Comparison between Loveland, Sycamore and Indian Hill schools (Montgomery, McDonald: credit, school districts)

[wydadg]

We have been living for 3 years now in Loveland and our two childs attend Loveland public schools at 2nd and 3rd grades. We have been happy so far with the kids education and the teachers, but we noticed the district is limited in terms of advanced/gifted programs, extra-curricular activities and also, being foreigners, we would prefer a more diverse class-room environment for the kids.

We like the Montgomery/blue ash/symms/Indian Hill neibourghoods and so are interested to find out few facts about the Sycamore and Indian hill school districts vs that of Loveland.

We would really appreciate any guidance on the comparison between these 3 districts in the following area:
- Class-room diversity.
- Advanced/gifted programs
- Quality of high schools and how well they prepare for top college access.
- Languages in curriculum
- Extra curricular activities (PTA kind of things)
- Summer programs

Thanks in advance.

[Mike Dunn]

Here are some websites that may help you or direct you to help with your questions.

Ohio Public School Rankings

ODE - Home

Great Schools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community

Schooldigger.com -- Search and compare elementary, middle, and high schools.


Good luck!

[cincylifer]

Originally Posted by wydadg

We have been living for 3 years now in Loveland and our two childs attend Loveland public schools at 2nd and 3rd grades. We have been happy so far with the kids education and the teachers, but we noticed the district is limited in terms of advanced/gifted programs, extra-curricular activities and also, being foreigners, we would prefer a more diverse class-room environment for the kids.

We like the Montgomery/blue ash/symms/Indian Hill neibourghoods and so are interested to find out few facts about the Sycamore and Indian hill school districts vs that of Loveland.

We would really appreciate any guidance on the comparison between these 3 districts in the following area:
- Class-room diversity.
- Advanced/gifted programs
- Quality of high schools and how well they prepare for top college access.
- Languages in curriculum
- Extra curricular activities (PTA kind of things)
- Summer programs

Thanks in advance.

They are all good districts, Indian Hill and Sycamore, though rate higher than Loveland. Its hard to compare unless youve had kids in all three. I do know for a fact that of the three Sycamore is the most diverse. I have 3 kids in Sycamore Schools. Its about 70% white/30% other. They have extracurriculars out the wazoo! And the PTO is unreal. If you want parental involvement then they have it. Actually sometimes its too much. You basically have a lot of fairly affluent college educated women who are not working, so they put a ton of energy into the schools. Mostly its positive, but there are some negs. They begin foreign languages at the junior high. Actually depending on which language and level, you can start to earn Highschool credit for you foreign language class. There are gifted/accelerated classes beginning in the elementary schools. The funny thing is so many kids are gifted, you have to really be high up to get in those classes. My daughter scored accelerated on the ohio proficiency test, and she was still under the school average for montgomery elem. Overall I have been very pleased with the district. If your child doesnt test well, once you get at the junior high, you can put them in accelerated classes yourself. I had a child that got straight As at the intermediate, but never tested high enough for accelerated Language Arts, so when she got to the jr high, she went into accelerated classes, and she has been doing fine, on the honor roll the entire time.

[NextHalf]

Okay, I just have to make a comment here about the whole "gifted/accelerated" thing in our public schools. There are 3 classes of children in our public schools: 1) children with normal levels of intelligence labeled as "gifted" or "accelerated", 2) children with low intellect (special ed), and "average" children who are perfectly intelligent and capable, but somehow fail to get noticed as the teacher's pet or just didn't have a really great day when they had to take a useless government-sponsored standardized test.

The public school system throughout this country has become absolutely pathetic! Low-intellect children receive special attention. The "gifted" children get special attention (and at least *some* semblence of an education). The so-called "average" kids get completely ignored. That is the dumbing down of America.

For parents who think their kids are really something special because they are in "gifted" programs, you need to think again. There is a very good chance that your kid is just normal, but got lucky on a standardized test or got special treatment because of the parents' standing in the community. Your "gifted" children are getting somewhat of an education, but still nothing that even resembles the kind of education that all children in this country received 100 years ago.

The "average" children get pushed through the system as fast as possible so they can begin supporting the corporate machine by working at McDonald's or WalMart. No wonder our country is so screwed up.

In this educational environment, I can't blame any parent for wanting their child to get special treatment in the school system. However, I would hope that those same parents would advocate for *all* children to receive a REAL education. Every child is an important part of our future. Until we grant our children the right to an education commensurate with the quality of education provided in all other developed countries, the USA is going to cease to be competitive in the world, and possibly cease to exist at all.

[HuskerDu]

Just keep them where they are if things are good and don't rely on a school system to provide this experience for YOUR kids.