Question about Edwardsville HS

[linicx]

I called the high school. According to the woman I spoke to EHS has 2500 students. Regular classes begin at 7:20 and dismiss at 1:50. It always has. The Early Bird which starts at 6:30 dismisses an hour earlier. All classes are dismissed no later than 1:50.

I asked her why so early?. "Bus scheduling," she said. She seemed to think all the schools in this area start at the same time. She said she never heard of any high school that started classes at 8:30.

What the school does probably makes sense to the school board especially if a large portion of the students are considered rural.

[MoonBeam33]

Originally Posted by linicx

I called the high school. According to the woman I spoke to EHS has 2500 students. Regular classes begin at 7:20 and dismiss at 1:50. It always has. The Early Bird which starts at 6:30 dismisses an hour earlier. All classes are dismissed no later than 1:50.

I asked her why so early?. "Bus scheduling," she said. She seemed to think all the schools in this area start at the same time. She said she never heard of any high school that started classes at 8:30.

What the school does probably makes sense to the school board especially if a large portion of the students are considered rural.

I appreciate you calling, but her answer still does not make sense. I actually reviewed many of the high schools in the area and the only other that starts before 7:55 am is O'Fallon. The rest all start in the 8:00am range.

If there are so many kids to pick up and many are rural the logical choice to me would be to have a later start time, not an earlier one. But then I work within a school system and school boards rarely seem to make choices that are in the best interests of the students!

[linicx]

Originally Posted by Annie3

I appreciate you calling, but her answer still does not make sense. I actually reviewed many of the high schools in the area and the only other that starts before 7:55 am is O'Fallon. The rest all start in the 8:00am range.

If there are so many kids to pick up and many are rural the logical choice to me would be to have a later start time, not an earlier one. But then I work within a school system and school boards rarely seem to make choices that are in the best interests of the students!

Part of the problem may have to do with the buses. They are not owned by the school district. The kids in the Catholic schools also ride the same buses as the kids in public schools. These buses do double duty. The problem with a late start may be that some kids won't get home until after dark in the winter months. The early dismissal assures they do get home before 4pm. The flip side is some kids may be picked up when it is still dark.

It becomes, I think, the chicken or egg question. I would not like my children to come home after dark -- especially if they were in primary grades and had to walk a block or two alone. I don't think the smaller school districts have these types of issues - or they don't seem to.

They person I talked to clearly didn't have answers.

[chet everett]

More like a "necessary evil" if in fact there are no funds for additional buses, perhaps a "false dilema" if there are other ways to get the kids to each of the schools at more sane hour -- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


I wonder how long the kids spend on average on each bus route and what the longest indivual travel time is? Seems pretty antiquated -- how many kids are actually even helping out with so much of the work of agriculture being done with hugely expensive machinery these days?

[cubssoxfan]

Although I would have hated starting earlier, getting out at 1:50 would have been awesome for clocking more hours at my part time job. Would have given me an extra 5-7.5 hours per week!

I still don't understand OP's kvetsching (complaining)

[linicx]

Annie,

With a median income of over $60K, a low COL, blue-ribbon schools, and a low student to teacher class size, this college town has a sophisticated feel and more than one reason to live there. Edwardsville was voted #3 of "10 Best Towns For Familieis:2010" as a "perfect place to raise kids."

I am not convinced the cost of farm machinery, whether or not a student helps on a family farm, or district finances, is even germane. This Edwardsville public school district serves four communities and two townships. There are other options. In addition to public schools the Lutheran and the Catholic school systems both offer K-12 schools in Edwardsville. Depending upon the address, children are served by Edwardsville or by Metro-East.

Metro East, Illinois has a ton of interesting history and many towns. Edwardsville has earned a reputation of being one of the nicest whereas East St. Louis, Illinois has earned the reputation as the worst place to live with horrid crime stats.

Great Cities to Raise Kids: 10 Best Towns for Families in 2010
Crime Statistics - General Information - City of Edwardsville, Illinois*
City of Edwardsville, Illinois*

[MoonBeam33]

I appreciate all the responses.

I would much rather live in Edwardsville, but I am not putting my kids in an overcrowded school that has policies and hours that don't make sense. I hope eventually Edwardsville/Glen Carbon will build a second high school to ease the overcrowding and have an alternative schedule for parents who want something different. More than likely I will enroll my kids in the Triad school district - good school, MUCH less crowded, normal start time

And it's "kvetching" - it's just like "capisce" - don't say it if you can't spell it

[linicx]

The four-year high school has a 2500 total student population. There is a second and separate building on campus for those who ______ in general population. This woman was not specific except to say special ed students were elsewhere.

FWIW, I graduated from a school of the same size. It was a different era. We did not have overcrowded classes; we whined because we were teenagers. By the time I married into a teaching family in the 80s the school system had changed dramatically. My hat is off to every teacher who loves kids enough to teach for 25 years. I don't know how you do it.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by Annie3

I appreciate all the responses.

I would much rather live in Edwardsville, but I am not putting my kids in an overcrowded school that has policies and hours that don't make sense. I hope eventually Edwardsville/Glen Carbon will build a second high school to ease the overcrowding and have an alternative schedule for parents who want something different. More than likely I will enroll my kids in the Triad school district - good school, MUCH less crowded, normal start time

And it's "kvetching" - it's just like "capisce" - don't say it if you can't spell it

kvetching is Yiddish. Yiddish has German influences. I have a habit of adding sch because German is my 2nd language. Technically you are correct. I'll spell check it next time

As an aside; I can relate to getting kids out the door, being home for them when possible and running them to activities. I would still politely suggest putting them into the best school-period.
PSAT scores at Edwardsville are about 10 points higher than at Triad. If your student is an honors or AP student, it may also be worth considering course offerings also which many schools have online.