McFarland schools test scores. Great until a drop off in high school? (Madison: house)

[Wisconsinoobie]

We are new to the Madison area and looking to get a house before next school year. We are intrigued by McFarland with all the parks, affordable homes, close to Madison, and what look to be very good schools. On GreatSchools.org, I can see that the intermediate and middle schools have fanstastic test scores. But then there is a drop off in high school to a less impressive performance of average to above average.

Does anyone have an explanation for this?

[amysherman]

A client of mine bought a house in McFarland last year and they are really impressed with the school system. She is a teacher and they are very happy with the schools and the area.
I know that when they were looking for a home they visited the schools before buying.
All of the schools in the area do tours for families and I always recommend that my clients with children do a tour before settling in an area.
I have found that the schools are more than happy to sit down with or talk on the phone with parents who are considering the district.
Another great resource of course is the PTO/PTA president.
Test scores are really just a snap shot of a school. I have friends with kids in schools that have horrible test scores that love the school their kids are in and know parents who have pulled kids out of schools with great test scores.
While I always recommend www.greatschools.org to people as a starting point, I think school tours and talking to people in the community is really going to give you a better idea of what YOUR children's experience is going to be.
I grew up on the west side of Madison and now live in Middleton. When I was growing up McFarland was a little bedroom community that we hardly ever heard of. Now it is considered one of the best school districts in the area. The community is really changing and I'm sure that it's growing pains would partially explain it's test scores in high school. It's gone from a farming/bedroom community to a up and coming suburb.
I wish you luck with your move.
The Madison area is a great place to be. There are so many wonderful schools, communities and things to do.
Welcome!

[Moving_South]

Lower test scores in McFarland should be taken as extremely "relative" as compared to many factors.

While Madison's public schools aren't anywhere close to as great as they were 30 years ago or even 15-20 years ago, they remain some of the best public schools in the Country. If McFarland's high school doesn't rank as high as Madison's high schools you need to understand that McFarland's high school is still better than most public high schools in the USA

Take it all with a grain of salt though. A lot of that ranking stuff should take into consideration that most public schools in America are pretty awful. Honestly I think Madison West is the only exceptional public high school in the Madison area and the rest are just "pretty good" but relative to a public school in Chicago or Tennessee or Philadelphia, well then Madison's public high schools might as well be Harvard or Yale

Since this isn't the political forum I won't get into the hows and whys of public education in this country but I will say that in general Wisconsin supports its public schools more than most states