Schools in Northeast PA (Scranton, Pittston: middle-class, mobile home, neighborhood)

[tigerwoods16]

Just a week ago me and my wife took a visit to Clarks Summit, PA in search for a house. My job is being relocated to Scranton, and many local realtors said a great place to live is up in the Abingtons. As I've heard, the Abington Heights School District is ranked amongst the best in the area. My friend from high school moved to this area about 15 years ago and lives up in Fleetville. His kids attend Lackawanna Trail. I want to know how Lackawanna Trail is compared to Abington Heights? I don't seem to hear a lot about this school district, nor did the realtors recommend it. One thing I heard about Lacka. Trail is that there's a gap between students from more affluent familes and students from dysfunctional poorer families in the school district. But if anyone knows anything about either Abington Heights or Lackawanna Trail please let me know... Most likely I'm planning on living the towns of Dalton or Waverly and Abington Heights might be the school we chose.

[ScranBarre]

On a demographic level, Abington Heights is decidedly more "well-to-do." Some of the students in Clarks Summit drive nicer vehicles than some of the parents at my own alma mater of Pittston Area! Lackawanna Trail isn't necessarily "poor"; it's just a lot more rural. While Abington Heights has a lot of upper-middle-class housing developments with newer homes and dually-employed professional couples, Lackawanna Trail has a lot more rural homes on acreage, farms, mobile homes, cabins, etc. and newer developments are much harder to come by. A lot of people in Abington Heights commute to professional careers in Scranton whereas a lot of people in Lackawanna Trail work closer to home.

I'm not sure of the school district's reputation though. Considering it's a rural school district, I don't think there would be many problems with Lackawanna Trail.

Welcome to NEPA!

[loveinbloom]

I am enrolling my son in the Howard Gardner School for Discovery. It is located on school st. in Scranton. here is a link that may be helpful. Best of luck! www.howardgardnerschool.com

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by loveinbloom

I am enrolling my son in the Howard Gardner School for Discovery. It is located on school st. in Scranton. here is a link that may be helpful. Best of luck! www.howardgardnerschool.com

I've heard nothing but great things about that school, and I wish your son the best of luck in his new learning environment!

[weluvpa]

One of the members of our neighborhood just pulled their too children from The Howard Gradner school, citing financial misleadings and poor accounting with tution increase not reflective of the pojected curiculum. The school is lacking in amenities for the children and suffering from poor resources from what I have been told. I find it better to talk to other parents that have children in the school their opinions before hand. When we were deciding whether to put our son in private or public school we went to the parents that we knew had their kids there and then settled on Robert Morris. I think its the best elementary school in the Scranton school system. But he will go to private school for middle school and high school.

[backtopa]

TigerWoods16,

I am actually a Lackawanna Trail graduate and my parents live in Fleetville. First of all the area is beautiful, but it is very rural. When I went to Trail (over 15 years ago) they did not have any AP classes and I don't think the curriculum was very challenging. I attended a very good college and struggled my first semester, I don't think that I was very well prepared. However, after that first semester I did well and went on to graduate school. My little brother graduated about 8 years ago and by that time they did have AP classes and I think revamped the curriculum. He went to the Air Force Academy, which is extremely competitive to get into, and did well so Trail must have provided him with a decent education.

Trail is a lot smaller than Abington. That was advantageous for us because there was a lot of opportunity to be involved in sports and activities. I think that with education you get out of it what you want too. A student that is bright, hardworking, motivated and has supportive parents will do well at virtually any school that they attend.

If you are interested in Trail you should go meet with the principals at the Elementary school and High School (this is a Jr/Sr school), find out about the curriculum and activities and take a tour of the building. Hope this helped.

[weluvpa]

I wanted to ask some specific's about the HowardGardner School so I called my neighbor and these are the reasons for thwm pulling their two boys from that school.
For the past 3 years they have raised the tuition but the cut the programming for the children. There is no library, gym, computers and no cafeteria. There is also no new materials, no standardized testing and the school does not have its own accountant, they use one of the teachers wives. There is no stability and there are violence issues with the students and the classes are over stuffed. Pre K and K combined cost $8500 a year. My neighbors were very supportive of the school and its mission until they enrolled their children there and all of these issues came to light, now they have with drawn their children and are currently home schooling them till next school year when they will be put in either public of catholic elementary schools here in scranton. These are sound and good parents and I would take their word on any issue, we actually thought about our son going there until we spoke with these guys. BE CAREFUL it is almost impossible to get a refund or at least any money back once you enroll and if you decide its not for you then they will try and keep the tuition due to the financial instability of the school. BE CAREFUL always ask the parents not the school what they think about it.

[FightinPhils]

Scranton schools are very good. The quality of education in the SSD is much better than at my alma mater Valley View.

I just like the idea of neighborhood elementary schools, rather than kids being bussed 8 miles to some mega school. The fact that Scranton is the only area public school with a Pre-K program is also great.

[new2pa]

Conorsdad,
what do you mean a Pre-K program? When I asked about it they told me it was only for Head Start (economically disadvantaged) children.

As for the Howard Gardner school, I had inquired about it for my toddler but some very good sources in education told me to not put my child there because it was not good at all.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by new2pa

Conorsdad,
what do you mean a Pre-K program? When I asked about it they told me it was only for Head Start (economically disadvantaged) children.

Scranton School District has 3-year-old and 4-year-old preschool programs in its elementary schools, for all district residents regardless of income. Its not associated with Head Start. 3 year olds attend for a half day 3 times per week, and 4 year olds attend for a half day 5 days per week. Its excellent and kids who attend the preschool are light years ahead when they get to kindergarten.