What Cape Cod Towns has the Best School System? (Yarmouth: theatre, colleges)

[CapeCoast]

What Cape Cod Town has the Best School System?

The criteria:

Safe
Good Teacher:Student ratio
Parent Involvement.
Stable Administration
Academic Performance
Student Community

I've heard good things about Sandwich and Chatham. These towns appeal to me as they are single-town school systems and not regionals.

If you have children in a public school system, I'd love to hear your thoughts on your experience in your town. Also, I'd like to hear about what you think is important to consider as criteria in evaluating a school system.

Thank you!

[CapeCoast]

Any one on Cape Cod?

[capecodcathy]

I can only speak from personal experience in Bourne. My daughter is a Junior (began in first grade), my son in 8th grade (began in Kindergarten). They've attended Otis Elementary, Peebles Elementary, Bourne Middle and Bourne High Schools.
Safety is relative. We did have someone give a bomb scare earlier in the year both at BHS and UC Tech. The response of the administration, local, county, and state law enforcement was more than adequate and it was either foiled or was never a real threat. Nonetheless, they took it seriously and nothing happened. Communication with parents was very effective via an automated telephone messaging system.
I have been pleased with all the teachers my children have had, some more than others, naturally. Both they and Administration actively encourage parental involvement. We have a very active town-wide PTA (of which I'm a past board member). Each school has at least two representatives on the board from each school.
Although I don't know exactly how long the present Superintendent has been in his position, it's been for most of the 11 years my children have been in school. Same with the Asst. Super. Both are accessible and dedicated, as are the members of our School Committee.
Academics. I won't comment on this. There are plenty of websites that compare schools. In my opinion, though, it's comparing apples to oranges. I would say that Bourne is probably somewhere in the middle. Always room for improvement but compares well to other comparable school systems.
Student to Teach ratio: I don't think anyone is satisfied with this anywhere unless you get into the more wealthy communities. They do, however, have a good staff of Teacher Aides and having spent much time in classrooms myself, have found that no child is "left behind".
Although you didn't ask about facilities, the elementary schools are rather old, so a new Early Childhood and Elementary School is being built, with plans for future renovations to another. The Bourne Middle School is about 7 years old and offers after-school programs for a nominal fee and bus transportation. The High School was built in the 70's and has had renovations in the intervening years. They offer a range of studies from "Career" to "Honors". The arts and sports are well-represented. We have a wonderful Art Department and the students' works are displayed throughout the town. Our High SchoolTheatre Teacher and Director becomes involved with students in the 3rd and 4th grade, in conjunction with the PTA. She's very well-known for her programs. She does two productions each year and her classes compete statewide. The Middle School does one production each year. Music is incorporated at all levels with concerts throughout the year. Sports range from soccer, football, volleyball, baseball, softball, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, to indoor and outdoor track.
Another question you didn't ask but I'll provide some input anyway. School sports are generally limited to Middle and High Schools. At the elementary and pre-school levels, the Town has Pop Warner Football, Baseball, Soccer, Lacrosse, Basketball, Softball, and local Chapters of Boy and Girl Scouts. They are, of course, all volunteer.
In the Middle School there are trips to Nature's Classroom in the 6th grade (5 days), NYC (2 or 3 days, my memory's failing!), and Washington DC in 8th Grade (5 days). These are funded by the parents but there is funding made available for those who cannot pay. I've only heard of one child not attending but that was her choice.
Have I ever had a problem with the school system? Of course. But none of them major and most were due to a miscommunication on the the part of my children! Have my concerns been addressed quickly and effectively? Yes.
My son has been something of a trial, at times, but his Teachers, Deans, Headmasters, and Principals have always worked with me when a problem arose. I believe that their care, concern, knowledge and professionalism actually kept him off medication that other systems would have recommended. He's now an A/B student and he and his Dean are pretty good pals, rather than adversaries.
I am also in regular communication with my children's teachers, mostly by email, even at the high school level (unheard of in my time). While I'm not a hovercraft (at least I don't think so), I do like to know what's going on and the teachers appreciate the interest. I usually get responses to my emails with an hour or two.
While I've heard good things about other schools on the Cape, I can't speak from personal experience. I'll leave that to others who do.
If you have any other questions, please let me know.

[RichCapeCod]

This region covers Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans and Brewster. Excellent staff and very concerned teachers. Wellfleet Elementary School is darn near a private school when it comes to the attention paid to students. Nauset High School (in Eastham) is very well run as is the Middle School in Orleans.

I work closely with members of this system and can recommend the region without reservation.

Best of luck,

Rich

[cmthomas]

I moved to the Cape several years ago and also looked at both Chatham and Sandwich schools. We chose Sandwich as it seemed to be more of a year round town as opposed to Chatham which is more seasonal. We also chose Sandwich because of the ease of getting "off-Cape". Sandwich is the first exit when you get over the bridge onto Cape Cod. Sandwich has three elementary schools (Wing, Forestdale and Oak Ridge). All three elementary schools are k-8. There is one high school located in East Sandwich. We have been fairly pleased with the education so far (1st through 4th). However, for middle school, we have sent one child to a local private, Catholic, middle school and will send our second child there next year for 5th through 8th grade. Sandwich is a great, year round town. More of a New England village than a typical beach town. Feel free to email if you have any further questions.
Catherine Thomas
cthomas@jackconway.com

[Ronniec78]

From what I know Sandwich has the best school system on the Cape. I have heard Nauset is also a great school system. I think those are your best bets on the Cape.

[hermajesty0825]

I lived in West Yarmouth for four years, and i have two children with different degrees of autism, and the Dennis-yarmouth school system was by far phenominal! The teachers are great- they keep you informed, and your child is always the priority. My kids loved their school, made friends, did very well with their academics, and got all of the services and extra help that they required.

[hermajesty0825]

We are moving back to MA from NC after only 16 months. I am originally from there, and lived almost my entire on the south shore, including cape cod. We are having some difficulty however. After doing some research, we have found that western MA is the only affordable place for us to live, but finding a town, with the affordable living that we need, WITH THE BEST SCHOOL SYSTEM, has definitely been very difficult to do, since my husband and I are not familiar with western Ma. We know that Sturbridge, and its subdivisions-like Brookfield and Tantasqua, are the best candidates, but i am willing to listen to any opinions........And if anyone is looking to live in NC, if you have children, run, do not walk. If you have no kids, single or married, and you love the small town feel, or are looking to live in rural and beautiful country, this is definitely the place! The cost of living here is very low- utilities, property taxes, etc. But they are very much behind on the times, as far as education goes. YOu would think differently though considering their colleges and medical facilities and such.

[RLCMA]

If you're looking for an overall ranking Sandwich is usually ranked #1 and Nauset is ranked #2. There are plenty of websites that will show you a ton of info in regards to schools such as median SAT scores and all kinds of other info.

[capemom24]

Hi Capecoast

I have lived in Sandwich for 32 years. I went to Sandwich(2nd thru graduation). I currently have a daughter in pre-k. Sandwich is a wonderful school. I would not want my daughter to attend any other school. The student to teacher ratio is average for the state. The teachers really care abouth the students.