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My child has been accepted at Greenville Tech Charter High School for 9th grade next year. Our zoned school is J L Mann. My child excels in Math and Science and loves these subjects and feels that the path that they want to take. J L Mann is a magnet school for those subjects. I do not know anyone who has had a child go through Mann, but I have been speaking to a parent whose child goes to GTCHS, and they love it. I like the idea of college credits at GTCHS but I know that Mann can offer dual credit in the senior year. Other than the teacher/ratio number and general size of school, I can't really find many differences, as far as academics go. If anyone has any insight for me, that would be fantastic. Thanks.
If dual high school and college credits are offered for all grades, the same math and science courses at J.L. Mann are offered at Greenville Technical Charter High School, and class sizes and teacher:student ratios are smaller, I would like that choice from the academics angle.
At GTCHS you can start taking college credits in 10th grade, through 12th. Mann offers college credits in 12th only. I know that not all colleges are going to accept all the credits, but it's a good starting point. My daughter is a serious student, not into the sports at school. She even gave up PE this year to help Special Needs kids in their PE class. She's popular and has friends etc... but she knows she's at school to learn. It's not a fashion show for her, it's not a popularity contest. She truly loves lessons, learning and homework (I'm making her sound like a right bore, but she isn't.) I just don't know whether to put her in GTCHS for four years of great academic learning, or send her to Mann for their Math and Science program, but still have her put up with the general "stuff" that goes on in high school - I know "stuff" is going to happen at GTCHS too.
Entering high school, I would not worry about college credits yet. My primary focus is to do well academically all years, but reemphasize that focus in ninth and tenth grades. The 11th grade, or junior year, is the time to seriously consider college, visiting colleges and universities, and taking SAT and ACT examinations. The 12th grade, or senior year, is the year to apply to colleges, get accepted, and decide where to go.
Having a serious student and having the opportunity to attend an academically focused school, definitely go for Greenville Technical Charter High School.
Entering high school, I would not worry about college credits yet. My primary focus is to do well academically all years, but reemphasize that focus in ninth and tenth grades. The 11th grade, or junior year, is the time to seriously consider college, visiting colleges and universities, and taking SAT and ACT examinations. The 12th grade, or senior year, is the year to apply to colleges, get accepted, and decide where to go.
Having a serious student and having the opportunity to attend an academically focused school, definitely go for Greenville Technical Charter High School.
Thank you Carolina Knight. My husband and I are definitely leaning towards GTCHS. Your one sentence is fantastic about a serious student and the opportunity to attend an academically focused school. So many people have told me that my daughters personality fits right in with GTCHS. I guess we are in two minds because we haven't heard any arguments as to why we should send her to Mann.
I have a child at GTCHS. It has been a great fit for him. He is taking his first college class this semester, which he really enjoys. He also took many of his classes last year for honors credit. He was also able to take a second science class this year, because of the university-model schedule (4 classes / day, with rotating days.) He participates in many school activities and really seems to be enjoying it (as much as a teenage boy enjoys school.)
In your situation, since Mann is your zoned school, if your daughter didn't like it, she could always transfer. Just from what you have said, I bet she would fit right in.
I agree with trying GTCHS since it sounds like it would be such a great fit for your academically minded daughter. But I think Mann is a great fall-back option to have in your back pocket, should you need it for any reason. I have a coworker whose sons have gone through/are going through Mann and they are happy with it. They play football but I haven't heard her specifically talk about the academics.
Congrats to your daughter! Sounds like she will make the most of her opportunity.
Here was my response to a very similiar conversation here last month:
My son is a sophmore at J.L. Mann, he's in the magnet program for Math. That means he takes 7 math classes rather than the normal 4.
I think that there is quite a big different between many schools and the Green Tech charter high schools (Brashier and Main). I think that any student who attends those schools made a solid CHOICE to go there, knowing it was going to be a rigorous academic program. No one is zoned for those schools, so everyone who is going there because they want to.
That is going to be the big difference you will see compared to Magnet schools. At J.L. Mann, yes, there are the Magnet students (some by lottery, some by zoning...we are zoned for it), BUT you also get just the regular students who attend because of zoning...and that is the only reason they attend...because they "have" to. You know, the students that don't really care about school. So with a population of 1700+....you will get very academic students and you will get very NOT academic students. So you get those teachers who are dealing with all that crap that students bring in, attitude wise, when they don't really care about education. And that makes some teachers just tired of it. My own son is very academic oriented, and takes Honors, or AP classes, whenever possible...though not all subjects offer Honors or AP. So he takes those classes at the regular level...and he dislikes those classes the most, because that is where he gets the most goof-offs. He generally associates with other students who are more academic focused as well. Don't get me wrong..there's ALOT of smart kids at J.L. Mann. But there's also ALOT of "have to be here" students too.
Besides that, J.L. Mann has been good overall. They are very highly rated, in terms of state reports. The principal is also very involved...weekly phone calls, every Sunday night, to parents, updating what is going on that week. He stands outside in the morning as students arrive. I do feel as if he's very approachable. We went to the Open House a few weeks ago and met all my son's teachers for this year. They were all pretty interesting, seemed to enjoy their jobs. The school has pretty stiff rules, in terms of behaviour, dress code, etc, so it's not a free-for-all environment.
I don't have anything bad to say about J.L. Mann, we've not had any negative experiences overall, with our son attending there, just that you will notice a very different student population there than at Brashier, in terms of academic focus. Also, to be honest with you, for all the hoopla that comes along with the Magnet program.....not sure it's really going to be THAT amazing on a college application...okay, so you took extra math as electives instead of other silly electives...great........meanwhile a student at Brashier has college credit courses on their application...that's GREAT! I suppose students do dual-enroll at Greenville Tech, from J.L. Mann, though from what I have heard, it's not the norm...where I understand that IS the norm at Brashier. The building itself, very nice. Only like 10 years old, which is "new" in terms of a school building. Very clean, kept up, shiny . One of the nicer high school buildings in the county, from what I've seen. Probably Riverside is the only one comparable (from what I've seen attending footballs games for the last three years).
We moved here shortly before my son started 9th grade, so we weren't quite up to par on how all this worked, in terms of lottery (and frankly at that point we would have missed the lottery date for 9th grade anyway!). Once we realized how it worked, we would have loved to get him into Brashier.....except the sports thing...he wanted to play football, and couldn't at that point at Brashier. So we were just happy that we ended up zoned for J.L. Mann...if we had to go to a zoned school, at least it was a good one, academic wise!
I have a child at GTCHS. It has been a great fit for him. He is taking his first college class this semester, which he really enjoys. He also took many of his classes last year for honors credit. He was also able to take a second science class this year, because of the university-model schedule (4 classes / day, with rotating days.) He participates in many school activities and really seems to be enjoying it (as much as a teenage boy enjoys school.)
In your situation, since Mann is your zoned school, if your daughter didn't like it, she could always transfer. Just from what you have said, I bet she would fit right in.
jac
Thank you Jac,
I'm having a tour of the school today so hopefully I'll be able to get my 101 questions answered! I think I'm right in saying that the college credit classes are done with college kids in GTC. How does your son feel about sitting in a class with kids who are a few years older than him? Do the college kids ignore him, include him, or anything? I do worry about a 15/16 year old in a class with 18/19 year old kids.
The real question is which school has the better Dungeon Master of their D&D club.
That's how you roll initiative!
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