones that ran away too. I think it is important to differentiate between the system and the people in it. My opinion is there was/is something fundamentally wrong with the system.
I totally agree.
In addition to there being something fundamentally wrong with the system, I also think that
the system is capriciously applied. Whether that is by design, for reasons of overriding issues, or by incompetence or personal likes and dislikes, or a combination of all of the above, is not clear. I'm rather inclined to believe it to be a combination of the above.
This is why you have:
* kids who get a diploma who fully deserve a diploma;
* kids who get a diploma who
no way in hell deserve a diploma;
* kids who deserve a diploma who
don't get one;
* kids who deserve a diploma who get
expelled instead;
* kids who don't deserve a diploma who don't get one;
* kids who deserve to get expelled who
don't get expelled;
* kids who deserve to get expelled who
do get expelled.
There is only a smidgeon of justice running through all of this and the exceptions to so-called rules are too numerous to mention. Though I will mention your (?) bringing up Joanie Gallo as one that comes to mind of someone who should have gotten one, but did not (at the time).
What is so utterly destructive about all this is that Hyde passes itself off as the be-all/end-all of character assessment, and if you and/or your kid believe this, and also fall at the short end of that stick... there is the risk of some serious psychological damage, in my humble estimation.
They are fond of saying that if you can't make it at Hyde, you can't make it anywhere... didn't Vanda bring that up again when she went back for her diploma? I'm trying to remember the true origin of that phrase, that is not a Joe Gauld original, although they do try to convey that impression now, don't they...