Elementary school (Niles: income, tax, clubs)

[cleguy74]

Which is the best elementary school in Niles? Also is private school good or public?

[CortlandGirl79]

I don't know too much about the Niles Schools. Niles is a working class town and i know a lot of people in their 30s that went there, i'm assuming they are effective, but i can't really give an honest response.

[Droolrockworm]

I taught 2 years at the high school and had a pretty good experience there. I can tell you that Niles has a vast seperation in income levels and that often plays a big role in creating clicks between students. Academics are also sometimes placed secondary to sports in the school. By this I mean that during the time I was there football players recieved special treatment. Due to the income differences you get a little bit of everything in Niles.


The Good:

• A pretty strong staff overall
• A lot of choices in classes to take
• Competitive sports and clubs (speech and debate were really strong)
• Active band and music

The Bad:

• A lot of discipline and attendance problems (police were in the hallways)
• Lower test scores
• Average kids sometimes get lost due to medium-large class sizes
• School board in my experience was self interested (this may or maynot be the case today)
• Low parental support

I want to emphasize the strength of the staff. My co-workers while I was there really seemed to do more than take up space in the classroom and were often upset by the inability to reach kids. Overall, I would give the school a C/ C-. I would also take a close look at the Governor's budget and see what the change in tax dollars for the district is looming over the next few years. Some districts are losing their ability to maintain current education levels and I know that Niles recieves a large portion of its operating budget from state money and if that changes that grade could be affected quickly.