Why are most parents obsessed with "good" schools? (gangs, safe)

[tankdude]

Originally Posted by JEB77

We should be happy to have ScranBarre on board as a Government auditor to see where the money's going before there are yet more industry sector bailouts.

Really?

Almost 1/2 of the staff (current and considered) of the current Prez is either Harvard or Ivy League degreed and we all know how some of those people have fared.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by tankdude

Really?

Almost 1/2 of the staff (current and considered) of the current Prez is either Harvard or Ivy League degreed and we all know how some of those people have fared.

Truly.

So let's give ScranBarre and his King's College accounting degree a chance to make a positive difference.

[twilight61108]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

I have a very "average" child. I did send my daughter to a public high school for one year. This was a mid-rated public high school that had a fair number of ESL students, a very, very diverse population, and it was overcrowded. It is very hard for a run-of-the-mill student to succeed in this environment. So many resources are directed toward ESL and special needs and, naturally, the counselors and teachers who are "the best" and have tenure have their pick of teaching the brightest students in the honors classes. My daughter tended to get put in classes with a lot of the kids who were "acting out" and there were so many disruptions in the classroom.

Because she was so middle of the road, she truly got lost in the shuffle.

And then there were the hallways between classes and the lunch periods. They seemed to be fraught with racial tensions, mild physical and verbal abuse, and then there were the sexual things going on in the bathrooms. Uuugghhh. At the end of 9th grade, my daughter who BEGGED to go to this school, said she might want to go to a private school.

So, she's in a private school that is NOT racially diverse at all, there are no ESL programs, and we haven't had a moment's problem in 3 years. She LOVES school, is still an average student, but I can actually get someone to pay attention to her now.

I don't fault any parent for knowing their individual child and trying to find a school that will allow them to thrive and not feel like combat during the day or that they are being ignored because they aren't a) special needs, b) Spanish, or c) gifted.

I also think that if you have a child that is a "superstar", they will probably succeed in any environment. The rest of us have to think about the other aspects of the school.

That was like me in high school. I was an average student. I recieved mostly B's and some A's on my report card. But the high school i went to was pretty big and the teachers had their hands full with just trying to control students that i did get lost in the shuffle. Im convinced that because i was a quiet student that some of my teachers didnt even know who i was! I then went to a vocational school that was a little bit more selected in students, disciplined students and had much smaller classes. I loved the school so that combined with the things i just mentioned i did great there!

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by Denton56

Where you went to college matters the most for your first job. You will have more offers if you went to a well known school and had a decent GPA. It tells employers that you were smart enough to get into a good school and smart enough to do well there. Getting into a podunk school shows them nothing, although doing very well there is a good sign to employers. Good school, with good grades, is best for your first job. After that, it matters less where you went to college or how you did there.

It also matters more if you pursue that first job somewhere near the school. In Pittsburgh, having a nursing degree from Pitt meant you went to a top tier school. When I moved to Illiniois, just a year after graduation, most people had never heard of the place, so it didn't matter so much. Out here in Colorado, it's even less well known, except right now with March Madness!

[jetsfan16]

Well, in my area, Charleston, the good schools are in the Mount Pleasant area, on the other side of the river, and in a neighboring county with a major town about 20 miles away. Most of the people that move here want to go over to those areas immediately because of the "great" schools in these areas.

There's so many tracks now that at some high schools, it is almost a personalized education. However, at my school (which has AP/IB dual credit courses), they complain about having eight hours of homework, sometimes a night, and some are in five clubs and play three sports.

They do go from all over the area (as far away as 25 miles) because most of the other schools (except for the magnet school, Wando, and us) are horrible for Fairfax standards, but kids can do well anywhere, you just have to put your mind to it!

The big high school in Dorchester County has over 3000 students, and kids walk a quarter mile just to go to some classes, because it's so spread out.

The Harvard/Ivy philosophy is not as bad as it is at some local schools (both private and public), where kids have BMWs (only a few here, most kids have trucks or older cars), their parents own million-dollar houses, and everyone tries to get into the same five colleges.

TJ is a great school, as we've played them in quiz bowl, and they are extremely smart, one of the best teams in the country.

[dod236]

Kudos, oneasterisk. See the difference between you and the other guy who doesn't have a college degree and not doing anything is that you had AMBITION!

Originally Posted by oneasterisk

You don't, I'm proof positive of that. I never graduated college. I attended one semester at NVCC and found that it was pretty much like highschool. I only attended because my parents pushed the "You have to get a college degree" speech on me. I found that college wasn't for me, I learn better hands on and visually, though I enjoy reading. I dropped out and found my first computer job. I got a few certifications under my belt and started doing the IT contracting. Now I've got 10yrs of experience in the field, and currently pursuing a gov't position that'll give me stability in these tumultuous times. My parents were surprised when I finally told them my salary. They couldn't believe I was making that much money without a college degree.

I'm currently 28 and have no college loans to my name. My bought new in 2004 SUV is paid for and my motorcycle is paid for. I own a house with my brother, well the bank owns it and we make payments. Now I'm currently waiting to close on my first investment property. Not bad for a guy who lived in a dirt floored shack in a 3rd world country for the early part of his life.

My parents graduated college in the Philippines and then sacrificed so much to get us to the US LEGALLY. They showed us that through hard work and determination you can succeed in this country. They both worked two jobs and were able to afford a home, raise 4 kids and send the oldest to college so she could get her degree. Now my parents have a retirement home in the Philippines where they spend the winters. They've worked very hard in their life and now enjoying the fruits of their labor.

My oldest brother makes also makes decent money without a college degree. He builds laser systems that marks precious stones.

So while I think a college diploma is a worthwhile endeavor, it's worthless if you don't have the gumption to do anything with it.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by dod236

Kudos, oneasterisk. See the difference between you and the other guy who doesn't have a college degree and not doing anything is that you had AMBITION!

Yup. Immigrants work so hard, and it works! They know the way to get ahead in the US is so simple, stay in school as long as you can, work hard, and save something every month. Guaranteed to work.

[treebw]

I didnt read every post since there are many...

The reason I look at scores and how the school runs is because the better the school...the better the teachers.
I dont care about ESL, I grew up in CA where it is something like 52% Hispanic and my 16 year old daughter is close to fluent in Spanish, the more Spanish speakers the better as far as I am concerned.
My daughter went to a really great art school in CA (Orange Coounty HS of the Arts) and had all A's and B's; she then went to a public HS in Raleigh, NC and started getting bad grades. I will not let her blame the teachers, but they had a doing in the grades.
A teacher who does not want to teach will not help his students. A teacher who does not want to teach talks to their students about when they get to retire.
A teacher who does not want to teach does not want to be in the classroom.
That school does not score well.

[Ashburnite]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

I go to a college nobody has ever heard of in a city nobody has ever heard of...

I think in an earlier post you said you attended Kings College. I've heard of it but have no idea why.

I like your posts.

[Ashburnite]

This thread is many months old but I just read it. Because we moved a lot when I was in high school (and not for military reasons) in total I attended 5 different schools in Texas. I was an average student but believe I could have been above average if I'd tried. I don't know the rankings of the schools but they were all about the same in terms of having teachers or counselors at them who encouraged me. Except one. The one school among the varied suburban and big city schools I attended that gave me any real degree of encouragement was a public school in Dallas. I didn't see a difference in suburban vs. urban schools or ethnic diversity making a difference. I can say from my experience that the responsibility of taking school seriously lies with the student and his/her parents. Teachers obviously have a big impact, but I believe the responsibility lies with the parents to encourage their child to want to learn and be challenged. I did okay and eventually went to college but didn't finish. Got my Mrs. degree instead and that's working out fine. If I ever figure out what I want to be when I "grow up" maybe I'll return to college.

That is not to say, however, that a child couldn't benefit from attending a school that suits them better than the local one. It can make a big difference to have them where they feel comfortable and motivated and if the local school isn't working for them, by all means find another.

With regard to the materialism of NoVa, I just don't know. I'm sure it's out there but none of the people I am acquainted with seem overly concerned with status, cars, and labels. Now, they may be and I just don't know them well enough to know, but I don't feel surrounded by it. And that's saying something since I live in a suburb people like to call "Cashburn." I am a stay at home mom and the other SAHMs I know are not obnoxious, status conscious rich women who play golf and tennis. I have one friend who has a live-in nanny but that's because she has 4 kids and it turned out to cost less money to have a nanny than to pay for daycare for her kids. Should she stay home with her kids instead? I don't know because it isn't my business and I don't know the intimacies of their finances or other very personal info. I'm just saying that in my experience I don't see rampant materialism or know anyone who sends their child to preschool so they can go play golf at the club. I will say that I wish some of my friends drove more fuel efficient vehicles, but at least the ones I know actually have a NEED for a large vehicle (3 kids+2 big dogs in a Prius? I don't think so!).

I didn't have admissions paperwork (beyond the basic info of address, doctor, etc.) for my child's preschool and it wasn't competitive. I hear those are out there but I have a pretty good knowledge of the preschools in Ashburn and I haven't heard of any that have admissions standards or are more highly regarded than any other particularly. Some are more popular and can have waiting lists but it isn't based on anything elitist.

Anyway, I'm coming late to this thread but there's my two cents.