Best schools in the Lexington area? (Richmond, Clay: relocation, home, rent)

[GypsySoul22]

I was actually looking in the 40515 area because I saw some of the apartments are very well rated.
I have several websites but would like your opinions. I am concerned about the opportunities for Special Ed/resource rooms for my son (he'd be going into 4th grade).

Also, what are the 'bad schools' to avoid...by bad I mean ones in bad areas. Thanks for all impressions.
I appreciate all the great threads here.

[gimme it]

I don't live in Lexington, but have researched the schools. The best elementary schools seem to be Cassidy, Rosa Parks, Glendover and Veterans Park. The best middle schools seem to be Beaumont and Morton, and the best high schools are Dunbar and Henry Clay. You would need to inquire with each of these schools about their special ed services.

[Tory]

Originally Posted by gimme it

I don't live in Lexington, but have researched the schools. The best elementary schools seem to be Cassidy, Rosa Parks, Glendover and Veterans Park. The best middle schools seem to be Beaumont and Morton, and the best high schools are Dunbar and Henry Clay. You would need to inquire with each of these schools about their special ed services.

Agree with above post - would also add Stonewall Elementary to the list - it ranks very well, too. ( I don't live in Lexington, either, but have done research, as it is in our "final four" of relocation cities!)

[lexingtongal]

i do live in Lex. Agree with above lists! There is also a new elementary school off of Richmond Rd but i can't think of its name; it does have Athens in it though. By virtue of being new and in a nice area it too should be good.

[cynthia007]

Originally Posted by GypsySoul22

I was actually looking in the 40515 area because I saw some of the apartments are very well rated.
I have several websites but would like your opinions. I am concerned about the opportunities for Special Ed/resource rooms for my son (he'd be going into 4th grade).

Also, what are the 'bad schools' to avoid...by bad I mean ones in bad areas. Thanks for all impressions.
I appreciate all the great threads here.

Check out www.greatschools.net. Lots of interesting information on the public schools in Fayette County. I found it very helpful

It seems that middle schools vary quite a bit. And as far as high schools, Henry Clay and Dunbar rate a "9" out of ten, while Lafayette and Tates Creek rate an "8." (These numbers rank schools based on test scores with schools across the state.) Only one school, Bryan Station, received a low score (1.) Fayette County is doing something right for its' high schoolers!

[nlschr0]

Veterans Park is a good school, and they had great resource room/special ed teachers there when I worked with them in the past.

I also love Glendover, but their resource and special ed rooms were facing some space issues when I was there (a few years ago). Their building is older and at times, some of the spaces for resource rooms were quite small.

Cassidy and Rosa Parks are also great schools, but I'm not familiar with their special ed programming.

The new school is Athens-Chilesburg - it is a very nice, brand new facility but I don't know anything about its ratings or resource rooms.

[GypsySoul22]

Thanks, I noticed Veterans Park was rated a 10.
Thank you all for the info!

[ic-epi]

One thing I would point out, just in general, is that there is a lot more to a good school than just the greatschools (test score) ratings. For example, my kids go to a 10-rated elementary school where we currently live (not KY), and it definitely has high test scores, but the administration (principal) is terrible. We have had some issues with that. Also, this year neither of my kids (6th and 4th grades) have really been challenged in any of their subjects. Both just coasted through math, in particular. Both are gifted students and are in the gifted program, but "fell through the cracks" in terms of math. Still, they score in the 99th percentile for the standardized achievement tests in math and everything else, but that doesn't mean they are necessarily being challenged to learn. I don't know a good way to measure this in a school (if anyone else does, let me know!) So far I am impressed with KY's options for accelerated class options in many subjects.

[cynthia007]

Originally Posted by ic-epi

One thing I would point out, just in general, is that there is a lot more to a good school than just the greatschools (test score) ratings. For example, my kids go to a 10-rated elementary school where we currently live (not KY), and it definitely has high test scores, but the administration (principal) is terrible. We have had some issues with that. Also, this year neither of my kids (6th and 4th grades) have really been challenged in any of their subjects. Both just coasted through math, in particular. Both are gifted students and are in the gifted program, but "fell through the cracks" in terms of math. Still, they score in the 99th percentile for the standardized achievement tests in math and everything else, but that doesn't mean they are necessarily being challenged to learn. I don't know a good way to measure this in a school (if anyone else does, let me know!) So far I am impressed with KY's options for accelerated class options in many subjects.

I absolutely agree that there is certainly more to schools than test scores. In general though, I think that the schools with the very low scores are more revealing about what is truly going on than the schools with the high scores. In other words, stay clear of schools with a 1 or 2 if possible and do your homework with the schools who have a higher score.

On a side note too, I actually lean more towards the schools with a more "middle" ranking score than top. For a variety of reasons, a lot of times these schools are more well rounded.

[ic-epi]

Originally Posted by cynthia007

I absolutely agree that there is certainly more to schools than test scores. In general though, I think that the schools with the very low scores are more revealing about what is truly going on than the schools with the high scores. In other words, stay clear of schools with a 1 or 2 if possible and do your homework with the schools who have a higher score.

On a side note too, I actually lean more towards the schools with a more "middle" ranking score than top. For a variety of reasons, a lot of times these schools are more well rounded.

I totallly agree with you. I'm going back and forth about Dunbar for that reason. I am trying to make myself fall in love with Lafayette high school since I love the Stonewall subdivision but Dunbar seems to be more math and science, versus more arts (the magnet program, for one thing) for Lafayette. My kids are definitely math and science and NOT arts (unless baseball and soccer count, LOL). Art and music are not their strong suits. We need lots of upper level math and science opportunities.

Anyway, I totally agree that you should probably stay away from the very low scores, although the very high scores don't always tell the whole story.