Columbia High School

[y8tiger]

Four years have passed since we left and it amazes me that J.E. Williams School is still rated so poorly.

I would have thought with all the development off Zierdt and Martin that would have changed.

[hey teach]

Originally Posted by y8tiger

Four years have passed since we left and it amazes me that J.E. Williams School is still rated so poorly.

I would have thought with all the development off Zierdt and Martin that would have changed.

some things to consider when looking at the rating of Williams Middle:

1. in the last five years the school has had four principals and more than four asst. principals. Currently the assistant principal positions are occupied by TOSA's (teachers on special assignment) who are working on their credentials and have little if any experience.

2. Williams has the largest zone in HCS. 98% of students ride the bus which makes extracurricular's difficult. Some students get on the bus before 6:45 am and arrive at school around 7:50 am. Others stand outside in the weather for varying amounts of time to catch a bus at a designated location on the edge of a complex or subdivision, this is regardless of rain or temperature.

3. Williams has a large number of non-tenured teachers, most with little experience and has problems retaining teachers.

4. While the PTA has expanded this year to the middle school, it is more focused on the elementary school. The is little parent participation on the middle school level.

5. Discipline is much more controlled this year, but there are still issues.

6. Williams houses the new Academy of Gifted and Talented, but these students are basically isolated from the main population except for pe and music. They also get opportunities for things like piano lessons that the regular Williams students do not get.

7. Last, Williams gets a tremendous number of transfer students due to the military. Even though they did not get their academics for the entire year at Williams, they test at Williams for state testing so their scores good or bad reflect on Williams.

Just a few points to consider when considering the rankings.

7.

[y8tiger]

hey teach, We did not have a good experience at J.E. Williams School back in 2012.


Large zone is right!


IMHO sending children from the Arsenal never made much sense based due to the location of the housing along Goss Rd. / Drake Ave. According to the School District map their are numerous choices that are much closer.


Just for comparison, Fort Rucker parents have their choice of one of three surrounding school districts.


I thought with all that rezoning that made the news, things might have changed for Williams while we were gone.


Due to the Federal Hiring Freeze, our relocation back from Germany has been put on hold 'until further notice'. I'm hoping that the freeze gets lifted and we end up moving back during summer break. It would be nice if our child doesn't have attend Williams temporarily while we stay in the Army Hotel.

[lindy112]

Originally Posted by hey teach

some things to consider when looking at the rating of Williams Middle:

1. in the last five years the school has had four principals and more than four asst. principals. Currently the assistant principal positions are occupied by TOSA's (teachers on special assignment) who are working on their credentials and have little if any experience.

2. Williams has the largest zone in HCS. 98% of students ride the bus which makes extracurricular's difficult. Some students get on the bus before 6:45 am and arrive at school around 7:50 am. Others stand outside in the weather for varying amounts of time to catch a bus at a designated location on the edge of a complex or subdivision, this is regardless of rain or temperature.

3. Williams has a large number of non-tenured teachers, most with little experience and has problems retaining teachers.

4. While the PTA has expanded this year to the middle school, it is more focused on the elementary school. The is little parent participation on the middle school level.

5. Discipline is much more controlled this year, but there are still issues.

6. Williams houses the new Academy of Gifted and Talented, but these students are basically isolated from the main population except for pe and music. They also get opportunities for things like piano lessons that the regular Williams students do not get.

7. Last, Williams gets a tremendous number of transfer students due to the military. Even though they did not get their academics for the entire year at Williams, they test at Williams for state testing so their scores good or bad reflect on Williams.

Just a few points to consider when considering the rankings.

7.

I agree with most of your points except #7. There's only 352 housing units on the Arsenal and more than half of those units are filled with retirees and DOD civilians. And now that the Arsenal has instituted a casual School of Choice system, I don't think there are as many military kids going to Williams as most people assume. My kids went to the Elementary school for a year before we pulled them out and the bus ride was very long from the Arsenal.

[y8tiger]

Originally Posted by lindy112

I agree with most of your points except #7. There's only 352 housing units on the Arsenal and more than half of those units are filled with retirees and DOD civilians. And now that the Arsenal has instituted a casual School of Choice system, I don't think there are as many military kids going to Williams as most people assume. My kids went to the Elementary school for a year before we pulled them out and the bus ride was very long from the Arsenal.

lindy112 - Back in 2012, the schools let out early for Snow one day and the bus took so long to get to the Arsenal that all the snow had melted. The bus ride was very long from the Arsenal indeed.

I never realized there were that many housing units on Redstone, it felt like a lot less.

From Google Maps SAT view it appears quite a few of them have been demolished since we left. They they also tore down the Army Lodging we stayed in on Spartan Plaza and the Child Development Center on Nike Street.

[hey teach]

Originally Posted by lindy112

I agree with most of your points except #7. There's only 352 housing units on the Arsenal and more than half of those units are filled with retirees and DOD civilians. And now that the Arsenal has instituted a casual School of Choice system, I don't think there are as many military kids going to Williams as most people assume. My kids went to the Elementary school for a year before we pulled them out and the bus ride was very long from the Arsenal.

Most of the military families at Williams School do not actually live on the base. They live in on of the many apartment complex's and rental properties. Because they are off base they go to the school their neighborhood is zoned for in HCS.

[y8tiger]

Originally Posted by hey teach

Most of the military families at Williams School do not actually live on the base. They live in on of the many apartment complex's and rental properties. Because they are off base they go to the school their neighborhood is zoned for in HCS.

Wow, at that point they might as well live on the Arsenal to take advantage of the convenience, affordable rent, and all the amenities.

[lindy112]

Originally Posted by hey teach

Most of the military families at Williams School do not actually live on the base. They live in on of the many apartment complex's and rental properties. Because they are off base they go to the school their neighborhood is zoned for in HCS.

I agree with tiger ... if you're going to live in a rental property, pick one in a more highly-rated school district. Most of the military people I work with who rent outside Gate 7 are empty nesters or have no kids.

[MisterEd51]

You don't appreciate how large Williams P-8's zone is until you see a map of it.
Notes:
The school location is shown below the blue marker on the map.
The schools zone is shown in light green on the map.

City of Huntsville - Interactive Maps
https://maps.huntsvilleal.gov/public/

Select Layers:
* Schools
__* Schools
____* Huntsville City Schools
______* Middle Schools
________* P-8 Schools
* Middle School Zones
__* Middle School Zones

[lindy112]

Oh, I appreciate it ... I feel terrible for those people who live way off Old Railroad Bed. I still think if you work on the Arsenal and are going to be renting anyway, you would choose a location with a more highly rated school district.