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I realize the Irvine schools are 50%+ Asian. I keep hearing this number is growing as well. What are the elementary schools like there? Are they full of kids that don't do anything but study? I can't imagine what the high schools are like. But what about elementary? Well rounded kids? If you could pick a school district for public school would you pick unified? Other thoughts or comments welcome please. Thank you.
I realize the Irvine schools are 50%+ Asian. I keep hearing this number is growing as well. What are the elementary schools like there? Are they full of kids that don't do anything but study? I can't imagine what the high schools are like. But what about elementary? Well rounded kids? If you could pick a school district for public school would you pick unified? Other thoughts or comments welcome please. Thank you.
My kids really haven't found it that hard at least at the elementary level. In fact, I think the curriculum in CA is really dumbed down compared to my own public school education back east 30 years ago. I've had generally positive experiences with other parents and teachers/administration. Facilities are great. You should see some of the run down schools in the other parts of OC for an eye-opening comparison. That's what the high Mello Roos taxes are paying for--new facilities to accommodate all the new construction.
Lots of kids have after school activities, and its not all academics. Lots of kids doing sports, dance, art, music, etc. That is to be expected in an upper middle class environment where parents of all races tend to over schedule their kids for "enrichment". We refuse to send our kids to Kumon. My kids do swimming, basketball, tennis, ballet and piano.
Our experience in IUSD has been good. I suppose that compared to many other districts, IUSD ranks high academically. The parents here are helicopter parents and, as glowinthedark wrote, the kids are over scheduled. We've also been right smack in the middle of the IUSD switch to Common Core and their change from a traditional math path to Integrated Math. Now they are changing to Integrated Science as well, starting in 7th grade. It has not been fun to have our kids be the Guinea pigs during these changes. I am not making a statement about about Common Core, just a comment about its implementation at the same time they changed the math and science pathways. It has not been smooth, and most of the issues were because of personnel at the middle school.
Competition in the high schools is intense. You have kids taking 3 to 4 AP classes at a time. My son (sophomore) has 3-4 hours of homework every night. I can't compare to other districts, as I don't know anything about them, but I know that my kids are getting a very good education. I do wonder at times if the intensity is worth it, but then I tell myself that these students will be vying for the same jobs in the future as my kids...
I can't answer this from a parent's perspective, but I was an Irvine student from 2nd grade all the way through college. There are a lot of helicopter parents, but there are also plenty who acknowledge that GPA doesn't = level of success. High school competition is definitely fierce; I knew many 4.8s who studied literally the entire day. Creekside still exists, so there are some kids who are the opposite. I was a well-rounded student. I put in moderate effort, academically, then spent the rest of my days fooling around with other kids. Now I'm an engineer. Go figure.
I moved to Irvine from FL two months ago, and really thought, after reading so much about it on different forums, that Irvine schools would be much better academically. I was so excited about all that Asian competition. Here is what I have found: my 4th grader is bored to death in her math and ELA classes. Kids are not very advanced, and in fact the teacher has to focus too much on the kids who are slower, sacrificing the kids who need to be challenged. The GATE concept is weird. They do get just a little bit more advanced stuff (if you are familiar with the GO Math books, it's the Enrich one). Hardly any homework, my kid is done in about 5 minutes. In FL they have the concept of subject acceleration, where if you are in 4th grade but advanced in math, they test you and they place you in a 5th grade class only for math. I asked about that here, they told me they only offer GATE. Which at this level is a joke, maybe it does make a difference in middle school. I do 6th grade math at home with my daughter, Singapore books, 6th grade Go Math, just to keep her motivated and progressing. But the school math class is a complete waste of time. My son is in 6th grade. Since we started school on January 9th, he has had homework from his textbook maybe twice. For one entire month they worked on a perimeter and area project that could have been done in one weekend. The tests he's been taking are basic skills tests, which is just that, basic skills. For the whole month of February they worked on ratios. I have no idea how they are going to get through the book, maybe they don't even care about the textbook. My son, being a preteen boy, is in heaven. 20 min of homework per day, max, all subjects. Math in FL was super advanced, in 6th grade they were covering 7th and 8th grade topics. Oh, and it's a K-8 school, but no math club, which I have found kind of strange, this being Irvine.
The facilities are nice, buildings nice and clean, small school, but too many kids for one teacher (32 in 4th grade, they are like sardines in that room).
What I do like is the music program. To get free strings instruction for one hour every day in 6 grade and twice a week in 4th, that saves me lots of private lessons money.
Whatever reputation Irvine has, elementary level up to 6th grade is major hype, in my opinion. Maybe it gets more intense in high school. For high-achieving kids, and parents with high expectations academically (PhDs in Physics and engineering), it's been a disappointment.
I moved to Irvine from FL two months ago, and really thought, after reading so much about it on different forums, that Irvine schools would be much better academically. I was so excited about all that Asian competition. Here is what I have found: my 4th grader is bored to death in her math and ELA classes. Kids are not very advanced, and in fact the teacher has to focus too much on the kids who are slower, sacrificing the kids who need to be challenged. The GATE concept is weird. They do get just a little bit more advanced stuff (if you are familiar with the GO Math books, it's the Enrich one). Hardly any homework, my kid is done in about 5 minutes. In FL they have the concept of subject acceleration, where if you are in 4th grade but advanced in math, they test you and they place you in a 5th grade class only for math. I asked about that here, they told me they only offer GATE. Which at this level is a joke, maybe it does make a difference in middle school. I do 6th grade math at home with my daughter, Singapore books, 6th grade Go Math, just to keep her motivated and progressing. But the school math class is a complete waste of time. My son is in 6th grade. Since we started school on January 9th, he has had homework from his textbook maybe twice. For one entire month they worked on a perimeter and area project that could have been done in one weekend. The tests he's been taking are basic skills tests, which is just that, basic skills. For the whole month of February they worked on ratios. I have no idea how they are going to get through the book, maybe they don't even care about the textbook. My son, being a preteen boy, is in heaven. 20 min of homework per day, max, all subjects. Math in FL was super advanced, in 6th grade they were covering 7th and 8th grade topics. Oh, and it's a K-8 school, but no math club, which I have found kind of strange, this being Irvine.
The facilities are nice, buildings nice and clean, small school, but too many kids for one teacher (32 in 4th grade, they are like sardines in that room).
What I do like is the music program. To get free strings instruction for one hour every day in 6 grade and twice a week in 4th, that saves me lots of private lessons money.
Whatever reputation Irvine has, elementary level up to 6th grade is major hype, in my opinion. Maybe it gets more intense in high school. For high-achieving kids, and parents with high expectations academically (PhDs in Physics and engineering), it's been a disappointment.
wasn't Steve Jobs got bored in school too? maybe that's a good thing..your kid may invent the next best thing after Iphone
Many kids are bored in school. For many of them, it's because they don't like school.
Example of 4th grade math in Irvine: teacher explains for 15 minutes how 3/8 = 1/8 + 1/8 + 1/8.
This is the feeling I get from the short time I've spent here: teacher is overwhelmed by a large number of kids. The idea for a school district to be successful is to have great test scores, look good on paper. You don't need to be a genius to get great scores in school. So the teachers focus on the lower performing students, to help bring them up to the common denominator. For those kids, it's a fantastic deal. Same for the average and a little above average kids. For the kids at the top, why would the teacher put in extra time and effort? That kid doesn't need it, he or she will bring those amazing scores anyways. So other than feeling good about being the best in their class, the top kids are at a serious disadvantage.
Where I come from (Eastern Europe, communism), here's how it worked: in a class of 30 kids, let's say 5 were really bad (basically got held back), about 20 middle of the pack, and 5 ultra hard working competitive, at the top. Teacher focused on the top, took them to an amazing level. The middle was getting by ok, inspired by the top 5, trying to emulate them. The last guys at the bottom, they finished 8 grades, went to vocational school, became amazing car mechanics, plumbers, farmers etc. No shame in that. Not everyone went to college, and a college education was a prized possession. The top 5 were creme-de-la-creme, some were winners of international olympiads, the system loved them and nurtured them.
And since it was communism, all kids had the same resources, the same facilities, the same amount of free time. No one was richer or poorer. The only difference came from what life principles the parents taught them at home.
In America, the schools truly follow the motto No child left behind. They get headaches trying to figure out how to turn every student into a good student. And pour tons of money into it too. They don't realize, it's about the love of learning and work ethic that parents instill in their kids at home, and nothing else.
Many kids are bored in school. For many of them, it's because they don't like school.
Example of 4th grade math in Irvine: teacher explains for 15 minutes how 3/8 = 1/8 + 1/8 + 1/8.
This is the feeling I get from the short time I've spent here: teacher is overwhelmed by a large number of kids. The idea for a school district to be successful is to have great test scores, look good on paper. You don't need to be a genius to get great scores in school. So the teachers focus on the lower performing students, to help bring them up to the common denominator. For those kids, it's a fantastic deal. Same for the average and a little above average kids. For the kids at the top, why would the teacher put in extra time and effort? That kid doesn't need it, he or she will bring those amazing scores anyways. So other than feeling good about being the best in their class, the top kids are at a serious disadvantage.
Where I come from (Eastern Europe, communism), here's how it worked: in a class of 30 kids, let's say 5 were really bad (basically got held back), about 20 middle of the pack, and 5 ultra hard working competitive, at the top. Teacher focused on the top, took them to an amazing level. The middle was getting by ok, inspired by the top 5, trying to emulate them. The last guys at the bottom, they finished 8 grades, went to vocational school, became amazing car mechanics, plumbers, farmers etc. No shame in that. Not everyone went to college, and a college education was a prized possession. The top 5 were creme-de-la-creme, some were winners of international olympiads, the system loved them and nurtured them.
And since it was communism, all kids had the same resources, the same facilities, the same amount of free time. No one was richer or poorer. The only difference came from what life principles the parents taught them at home.
In America, the schools truly follow the motto No child left behind. They get headaches trying to figure out how to turn every student into a good student. And pour tons of money into it too. They don't realize, it's about the love of learning and work ethic that parents instill in their kids at home, and nothing else.
its even better where I came from. they honor the top 5 pupils at the end of the year. here I think the only grade the teachers can give is satisfactory and not satisfactory but they all pass they can not hurt the pupils/students feelings by giving them failing grades and honoring those who truly excel
Children learn at different paces. Our education system is setup to give everyone a fair shot at college, where the hard working and intelligent can truly shine. Leaving a child in the dust because they struggled with their times tables seems unfair.
I was one of those kids who tested out of everything and read at a high school level in elementary school. I was quite happy to have extra time to fool around, explore the outside world, etc. I, for one, am glad I didn't have harder curriculum shoved down my throat.
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they can not hurt the pupils/students feelings by giving them failing grades 
