Would this be possible in Cleveland? (Lakewood, Mentor: how much, home, school districts)

[mikemeatball]

check greatschools.net, you will have the idea.

No public school 10miles around cleveland downtown radar would be desirable for me to put my kids in. Not even Shaker Hight, reason: their teachers are those among the best, but not the students. You see what I meant?

[jam40jeff]

So what explains the fact that they always have the most National Merit Semifinalists of any public school in the area, by far?

Even if the students were bad (which they are not), it's more important that the teachers and the class offerings are good (they also offer more languages, 7, and more AP classes than any other public school in Northeast Ohio) than the students being good. Your child will be learning from the teachers.

[LewLew]

Originally Posted by mikemeatball

check greatschools.net, you will have the idea.

No public school 10miles around cleveland downtown radar would be desirable for me to put my kids in. Not even Shaker Hight, reason: their teachers are those among the best, but not the students. You see what I meant?

Ummm...teachers are what make a school good. Programs, teachers, cirriculum etc. B/c there are some students bussed in from other areas who are not necessarily the best students doesn't deter from it being a very well regarded school system. If a student wants to learn, Shaker offers some of the best, most indepth, progressive programs around. On the other hand, if your child is a sloughoff, send them to private school, or boarding school b/c they are going to joke around in whatever school system they attend.

[Pgserge27]

Tremont is a great neighborhood, and they have some blue ribbon rated public schools. Ohio city and Detroit Shoreways have tons more young families, even than five years ago, schools not so great. I live in D.S. and am planning on starting a family soon. With what we save in property taxes, tax abated house, we will be able to send our kids to a private school called Urban Community School. I have a lot of young friends that send their kids there and they love it. If you really want the urban experience you'll be hard pressed to fill it with Shaker or other suburbs. Lakewood would be the closest, but for the long term their taxes are quite high.

[jam40jeff]

Excellent choice, I know some people who went to Urban Community and loved it. It actually came to my mind as soon as you mentioned that you live in D-S, then I saw you already knew about it.

[WeSoHood]

Originally Posted by mikemeatball

check greatschools.net, you will have the idea.

No public school 10miles around cleveland downtown radar would be desirable for me to put my kids in. Not even Shaker Hight, reason: their teachers are those among the best, but not the students. You see what I meant?

Not sure about that! Rocky River is a few miles west of down town and has great schools!

[jam40jeff]

Originally Posted by WeSoHood

Not sure about that! Rocky River is a few miles west of down town and has great schools!

Independence, Cuyahoga Heights, and Lakewood are also within 10 miles of downtown.

[Conroy25]

I appreciate everyone's responses. You've been a great help and I will look into all of these areas when I take my trip up there.

[tribecavsbrowns]

Originally Posted by Conroy25

City living if possible. My wife and I and kind of foodies and enjoy the arts and diverse cultures. We cannot stand the bland suburbian "applebees" lifestyle. But if that is what we have to do for good schools, then I guess we'll bite the bullet on that. I don't want live in the ghetto but I don't want to live in "snootsville" either. I've heard Lakewood is where most people in my age range congregate; how are the public elementary schools there?

I usually recommend Lakewood High with qualifiers like "if your kid's in the gifted program," "if your kid has a lot of extracurricular interests," "if you're comfortable with some inner-city elements," etc., but Lakewood elementary schools I recommend without qualification. Lincoln is generally regarded as the best.

[mikemeatball]

So what explains the fact that they always have the most National Merit Semifinalists of any public school in the area, by far?

Even if the students were bad (which they are not), it's more important that the teachers and the class offerings are good (they also offer more languages, 7, and more AP classes than any other public school in Northeast Ohio) than the students being good. Your child will be learning from the teachers.

1./ I am talking about the best of the best, no just "good" public school district.

2./ The public middle school of the district I am living in was crowned as national champion of 2008 scientific olympic contest, in addition to national No.5 for high school. There are constantly 8-10 students get the national merit award annually at this high school.

3./ How come teacher is the most important factor to judge a school? Strange. If you put OSU / Penn state students under the custody of Harvard / Yale / Princeton faculty staffs, would their alumni achievement and networking be the same today? There are no Cinderella in education. It is the quality of the student that make the greatest difference.

4./ My comment for shaker height is actually cited from a conversation between a teacher who is teaching in my school district and me. I do believe shaker is a great school, but can easily be a falling angel if you average the total performance of the entire school, not only just tunnel lighting on the AP course.