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I have 4 children in Lee County Public Schools. My oldest started in kindergarten here and is now a junior. Personally, with the economy the way it is here, I have absolutely no idea why anyone would want to move here right now, (especially since so many of us are moving away to find jobs), and people are so broke that 62% of our students receive free or reduced priced lunch, (new stat. from Sunday's News Press), but here goes...
It is my opinion that Cape schools are, in general, better. My kids have all attended Gulf Elementary in CC. I like the high level of parent involvement and the principal is the most amazing man you could ever meet. I have a child with Asperger's Syndrome, (an Autism spectrum disorder), and Gulf has an excellent autism program. I know many of the ESE teachers at Gulf and they're all fabulous. The principal's heart for the special needs program is that they are equal members of the school. They have everything from profoundly retarded children in wheelchairs on up to a FT gifted program and when a kid whips down the hall in their motorized wheelchair or joins in a game on the P.E. field, the other kids don't even blink. For the most part, they are accepted. Of course, you'll always have an issue or 2, but if you bring it to the school's attention, (go to the asst principal on this one, trust me), they will deal swiftly and surely with the offenders and correct the problem if possible.
I have a child at Gulf Middle as well, a child at Oasis Charter Middle, and a child at Baker High. I'm pleased with all of the schools. Well, as pleased as I can be with Fl. education. My high schooler attended Mariner Middle for 1 year, that was all I could take of that. Avoid that school at all costs.
Do look at the national rankings for Florida public schools. I think we're about 47th in the nation and Lee County is one of the bottom counties in Florida. I have paid big bucks over the years for tutoring for my children. Good tutors run about $50/hr. Plan on it if your child will be taking advanced courses since I've found many of those teachers to be lacking. Pet peeve: they teach "creative spelling". Most of the kids simply cannot spell here, it's not considered that important. And grammar, don't even get me started on grammar. For whatever reason, I'm considered strange because I expect all of my kids to attend college. That doesn't seem to be the general expectation. When kids from here do go to college, very few get into the better schools unless they went to Canterbury or Bishop Verot, (private). Generally they attend Edison State or FGCU.
Again, I don't advise a move to this area at this time because of the economy and the level of education. It can be a nice place to live but you have to heavily invest financially and otherwise in your kids' educations if you want them to come close to measuring up, so just be prepared for that. With the current economy, investing financially in education can be very difficult. My advice: don't move here unless you have to. If you have to, there are so many out of work teachers that at least you shouldn't have trouble finding a tutor...
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