How schools handle requests
Published placement policies agree on the shape if not the details. One Australian primary school asks students to name up to five classmates and makes every effort to place each child with at least one. A US elementary school lets parents name students their child should not be placed with, and says it will try but cannot guarantee it; the same school does not take requests to place children together, or requests for a teacher. Another district says teacher teams keep some friends together and separate others. The sources are listed below with the date they were read.
In the builder, the rules fall into two kinds:
- Hard rules, never broken silently (any the builder cannot keep is named with the reason): keep-apart pairs, pairs that must be together (siblings or twins placed together, or any pair you mark), teacher requests, class caps and students you lock in place.
- Preferences, weighed against balance: up to three ranked friend requests per student. Meeting at least one comes first; getting the first choice rather than the third comes second.
Siblings and twins get their own rule because families differ: some want twins together, others apart. Mark the pair as siblings and choose together or apart, and it prints as a sibling rule on the principal summary.
Worked example: the same grade at three friend weights
The sample grade in the class builder has 54 students who named friends. The friend requests setting trades friends against balance. Built at each setting with the same seed:
| Setting | Friend met | First choice | Largest girls and boys gap | Imbalance, friends aside |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balance first | 52 of 54 | 35 | 1 | 26 |
| Balanced with the classes | 54 of 54 | 33 | 1 | 39 |
| Friends first | 54 of 54 | 30 | 1 | 50 |
Balance first leaves 2 students without a friend in return for the most even classes. The default meets all 54, and friends first buys nothing more here while costing 11 more imbalance points. For most grades the default is the right place to start.
Now a request that cannot be met. Suppose Leo Tanaka asked for Theo Lopez, Isaac Kim, Felix Fraser, and the school has agreed to keep Leo Tanaka apart from all three. The builder keeps every separation and puts this on the requests not met sheet, with the reason "Kept apart":
Leo Tanaka asked for Theo Lopez, Isaac Kim and Felix Fraser, but Leo Tanaka and Theo Lopez are kept apart.
And a contradiction. Samuel Okafor and Arjun Okafor are twins to keep together. Add a rule keeping Samuel Okafor apart from another student, then a rule putting that student with Arjun Okafor. No placement can keep all three rules, so the builder says so before it places anyone:
Arjun Okafor and Leo Tanaka must be together, but that would put Samuel Okafor with Leo Tanaka, who are kept apart. The together rule is left out.
Common mistakes
- Asking for one friend. One name gives the placement nowhere to go. Two or three gives it room.
- Entering every parent wish as a separation. Each keep-apart pair removes options for the whole grade. Enter the ones the school has agreed to.
- Typing a friend's name two ways. "Mia" and "Mia Chen" match only when one student is called Mia. Check the notes the paste step shows.
- Hiding the reasons. A family told "a separation elsewhere made it impossible" takes it better than silence. Keep the sheet for the principal.