Can anyone tell me what makes the St. John's county schools so good? (school district, property taxes) - Jacksonville - Florida (FL) - City-Data Forum

spinergirl · 06-29-2015, 12:10 PM

Can anyone tell me what makes the St. John's county schools so good, and why they are one of the highest rated in the state? I am a teacher on Long Island and I am just curious as to what YOU think makes them so great.

Also know that my family and I are planning to move to the area - kids are 7 and 4. They are super social creatures, love gymnastics, swimming, and we are excited to be moving to this location.

fsquid · 06-29-2015, 12:28 PM

because the parents actually give a ****.

spinergirl · 06-29-2015, 12:32 PM

Well that's good to hear. Makes a difference. The district I am in now, about 1/2 do, and 1/2 don't. Mixed bag. Would like more of the type that do care.

Lisa259 · 06-29-2015, 12:33 PM

I am from Long Island - moved here almost 3 years ago. This is the best district in the state - however, I don't believe they are better than the district we moved to from Long Island. But my property taxes are a third of what I was paying in NY. And the fact that the entire county is the "school district" as opposed to simply the town/community is a huge difference.
My kids attend schools that are newly built and it is stark difference than the schools in NY that we built in the 50s and 60s and that is a wonderful change. But in the elementary school, there are fewer services, and fewer resources. For example, in NY we had phys ed twice a week, art, music and library/media the other 3 days of the week. Here the kids have them once every 2 weeks or so. There is a statewide cap on students per classroom which is good - so the classes are smaller for the most part than Long Island. The high school is great - academies, large variety of classes to choose from, activities, etc.
The social aspect is great in the area - the kids are very engaged. There is so much for them to do here - and the climate agrees with everyone!
I don't think my kids are missing out by any means on their education. It's simply different here.

spinergirl · 06-29-2015, 12:54 PM

Thank you Lisa259! Weather is a big reason for our move - we want to be able to enjoy an outdoor lifestyle year round and its simply miserable up here in the winter months. I want to live in FL and visit LI...lol.

HLYNNF · 06-29-2015, 12:59 PM

This is a such a good question - I have recently posted that we are coming to visit the area in a few weeks, anticipating a move to this area with the next year. We are coming from VA, where our kids are in private school (they are 9 and 6) because our public schools are really a disaster. We have wondered about what makes these schools great, because schools are our priority right now. Our concern is that the best in the state of Florida might actually be just "middle of the road" somewhere else - which isn't necessarily bad, we would just like proper expectations. We are pretty involved parents, we know that can really make a difference and would like to be in an area where that is more the norm.

fsquid · 06-29-2015, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisa259

I am from Long Island - moved here almost 3 years ago. This is the best district in the state - however, I don't believe they are better than the district we moved to from Long Island. But my property taxes are a third of what I was paying in NY. And the fact that the entire county is the "school district" as opposed to simply the town/community is a huge difference.
My kids attend schools that are newly built and it is stark difference than the schools in NY that we built in the 50s and 60s and that is a wonderful change. But in the elementary school, there are fewer services, and fewer resources. For example, in NY we had phys ed twice a week, art, music and library/media the other 3 days of the week. Here the kids have them once every 2 weeks or so. There is a statewide cap on students per classroom which is good - so the classes are smaller for the most part than Long Island. The high school is great - academies, large variety of classes to choose from, activities, etc.
The social aspect is great in the area - the kids are very engaged. There is so much for them to do here - and the climate agrees with everyone!
I don't think my kids are missing out by any means on their education. It's simply different here.

My kids go to Julington Creek Elem and they do a 9 day rotational resource schedule. Every 9 days, 3 are PE, 1 Computer Lab, 1 Art, 1 Science Lab, 1 Extra Academics, 1 Music, 1 Library. I think that is a decent balance when you have to rotate so many classes through the various resources.

SaintCabbage · 06-29-2015, 02:42 PM

Most schools in St. Johns get a 10/10 rating on greatschools.org, so it's not a Florida thing where the standards are lower or something...

snuffybear · 06-29-2015, 06:27 PM

Good input above. Will add...

There is more focus on core classes (Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies/History) and less on electives at the elem and middle school level. For instance, music is minimal in elementary school here (once a week MAYBE) wheras up north the elem school started instruments in 4th grade (band or orchestra), plus regular music class plus optional chorus.

The core classes were better IMO. In elementary and middle school the kids are placed at their level...there are Gifted, Gifted/Advanced, Standard, and SpecEd Resource classes. The science program is excellent...daily HANDS ON science in elem school and "real" science in middle school. Math is straightforward and good. Not sure about Language Arts as my kids did more reading/writing in their schools in northeast. Our school district up north did not offer Gifted classes with gifted-trained teachers...that is huge for those kids that need it. Up north, weekly pullouts were all that was offered to those students in elem and "honors" classes in middle school, but not in every subject like here.

The high schools offer a lot of courses at all levels and the Academy programs. Kids and families for the most part are very engaged in education.

Check out the 'class size' law. It keeps the classes small though the administrations will say the flexibility suffers. And they will throw WAY more kids into elective classes -- even Spanish (which is an academic elective) had like 40 kids in middle school! They offer a lot of electives but they are disorganized and overcrowded....and some are hard to get (eg., STEM classes).

The teachers we have had have been *excellent* across the board. That is because teachers want to work in such a highly rated district and, imo, because the teachers union has little power here compared to northeast. Contracts are annual...there is no tenure after 3yrs from what I understand.

Overall, the high ratings are well deserved. (and the weather is great most of the year; a little hot in summer but tolerable).

thatguydownsouth · 07-01-2015, 06:31 AM

Correlation. A lot of parents move to St Johns County for the better schools. If youve seen Freakonomics (on Netflix I believe) youd know there is a strong correlation between the desire for a kids well being, and their successful outcome. These parents moved to find better schools, showing they care more about their kids education...meaning most likely theyre sitting down with their kids and helping them with homework etc. Better students yields better school performance.