Irvine schools... not so great. (best school, gated, income)

[payutenyodagimas]

a friend lives in irvine and when the teachers called them to tell them about their childs grades, something like 98 out of 100 (cant remember exactly how the grades were) and when they conveyed their satisfaction, the teachers were surprised because other parents whose kids were of the same grades immediately asked questions what else do they need to do to help their kids make it to 99 or 100..


crazy...

[CaliRestoration]

Public schools in California are in general pretty ****ty, high API or not. 38 students per classroom, 1 teacher, maybe 1 aid if it's a well funded district, ESL students in the same classes as non-ESL students, not exactly an environment conducive to maximum learning efficiency.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by CaliRestoration

Public schools in California are in general pretty ****ty, high API or not. 38 students per classroom, 1 teacher, maybe 1 aid if it's a well funded district, ESL students in the same classes as non-ESL students, not exactly an environment conducive to maximum learning efficiency.

Do you personally have kids attending a California public school, CaliRestoration?

[CaliRestoration]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

Do you personally have kids attending a California public school, CaliRestoration?

No, I love my kids.

[payutenyodagimas]

one thing good if there is a voucher system is that families don't need to chase those houses surrounding good schools.


it may result in more traffic but at least it should dent the appreciation of houses in good school districts

[lovethisarea]

Originally Posted by glowinthedark

Irvine schools are good relative to most other California public schools, but that says a lot about the sorry state of California K-12 public education. I agree that the California curriculum standards are ridiculously easy. They were a year behind grade wise 30 years ago when my spouse moved from Pennsylvania to CA, allowing him to skip a grade, and they are still a year behind.

The Irvine schools test well because the parents there (of all races) supplement a lot and make sure their kids are getting a proper education that the schools aren't covering.

Well said... It reflects bad on our priorities (people who live and vote here). And the worst of all is that a lot of us live in a tightly closed Utopian bubble thinking we are the best at everything. Talk about liberal open mindedness in a liberal state.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by lovethisarea

And the worst of all is that a lot of us live in a tightly closed Utopian bubble thinking we are the best at everything.

I disagree with the thinking that people who live in a top ranked public school district believe they are "the best at everything," but I do think that people who chose to live within those cities make sure that their kids get the best public education possible. And that has EVERYTHING to do with test scores and state ranking.

[CA4Now]

Written in 2013 but most likely little has changed:

Which Of The Five Most-Populous States Do Best In K-12 Education? (California, Illinois, New York, Florida and Texas)
Forbes Welcome

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

I disagree with the thinking that people who live in a top ranked public school district believe they are "the best at everything," but I do think that people who chose to live within those cities make sure that their kids get the best public education possible. And that has EVERYTHING to do with test scores and state ranking.

Thisis particularly true of Asians who make up a large part of the population in Irvine.

[NoNansea]

To: lovethisarea

I am sorry for some of the responses that were less than cordial.

I too would be concerned with having to drop off students from across any street. Usually in California, parents would complain to the point of getting that changed.

I grew up in southern California & attended K thru Jr. College there. So did my children. All of the schools had open campuses. It never seemed to be a problem. But now that there have been so many shootings on school campuses across the nation, California schools should take this into consideration, imo.

The kindergartens I attended as well as the ones my children attended all had their own fenced & gated playgrounds with equipment for kindergartners only. Grades 1 thru 3 had a separate playground as did 4th & 5th. But none of those were secured. There was supervision though. While the public could be on the grounds when school was not in session, the equipment that could be removed was...tether balls, swings are examples.

For academics, the more parents were involved the better the students did. Volunteering in the classroom, supervising on field trips, helping with plays, talent shows, purchasing for home ec & being involved with PTA always brought better grades for all. One income families, usually in more affluent areas, had time for this.

If I had it to do over again, I would put my kids in private school.