Good schools??

[AandD]

There are some really good schools in there. Here are some of those that I either liked or remember hearing good anecdotal ratings from parents.

Originally Posted by smarty

You can look at DOE... there are many metrics...
School and District Profiles: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

For schools less than 120 per grade.. Harvard is a very good school system...
DISTRICT Grade9 10 11 12 TOTAL

Cohasset 90 93 101 81 1,421 (along with neighbors Hingham and Scituate - too far to travel, although i really wanted to be on water)

Harvard 117 101 105 96 1,306 (along with Boxborough, Grotun, Littleton - 'destination' area for parents, so I declined)

Hopedale 73 90 82 86 1,323 (my area, lots of good districts in this area, which was why I devoted so much time. Couldn't ever get enough info on them so I crossed them off due to lack of district interest in informing parents/potential parents - also good are Southborough, Hopkinton, and Holliston)

Littleton 91 95 108 91 1,606 0 see aove

Millis 94 87 85 60 1,346 - (my area, but a little far and not much to reccomend it to me - also good are Dover, Sherborn, Medfield - but I was worried about recent budget issues in reviewing recent school/town meeting minutes and internet sources)

[gloobella]

wow AandD you have been very helpful thanks a lot

[Dulcie]

Medfield consistently has some of the highest MCAS scores in the state and the high school was just named a blue ribbon school. The town has more children per capita than any town in MA. There is also an amazing children's bookstore on Park Street that has more kids books than any store I've ever seen.

[findingmesomeday]

Class size in Medfield is now over 100 (didn't used to be that way not too long ago) but is finally trending down a bit. The previous poster is correct about the more children per capita information. There is an amazingly strong SEPAC group in town and parents and school administration/teachers are totally dedicated and on board.

Great bookstore recommendation too. The owner recently moved the store from Walpole to Medfield and the town has welcomed the store.

[ProudMom2]

Hi AandD,
I'm a mom of 2 beautiful children Kris 5 and Tammy 2. My son Kris is recently being diagnostic with Asperger's and ADD.
Also we're looking to relocate to MA probably close to Boston (30 min max commute time).
Now I'm in the quest of looking for which towns have the best elementary schools for children with special needs, but at the same time are achiving academicallly. Do you mind shring the websites where you found the info about wich schools have better special ed programs and are very high score. Also which online places can I go to talk with parents of autism children to talk about the best places to live in MA?
All your help is greatfully thank you.

[AandD]

Originally Posted by ProudMom2

Hi AandD,
I'm a mom of 2 beautiful children Kris 5 and Tammy 2. My son Kris is recently being diagnostic with Asperger's and ADD.
Also we're looking to relocate to MA probably close to Boston (30 min max commute time).
Now I'm in the quest of looking for which towns have the best elementary schools for children with special needs, but at the same time are achiving academicallly. Do you mind shring the websites where you found the info about wich schools have better special ed programs and are very high score. Also which online places can I go to talk with parents of autism children to talk about the best places to live in MA?
All your help is greatfully thank you.

I'll DM you in the next day or so. glad to help.

[AandD]

proudmom,

Finally got a chance to reply. Sorry it took so long.

[Starzz]

Originally Posted by gloobella

How do you go about researching where the good schools are. I can easily find test score results, but that doesn't really tell me too much. I am looking for more information about nebulous things like atmosphere and community feel.
All input is welcome. I am interested in high schools with class sizes of less than 100.

Goobella! Me too! Test scores don't tell everything. With my kids going into a new school in grades 5 and 6 I would like to know about the atmosphere, etc. While it's nice to think some towns "will welcome you with open arms" as I've read here, kids are kids and they can be unkind.

It's been a job and a half. Started with DOE website. It ranks the schools by population so you can see schools population by grade. I to thought population would be an interesting measure of a school. If too many kids, less attention. If too few kids, not enough activities available, etc. But then I look at teacher to student ratios. And somtimes the opposite is true. More teachers:students so that blew a hole in that theory. Now I am looking for medium-sized districts. But you gotta check all the other data also to get the whole picture about the district. How much they spend per student, how many computers available per student. It goes on and on.

It's been months now and all I have is data. This is why I just joined this list - to TRY get the behind-the-scenes stuff on some school. But I'm finding folks LOVE the schools their kids are currently attending.

If I run across any other websites that might be helpful, I'll pass them along.
Please do the same?

I just want to do the best I can for my kids,
Starz

[smarty]

Originally Posted by Starzz

Goobella! Me too! Test scores don't tell everything. With my kids going into a new school in grades 5 and 6 I would like to know about the atmosphere, etc. While it's nice to think some towns "will welcome you with open arms" as I've read here, kids are kids and they can be unkind.

It's been a job and a half. Started with DOE website. It ranks the schools by population so you can see schools population by grade. I to thought population would be an interesting measure of a school. If too many kids, less attention. If too few kids, not enough activities available, etc. But then I look at teacher to student ratios. And somtimes the opposite is true. More teachers:students so that blew a hole in that theory. Now I am looking for medium-sized districts. But you gotta check all the other data also to get the whole picture about the district. How much they spend per student, how many computers available per student. It goes on and on.

It's been months now and all I have is data. This is why I just joined this list - to TRY get the behind-the-scenes stuff on some school. But I'm finding folks LOVE the schools their kids are currently attending.

If I run across any other websites that might be helpful, I'll pass them along.
Please do the same?

I just want to do the best I can for my kids,
Starz

You made the most common mistake.... trying to get data on something you cannot even define. You and most people I know... cannot agree on what a good school is... Tell me how you measure "welcome you with open arms"? You only need one bully to spoil your experience?

Nothing matters beside your child. Not even test scores from DOE... because the test score is of other kids... it indicate how well the curriculum matches the test... a good or bad test score of a school do not guarantee your kid will score the same. Many towns have great SAT scores, because the kids there can afford to spend $100/hr on tutors. Their parents has very high IQs. Also, not all teachers are created equal... a teacher going through divorce will have dramatic effect on your child... how do you plan for it? Move if you don't like a teacher?

The best thing I find to do for kids is to take away all electronics... TV, cell phone, computer, video game, ... etc. Not an easy task. We spend more time social networking... than studying...

[laughing all the way]

Originally Posted by gloobella

How do you go about researching where the good schools are. I can easily find test score results, but that doesn't really tell me too much. I am looking for more information about nebulous things like atmosphere and community feel.
All input is welcome. I am interested in high schools with class sizes of less than 100.

Sudbury schools are exceptional and the high school is second in the state according to a recent survey by Boston Magazine. Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School(LS as it is called) is always in the top five schools in the state. It does have what other schools don't. A brand new, 5 year old campus, at it is truly "state of the art". It is the crown jewel to an already excellent reputation that the town has enjoyed for many many years. There are other good schools in the Metrowest area, but I think LS exceeds all of them in every category! RAH RAH Go WARRIORS!