Does anyone know anything about A H Parker High School? (Birmingham: mortgage, home)

[MsNora]

We are getting ready to move to Birmingham, Alabama from Hoover, Alabama and I was just wondering if this is a safe and good school. I have a daughter who is going to be a freshman there and I don't want any problems. Some people say it's OK while others say it's dangerous. Does anyone know or have a child that already goes there?

[UABstudent]

I don’t know of anyone that went there, but I looked up some information.
Parker High School - Birmingham, Alabama/AL - Public School Profile
Parker High School - Birmingham, Alabama - AL - School overview

Study the information, try to talk to someone already in the Neighborhood. They should be able to provide information on Parker.

There are other options if you decided the school isn’t for you.
ASFA - public honors school focusing on the arts that’s located downtown. Parent Reviews of Alabama School of Fine Arts - Birmingham, Alabama - AL
Alabama School of Fine Arts

Private school

Ramsey High School - Don’t know much about that but I believe it’s a magnet school for the city.
Ramsay High School - Birmingham, Alabama - AL - School overview
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramsay_...ngham,_Alabama)

[Joeyj42]

Pretty much all of the Birmingham City Schools are "bad." Except for Ramsay which is the magnet school. That is just the public schools though. There are several nice private schools. There is also the Alabama School of Fine Arts. Which I know little to nothing about.

[cpg35223]

ASFA is a seriously great school. But unless your child goes to Ramsey, I wouldn't send them to any Birmingham public school.

[curlzz07]

I wouldn't send my children to any Birmingham City schools (maybe Ramsey, and that's a big maybe)

[pennquaker09]

Ramsey is great. ASFA is absolutely amazing, if your child can get in.

I really hate how people totally crap on the BC schools. It's like complaining about the water running, but being too lazy to get up and turn it off. I fully realize that the schools have issues, but all of the affluent people putting their kids in private school or moving to the burbs are a major factor.

I think a lot of people think that the teachers and administration make the school, but the makeup of the student body determines the quality of the school. Kids can totally surprise you when you give them expectations and the support they need to reach them. Of course parental involvement is extremely important, but I think it's a collective group effort.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by pennquaker09

Ramsey is great. ASFA is absolutely amazing, if your child can get in.

I really hate how people totally crap on the BC schools. It's like complaining about the water running, but being too lazy to get up and turn it off. I fully realize that the schools have issues, but all of the affluent people putting their kids in private school or moving to the burbs are a major factor.

I think a lot of people think that the teachers and administration make the school, but the makeup of the student body determines the quality of the school. Kids can totally surprise you when you give them expectations and the support they need to reach them. Of course parental involvement is extremely important, but I think it's a collective group effort.

You know, as somebody who has actually walked the walk by living in Forest Park and actually took a good long look at enrolling my children in a Birmingham City school, I think this is total, offensive baloney. I mean, you didn't actually attend a Birmingham City school did you? Didn't you attend something like Indian Springs?

Look, I know you don't have kids and all, but there's an enormous amount of difference between the condescending ivory tower nonsense you just blurted out and actually having one's own children serve as the guinea pigs for those lofty ideals. Hey, when it's your own kids on the line, I'll listen.

Anybody know knows anything about Birmingham city schools knows that the education is substandard for a reason: the non-existent commitment of the parents, the corrupt nature of city politics, and the need to teach to the lowest common denominator. I don't really need to apologize for not wanting to stick my children in the same classes as kids from utterly dysfunctional households, and I have too much on my plate to swim against the tide. I can't make people do a better job of raising their own kids and I sure as hell am not going to allow my children's education to suffer as a result. What's more the exodus, what some snidely call White Flight, is actually become a very diverse phenomenon. A lot of middle class blacks have thrown up their hands as well and hied themselves to Hoover or Pelham.

As a result, I ponied up for private schools for quite a long time, while living in the city limits of Birmingham, as did both of my black neighbors. And, we sent them to a rather diverse school to boot. Sure, we finally moved to Mountain Brook, but that was an economic decision, given how the least we didn't want to pay for a private high school was around $10,000 per child per year.

So before you offer up opinions like that again, I suggest you actually understand where parents are coming from when they make these decisions.

[bluebeard]

I have heard Ramsay is a good magnet school, but I don't know much about it.
While I am also idealist and would be ok having my kid (if I had one) go to the top public schools within the Birmingham district such as Ramsay, in real life it wouldn't happen due to my wife. And I understand that. The difference between different schools in the US, both within public systems and between public and private, is an incredible injustice. But when the differences are already as stark as they are in many places such as Bham, it is reasonable to want to give your kids a a decent rather than horrible education. A large part of the problem is that the "collective effort" you speak of doesn't exist as the worst schools and neighborhoods for kids. And one person isn't enough to change that.

Is it really a good financial decision to go to Mt Brook vs private school in Bham? With the higher home prices and tax rates, I'm not sure it always financially balances out?

But specifically about PArker HS, its been a little bit in the news lately:
Parker HS community rallies support for principal replaced by Birmingham school board | al.com

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by bluebeard

I have heard Ramsay is a good magnet school, but I don't know much about it.
While I am also idealist and would be ok having my kid (if I had one) go to the top public schools within the Birmingham district such as Ramsay, in real life it wouldn't happen due to my wife. And I understand that. The difference between different schools in the US, both within public systems and between public and private, is an incredible injustice. But when the differences are already as stark as they are in many places such as Bham, it is reasonable to want to give your kids a a decent rather than horrible education. A large part of the problem is that the "collective effort" you speak of doesn't exist as the worst schools and neighborhoods for kids. And one person isn't enough to change that.

Is it really a good financial decision to go to Mt Brook vs private school in Bham? With the higher home prices and tax rates, I'm not sure it always financially balances out?

But specifically about PArker HS, its been a little bit in the news lately:
Parker HS community rallies support for principal replaced by Birmingham school board | al.com

Well, it did for us. The savings on tuition - extra mortgage and property taxes = Roughly $1,500 monthly in savings or $18,000 annually. Mind you, we have three children. If we had one child, I would have just sucked it up and sent her to Altamont.

[bluebeard]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

Well, it did for us. The savings on tuition - extra mortgage and property taxes = Roughly $1,500 monthly in savings or $18,000 annually. Mind you, we have three children. If we had one child, I would have just sucked it up and sent her to Altamont.

ahh, yes. 3X the tuition would be a lot. I know one person with a single kid where the math worked out for the private school option better.