Quote:
Originally Posted by LIgirl74
I do not have kids in the district and if I did, it's a personal choice, I would not send them to this district. Actually, I heard the HS is becoming bad. I've heard that from kids who graduated there in the early 1990's and also have children in the district now. As far as the elementary schools, I believe, Woodward Parkway and the one that is located in North Massapequa are the best. I belong to Northside Elementary and while it's an okay school, it's not the best or worst in the district. Saltzman is the worst elementary school. I've been researching the scores a lot lately and Farmingdale is a mediocre school (not like Wyandanch or Amityville). I am looking more for myself a school district like Commack, Bethpage or Smithtown Schools. Just a personal decision. I apologize if I upset or offended anyone on this site.
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There is nothing wrong with personal choice, I don't know too much about Smithtown, but Bethpage and Commack both seem to be fine districts. IMO I also think that first hand experience is usually better than hearsay when it comes to what is actually going on. I do have kids in the F'dale district, one in the MS and one in the HS. I have no reservations of having two kids in the HS which will be the case next year.
As far as hearing comments from students who've graduated in the early 1990's, I find it unlikely that they actually have kids in the HS to judge this on. They may have kids in the district elementary and middle schools, and most likely those kids hear all sorts of "evil and horrible" things that go on at the HS. I heard that stuff too when my kids were both still in elementary and middle. Oh yeah, all sorts of stuff...gangs, riots, drugs, dogs and cats living together...you name it. Truth of it is, it's about the same as any other HS on Long Island when it comes to that stuff. If someone thinks that higher test scores relate to lower drug usage and less stupidity then they are being incredibly naive. Has the school changed since the 1990's, sure has, haven't we all? I sure have a few more pounds and a few less hairs on my head than those days, so today must really stink!
The MS is also plagued with many of these rumors, and trust me, when my oldest first started MS I remember some parents expressing actual fear about having their kids having to go to the MS. They were convinced that there were frequently riots and violence and such. That fear dissapeared rather quickly when they and their kids saw that is was unfounded (and a bit ridiculous). If you live near the old Secotogue Apts., then you also live very close to the MS, and I seriously doubt you've seen any riots over there lately.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that there are no bad kids in Farmingdale. There most certainly are, just as there is in every school in Long Island. Teenagers in general are nuts, and by nature will do some bad things. This does not change because of physical address, nor does a higher school "score" prevent it from happening.
Facts about Farmingdale schools -
It is a fairly large district and the student population does cut across the socio economic spectrum to a much greater degree than some of it's neighbors. This unquestionably contributes to some of the variance in elementary school "scores" across the district, such as you noted at Saltzman. The district elementaries feed into one large MS and ultimately to one large HS.
Obviously the score variances will merge into one set of "scores" in the MS and HS thus "diluting" the scores in the MS & HS. Unless of course one chooses to believe strictly in the scores, and then that means that all those smart kids from Woodward and Albany get stupid as they get older and enter the "weaker scoring school".
Farmingdale HS offers as many Honors & AP courses as most of the "top districts", and more than many others. A student in F'dale has every opportunity to excel if they wish to take it. Farmingdale regularly sends kid to the top universities all over the country. Farmingdale is not a detriment in any way to the college application process, in fact it's quite the opposite due to the varied and extensive programs offered. Farmingdale has tons of clubs and scholastic societies for students to be involved with. Also, Farmingdale Athletic programs are very well regarded, particulalry in football and lacrosse.
Farmingdale HS is not lilly white and Farmingdale is not the richest area. Many see this as a detriment, I however do not. In many ways I see it as a way for the kids to avoid being trapped in a "plastic bubble" of an existence that I think is so common in some of the so called "superior schools".
Whether my children attend Jericho or Farmingdale is not going to make or break them in life. If my children are below average students and barely make it through HS with a 67 GPA, then they will be off to Nassau Community or hoping to find a job, regardless of what school is on their diploma. If they are top level students this doesn't really change. Oh sure, now we're looking at Harvard or MIT for college (or whatever can be afforded), but it still doen't matter if their diploma says F'dale or Jericho.
IMO, where there is a difference is that the kids from Farmingdale will know some Italian Americans, some Irish Americans, some African Americans, some Latinos, Jewish, Muslim and Christian, and so on, from more that just television and text books. They will have met them, spoken to them, befriended them, worked on projects with them, maybe even learned how to identify some bad people. I think this offers some real world lessons that the "top districts" can't measure up with.
Then again we can all send our kids to one of the better parochial schools in the region and end up with Swine Flu...that's another whole bag of fish...or pig, as the cas may be.
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life long Farmingdale resident
