Moving to Boston are for the public schools, I need advice... (Newton: private schools, college)

[kdhapw]

I want to thank you all for your fantastic help...I've been looking at the surrounding communities that you have mentioned. What a relief it would be to have a friendly neighborhood and a great public school system...a dream come true!

[SuperSparkle928]

Originally Posted by RC1981

yea but Supersparkle, you have to use that Commuter Rail to get into Boston from Andover and it's expensive as hell. Get yourself a monthly Link pass for $60 and you're fine commuting in from Melrose, Wakefield, or Stoneham. If you commute every day from Andover on the commuter rail you're looking at a Zone 5 fare which is $210/month, plus you're going to have to pay for the subway twice every day anyway.

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I guess it depends if you have kids or not, and want them to go to a decent school system. Everything is a tradeoff.

Melrose schools (base on MCAS, which I know is not the best indicator) averages a 7 (out of 10), so that is a grade of 'C'. Wakefield is a 6 out of ten, and Stoneham is a 7 out of ten. Andover schools have 10's and 9's (though not the best in the state).

All depends on what you value.

[RC1981]

Well that's the reason I also suggested Brookline and Newton. Both of them are 9's and 10's and neither require a $210/month investment just in transportation alone. I was just trying to explain to the OP which would be the best for their money and would fit their needs.

[snatale1]

Originally Posted by kdhapw

We are moving to the Boston area specifically for the schools. We live in NC right now and have had terrible experiences here. Classroom sizes here are large...over 25 and up with just 1 teacher and no limits (except for capacity accd'ing to fire department) after 4th grade. School classrooms are also loud and reverberating...difficult for kids with auditory issues...Can anyone give me guidance on public schools that have small class sizes?

Just make sure you stay out of Boston itself and you should be fine.

[donewithpretty]

Originally Posted by SuperSparkle928

Melrose schools (base on MCAS, which I know is not the best indicator) averages a 7 (out of 10), so that is a grade of 'C'. Wakefield is a 6 out of ten, and Stoneham is a 7 out of ten. Andover schools have 10's and 9's (though not the best in the state).

Not sure I agree with calling a 7/10 school a 'C'. Are 8/10 and 9/10 schools a 'B' then? Is every school with less than 6/10 an 'F'? I have friends with kids who've done poorly on the MCAS but wonderfully in school. The scores are useful to know, but they are just one (very specific) metric.

[RC1981]

Originally Posted by donewithpretty

Not sure I agree with calling a 7/10 school a 'C'. Are 8/10 and 9/10 schools a 'B' then? Is every school with less than 6/10 an 'F'? I have friends with kids who've done poorly on the MCAS but wonderfully in school. The scores are useful to know, but they are just one (very specific) metric.

It doesn't really matter anyway. Regardless of school system if the student applies themself and wants to learn then they will be successful, simple as that.

That said, I don't think there's absolutely anything wrong with a "7/10" school system.

[HenryAlan]

Originally Posted by RC1981

It doesn't really matter anyway. Regardless of school system if the student applies themself and wants to learn then they will be successful, simple as that.

That said, I don't think there's absolutely anything wrong with a "7/10" school system.

Exactly. You take a kid from a so-called 10 system, and place them in a 5 or 6, that kid will most likely still get a 10. These averaged aggregates mean nothing about how any particular kid will do. The difference in these communities lies in what percentage of families have the resources to adequately support their child's learning needs. My children all score in the 99th percentile, yet they attend Boston schools. As a system, BPS may not look so good by MCAS results. But drill down to the individual students, and you'll find a different story.

[kdhapw]

I guess I should qualify my question with the fact that my concern about class size and acoustics in the school/classroom are because of auditory processing issues. Would this information change anyone's recommendation?

[RC1981]

Originally Posted by kdhapw

I guess I should qualify my question with the fact that my concern about class size and acoustics in the school/classroom are because of auditory processing issues. Would this information change anyone's recommendation?

I'm not sure what you mean about acoustics in the classroom...I'm not sure any of them are specifically designed for the hearing impaired unless you find like a special school that is dedicated to students with those kinds of needs.

Class sizes will get smaller the further out you go from Boston, but as you go further out, transportation costs get higher. That's why I recommended Melrose because it's kind of in that sweet spot where you can commute quickly and cheaply to Boston but at the same time have excellent schools and small-town vibe. I know they have specifically gone after making class sizes smaller over the last couple of school years:

Melrose school officials aim to reduce class sizes, raise funds - Melrose, Massachusetts - Melrose Free Press

They've definitely made it a priority, but I honestly don't know what kind of success they've had. The class sizes were above average for MA, but that's not unusual for a school system that's in the Boston metro area.

[Beantown_mama]

I think most schools in Massachusetts have pretty small class sizes. I think in general, the schools in Mass, for good are bad, are different then the schools in other parts of the country because they are smaller. For the example of Melrose above, although it has only about 26,000 residents, it has 5 elementary schools and and early education center. In other parts of the country, a town this size would have one massive elementary school on the edge of town, but Melrose has all of these pretty small schools (I think the largest one has 400 students). So each school has 2-3 classes per grade, and the class sizes are smallish - 20-23 students per class.