What makes a bad/good school? (apartments, renters, how much)

[LawrencevilleGA]

You hear it repetitively here on the forums.
"Nice place to live, WITH GOOD SCHOOLS"
Of course you want your kids going to a quality school, but it's Elementary, middle, and High school. Not College or a University. Do the teachers in the "bad" schools not use books? Do they not try to teach the students Math, Writing, and Science?
Last time I checked which Highschool you went to (other than private) doesn't have much bearing on what college or university u get in. It used to be SAT scores and your GPA. Who you knew and how much you donate to the cause helps too.
Maybe it's the budget of the school system that ppl. are talking about.
Maybe it' been too long since I was in school. Is it not what the student absorbs of what the teacher is teaching?
I know some teachers have no business teaching anything.
Interested to hear ppl. take on this.

[jxu66]

So many parents move to Georgia in order to take advantage of Hope Scholarship. However, one must be be aware that top state schools (GaTech and UGA) has become increasingly difficult to get into.

I think that minimum requirement for a good Georgia school is that there are large number of students (100+ kids a year) who can get into either UGA or GaTech. I think that's minimum question a parent should ask a particular high school. Of course, if your little Johnny or Suzie who inspired to go to Ivy Leagues, you should ask the same question to high schools whether there are a number of kids who has done that.

[jjordan]

I think wether or not a school is "good" is largely irrelevant. Obviously you wouldn't want to send your kids into a warzone but most schools aren't like that. I know so many people who've graduated in the past two years from so called "bad" schools who are at well regarded schools all over the country. If your child wants to do well they will.

[jxu66]

There was an article from atlanta best magazine talking about Walton high. In reality, if your kids are top 10 to top 20 in any high school, it really doesn't matter which school he or she go. But if your kids is between 30 to 200 range, the school does matter according to the article. http://www.atlantamagazine.com/article.php?id=323 (broken link)

Also, if your kids want to go to Ivy Leagues, the competition right now is very intense due to increasing number of kids. Those schools are so much more difficult to get into when I was in college in the early 90's.

[jjordan]

That may be an incentive to send your kid to a "bad school." It'll be easier for them to reach the top of the class.

Seriously, the stats on the schools these kids have graduated from would probably have most on here grabbing at their chests. I'm not sure where they all ranked but they're at UGA, Tech, Emory, Vandy, UF, UNC-CH, UCLA, Berkeley, NYU, etc. Hell, one is at Princeton! Maybe I just hung out with really smart kids.

[LawrencevilleGA]

If you did a search query on "good schools" you'd have hundreds of hits.
Yet not many posts about what they mean by it.
I think the Good Schools thing is way overblown. Either your kid is willing to learn or not. When I was in school I chose not to learn as much as I should have. I don't necc. fault the school. I was lazy then. Class clown. I developed a love for knowledge in my early 20's. They tried teaching me. Supplied me with all the tools to learn it all. I was a C+/B student.

Maybe ppl have to think about the Good Schools comment a little b4 they post about it.

[sprtsluvr8]

I've always thought that there are certain students that will succeed no matter what...you can put them in a classroom with books and a rock for the teacher and they will still learn and progress. On the other end of the scale, there are certain students that will fail no matter what...you can give them the best teachers and resources, after school tutors etc. and they will not succeed. Then there are all of the students in the middle ranging from below average to above average...they are the ones who have the real chance to succeed or fail. A good teacher or involved parents or some other factor can seriously work wonders for the ones in the middle. I'm all for tracking students into certain curriculum around 8th grade...some students cosmetologists, some are radiologists. There's nothing at all wrong with that, but there is something wrong with trying to force them all into the same academic course of study. Anyway, that's another subject...

I guess as a parent I would first want my children at a school where I'm not afraid to leave them each day - peace of mind for the safety of my kids would be a "good" school. I've experienced some elementary environments where I would be hesitant to have my child. Then you have the middle and high schools across the country that were once quiet suburban or even rural schools before a student starting shooting people...so who knows? I guess parents have to drop the kids off and just keep their fingers crossed all day that they get their kids back in the afternoon. Other than that, I would pick the teacher each year that I wanted to teach my child because I feel that has much more of an impact on the child than the overall school. Then, as a parent, I would be sure and volunteer in the classroom at least once every 2 weeks or so in order to keep in touch with how my child is doing.

[lastminutemom]

For most people, what makes a good school is what they can see on the surface -- test scores, racial composition, economic/home ownership status of the school/community.

I know at least a dozen families who had to buy into top rated public schools for the above reasons -- only to end up miserable.

Schools have personalities -- some are rigid, some are flexible, some are test driven, some are not. If you are at all really concerned about your child, you need to dig a little deeper.

Funny (ok, not so funny) story -- several summers ago, I was up at my kids' elementary school on two different occassions. Both times, I happened to answer the phone and both times it was women who had recently signed leases for apartments in our school districts and were inquiring if the school was good. I was tempted to say "no, it is horrible. So now what are you going to do." I didn't, but you should know that many people, especially renters in the metro area, don't do their homework and then are in for a bad surprise -- or they just get lucky.

[Optimistic]

Our family sadly purchased a home 20 months ago in a not so desirable school district. I at the time felt that with my parenteral involvement my children could do well anywhere. Well sadly that is not all totally true. The environments that we expose our children to do play a factor.

I simply want my children to obtain a decent education in a well-rounded environment. I have a co-worker in the same district who swears by the high school. She says that test scores and the fact that the school did not make AYP is not important. I totally disagree. I feel those two factors are important.

I have even spoken to the Assistant Principal who try to reassured me that they have a "plan" to make things better. I do not have time to use my children as guinea pigs in an experiment. so now I am on a quest to find a better high school. My children are A students in 7th and 8th grade. I could accept school choice for a year and that maybe an option if we cannot sell our home.

Boy if I had only paid closer attention I would have moved into a better high school district.

[sprtsluvr8]

Originally Posted by Optimistic

Our family sadly purchased a home 20 months ago in a not so desirable school district. I at the time felt that with my parenteral involvement my children could do well anywhere. Well sadly that is not all totally true. The environments that we expose our children to do play a factor.

I simply want my children to obtain a decent education in a well-rounded environment. I have a co-worker in the same district who swears by the high school. She says that test scores and the fact that the school did not make AYP is not important. I totally disagree. I feel those two factors are important.

I have even spoken to the Assistant Principal who try to reassured me that they have a "plan" to make things better. I do not have time to use my children as guinea pigs in an experiment. so now I am on a quest to find a better high school. My children are A students in 7th and 8th grade. I could accept school choice for a year and that maybe an option if we cannot sell our home.

Boy if I had only paid closer attention I would have moved into a better high school district.

I'm sorry you've had such a tough time at this school, especially when you decided to give it a chance even though the school wasn't great on paper. It sounds like a frustrating situation, and I definitely wouldn't put my children up for anyone's experiment in school improvement. They only have a certain number of years in school and I wouldn't want those years to be less rewarding because of the school environment.

Is there a specific problem you can identify that has caused you to move your children elsewhere? What are the factors that contribute to this problem? Last question...How does the school's plan for improvement address your concerns and do you think there is anything parents can do to help turn this school around?