[Mike 75]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

Speak of the Devil. The latest US News and World Report rankings.

Local Schools Get Top Marks In U.S. News High School Ranking - Hartford Courant

These rankings are bizzare. Wilton, Darien, Greenwich, Amity, Hand, and Barlow among others are not ranked.

[Tompho]

I'm chiming in late here, but to address the op's question: Avon public schools are still very strong but fading. It'll be interesting to see both the magnitude of the upcoming staff reductions and the way in which they are handled. This is no fault of the (very strong) staff or admin at the schools -- the property tax base is growing more slowly than the school age population and developers keep building higher density housing.

Also, Avon imports more students via hartford's open choice (voluntary busing) program per in-town student than any other school eligible for the program. This has many effects on the school and it's budget. Some obvious, some not so obvious.

Many of my sons' classmates opted for private schools, locally, rather than make the transition to ahs. They attend loomis, old farms, choate, the masters, Westminster, miss porters, Ethel Walker, Watkinson and a couple at hotchkiss and Salisbury - only two went the Exeter / Anderson route. There's no need to ship your child to boarding overnight when the day student options are so strong here.

Really, in my neighborhood about a quarter of the kids (boys more than girls) went private. The main reasons were quality/flexibility of the academics and superior connections to the ivies to raise chances of admission. It's really all about college adminissions. How much it helps, I can't say yet as they are all still on this adventure but I'll know this time next year. Of course there is a massive self selection effect (as well as a family wealth effect), but I do assume the personal connections between the private school counselors and the ivy admissions offices provide a brighter spotlight on junior. (I'll pause here to note that most of these kids were about the 20-30 percentile in 8th grade - meaning they weren't standouts academically and were at risk of finishing out of the running in the very competitive top tier at ahs. The parents would say their kids 'learned differently' or had a problem with such and such teacher as the primary reason for fleeing the public schools. The private schools are adept at speaking to the flexibility, individualization, customization of their curricula to these kids. The parents who opt in believe they are buying attention and individual care as well as superior connections in the college admin offices. I think they probably are. It's an expensive path but not one of the families regrets it. They are all happy and would do it again. That says something.)

Obviously we kept our kids in public school and I don't regret that. They have had a wonderful experience and I wouldn't change a thing. They have learned they must advocate for themselves and must create their own opportunities for engagement and amusement. But the faculty are supportive and strong. So, I think it's all a good life lesson in how to get along and gain traction, at the same time.

As for the posters who believe private schools offer more socioeconomic diversity - you are misinformed. Spend a few weeks at these schools and report back. It's such a ridiculous claim I won't even make the opposite case. It's simply false.

If the definition of diversity rotates around geography, then yes, of course. But the private schools essentially curate a well defined set of look alikes from their applicants, admitting a predetermined groomable group of students from poorer families. The latter are mostly marginalized within the community until or unless they adopt the mannerisms of the elite. For publics, there is no admissions committee pouring over applications. The best public schools take all comers and, additionally, pull many inner city Hartford kids who pour out of the buses on the first day of school. They deal reactively with the integration challenges if and how they come. To be a public school parent is to acknowledge your child isn't a priority in the system and will have to make your way around barriers of budgeting, mindshare and the trend toward overpolicing the campuses. The private school parents opt out into the cozy, plushness of a sanctuary designed to insulate their children from these same realities.

[El Scorcho]

Did anyone address the OP's question(s) about magnet schools?

[scaredofsnow]

I would love to hear opinions on magnet schools!

[Tompho]

...