Miami area Schools (Pinecrest, Palmetto: daycare, preschools, universities)

[mommytwice]

I have two daughters, one of which is a university freshman, the other is in 4th grade. I tried public for the oldest for three years, changed her to private and saw an incredible difference. Imagine this, most people in Miami speak little to no English--is that who you want teaching proper grammar, spelling and punctuation to your child? My daughter told me that many times she could not understand the teachers in public school because of the thick accent. I was lucky that I made the switch to private in time for my oldest to get the proper education and get accepted to alla of her choice universities with full scholarships. My youngest has only attended private school. If you must move to Miami, and I seriously doubt you have really done your homework if you still think of it as an option, there is only 1 option==PRIVATE SCHOOL. that is of course unless you don't care if they end up being completely illiterate and unable to communicate in English. After all, in Miami, you really do not need the English. In fact, speaking English is a liability as my kids have found out.

[Chelito23]

I went to MDCPS and was a substitute teacher there as well. My experience is limited to the middle class areas of West Miami Dade (Ruben Dario MS, Southwest HS and Coral Park HS). Those are the schools I attended. I worked at Palm Springs Middle in Hialeaha s well as Hialeah High.

I graduated in 99.

The whole school system is county wide. So, even Coral Gables, Miami Beach, Aventura schools are ALL "miami" schools. Even if they were individual districts, I would imagine their schools would suck as well.

Another poster got it right, the only GOOD high school in Dade is Palmetto in Pinecrest. Then there is a handful of mediocre school that make C's on the state report card. Their problems are scary and shocking, but by Dade county standards SOMEWHAT tame. Then there are the really horrible school which make up about half of the district (Edison, Northwestern, Central, Booker T Washington, Jackson, Miami, etc). These schools are like the ones yo see in the movie Dangerous Minds. The education offered is mediocre, have your kids in AP classes to actually learn, avoid discipline problems and bad influences.

In all honestly, I recommend private school, anybody with money and love for their kids would not subject them to the public schools here. Also, size is an issue. Most HS are around 5K students!

There area also an astronomical number of portable on all school campuses.

If you have questions about specific schools or areas I could give you some more detailed info.

Warning: Even the schools in Kendall and the Gables are ghettoesque and not representative of a typical suburban area much less the ones they are in. Broward schools are about 5 years behind Miami Dade schools....so beware.

[CiXeL]

i knew a woman at one of the companies i worked for down here who said she grew up in miami but didnt learn english until she went to ohio to go to school.

[indmachrep]

I currently live in sw Miami. I am mix race and speak the 3 dominant languages in Miami Spanish, English, Creole. I went to school in NYC and had teachers with terrible accents but that tried very hard with the kids.

Currently i have 2 kids the oldest one is 4, we are moving out of Miami to NC for a better school system. I have several nephews and cousins in good and bad schools in Miami. One nephew had a math class with 60 kids, i thought he was a liar. I snuck in the school and viewed thru a window to see the class parted and half were doing the day before class work, while the others were being thought alesson. in honesty it looked very unorganized.

I fear for my kids not for me, I personally like Miami and the culture the accents and non english speakers. My wife is all american and she likes miami also, she works in one of the largest hospitals we have and she often calls me for a word in spanish or creole.

we make enough money to live in miami and pay for private school but i feel like i have made my life and i need to help make my kids life, this is why we are moving. we will keep a home in miami as i might return one day. It takes a village to raise a kid so i am off to a new village, were i will continue to teach my kids there culture and languages other than english.

[bale002]

Originally Posted by indmachrep

It takes a village to raise a kid so I am off to a new village, where I will continue to teach my kids there culture and languages other than English.

That's exactly right, good for you!

[vpcats]

Originally Posted by indmachrep

I currently live in sw Miami. I am mix race and speak the 3 dominant languages in Miami Spanish, English, Creole. I went to school in NYC and had teachers with terrible accents but that tried very hard with the kids.

Currently i have 2 kids the oldest one is 4, we are moving out of Miami to NC for a better school system. I have several nephews and cousins in good and bad schools in Miami. One nephew had a math class with 60 kids, i thought he was a liar. I snuck in the school and viewed thru a window to see the class parted and half were doing the day before class work, while the others were being thought alesson. in honesty it looked very unorganized.

I fear for my kids not for me, I personally like Miami and the culture the accents and non english speakers. My wife is all american and she likes miami also, she works in one of the largest hospitals we have and she often calls me for a word in spanish or creole.

we make enough money to live in miami and pay for private school but i feel like i have made my life and i need to help make my kids life, this is why we are moving. we will keep a home in miami as i might return one day. It takes a village to raise a kid so i am off to a new village, were i will continue to teach my kids there culture and languages other than english.

I don't want to disappoint you about North Carolina but I hang out in that forum A LOT. I would suggest you spend some time there. The school issues they raise are very disturbing. I don't have small children any more so that in itself doesn't matter to my future if I end up being another Floridian who wants to relocate but maybe I'll have grandchildren one day who may live close by. I hope so. I think schools are indicative of the rest of the state/city/county government. There are a lot of new schools planned for NC. In the meantime there are a lot of "portables" (trailers) in use.

[indmachrep]

We have looked in NC for a while, Fairview is one of the best school district in WNC and we check on both of the schools and were invited to sit while a class was going on. The main subject classes are kept with only 18 kids in the 3 math classes i went to see. the other benefit is i will not have a morgage which gives me more time to participate whith my kids and the school, i am even cosidering taking some classes so i can teach at a local school. the other thing is the school popolation to teacher ratio they are very good in this area. all the schools in my area in miami have portables and i am not going to move in an area that has the same issue. Asheville is costly compared to most of NC and i believe they put some money in the schools in the east side, they also boast the highest S.A.T scores and have A schools a few years in a row. not looking to move to charloette or fayeteville

[CiXeL]

when i lived at the venetia gardens complex in homestead i remember seeing a white family move in across the street with a very waspy looking blonde haired blue eyed daughter. she had no one but the latins and blacks on the block to hang out with and went to homestead high.
i saw her again a few months later and she was dressing all ghetto.
youll destroy your kids here.

[tallrick]

Trust me you don't want to send your kids to the Miami-Dade county public school system. When I was a kid I saw how school went from safe to somewhat ghetto. The 1980's brought a torrent of refugees that overwhelmed the school system, and I distinclty remember the bullies from Cuba. Being a short skinny kid in the early 80's in junior high wasn't easy. Thankfully by high school I became one of the tallest and had a crazy, "mad scientist" reputation so things improved vastly in 10, 11 and 12 grade. In junior high I was thrown off the second floor and suspended for throwing a desk at the bully who did it. Oddly enough, a friend of mine who lived in Sunniland and went to Palmetto high had no problems, the biggest troubles seemed to be in areas with the most "diversity".

The only good thing is that experiences in school made me a lot meaner and suspicious of everyone. Probably why I have not been a victim of crime. I did earn a straight 4.0 average in high school and get a scholarship for MDCC and FIU. Never had a single problem in college.

[jewill999]

I plan on moving to the Miami area and we are looking at Pinecrest or Palmetto Bay. I have seen that the schools in these areas are ranked very high nationally and have consistently received extremely high grades by the State of Florida. I was hoping to send my child to the public schools there but from the responses in this forum it seems that the information I have is completely wrong. The cost of a private school in the Miami area is also very expensive.....somewhere around the 10k-20k range per year. So, I guess the only way you can be sure of your decision is to visit the schools in person before you purchase a house because maybe you will have to fork over more money for the cost of a private school.