How would you compare Grants Pass to Medford (Eugene, Bend: how much, homes)

[Balco9]

How far apart are they and what town is safer with better schooling...
Which town is growing faster and which is better to raise a family.
Thank you.

[Clear2land]

What is interesting about all of us is that we are all looking for the perfect city that is located at the end of the happiness rainbow. We talk about this city and that city. I was just thinking today that the 25,000 residents of Grants Pass who live there are perfectly happy or they would move some place else. Why aren’t the 63,000 residence of Medford clamoring to move some place else? Come to think about it, we rarely hear from someone on the forum that is fed up with the Oregon city they live in and can’t wait to move to another Oregon town. If schools are the most important thing to a family, why aren’t they headed to Corvallis? Each person who lives in a city is voting to live in that city by his or her very presence. Jobs took me to different cities in different states and now that I am retired, we have the freedom to pick any city we want. That sure is a nice feeling but I sometimes wonder if we are over thinking it.

[Balco9]

Corvallis is full college kids with not much of a job market there, plus it rains a lot there. Are you saying that Grants Pass doesn't compare with Corvallis school districts? I know Medford school district is not that great. I actually am still looking into Corvallis. I just don't know, it's very confusing where to relocate my family. I am making this move for my kids not for a golden handkuff job. I live in Tacoma now, and can't wait to get the hell out of dodge. If i am going to relocate to Oregon, this is my last chance to get in before the boom comes and home prices soar like they are in Bend.
Yes i am considering Bend, Medford, Grants Pass, Corvallis, Eugene, and Roseburg. I am looking to get as much information as i can since i live 8 hours away and can't take a Sunday drive to view these area's. Hopefully someday
i can take the weekend off and view the area's i disclosed. So i the mean time i will continue to Post about information on the website as i find it very helpful and the Oregon people who reply on here seem nice as you are Clearland2...

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by Balco9

Are you saying that Grants Pass doesn't compare with Corvallis school districts?

That's a bit like comparing the public school system in Zimbabwe to the public school system in Germany. District 7 (Grants Pass) doesn't come anywhere near 509J (Corvallis)...not many other school districts do. It isn't so much the school and the teachers themselves; it's what kind of people make up the community and how much they value education.

[oregonready4change]

Speaking as somebody who grew up in Medford I thought I could put my two cents in. I have not researched all the school districts in the state, and yes I know Oregon has it's problems with test scores. I graduated from North Medford High School 13 years ago and I cringe to see somebody say Medford doesn't have good schools. I think anywhere you go you will run into problems. Speaking from my own experience, granted it was awhile back, I received a very good education and went on to graduate from a private Christian college. I have seen other people post that they wouldn't mind moving to Oregon even though there are poorly educated people here. That sounds so terrible! I have not lived in a big metro area, but I am proud of Medford and the Rogue Valley. It's not as if we are some redneck backwood Arkansas folk!
People speak of the drug problem here. A big reason for that is we are right off of I-5, the pipeline for drug delivery and many find the rural outskirts of the valley a great place to farm the plants, unfortunately.
I love this valley - it is beautiful and has so much to offer. I personally have a daughter whom I have chosen to homeschool at this point (we DON'T live next to a good school - yes there are a few and we are in the Eagle Point/White City school district which I don't reccommend). Overall I would encourage anyone to move here that has a family. There is a good community feel to our valley. If you would like a more family oriented community, I would check out Central Point as well. They have a very good elementary school, Mae Richardson. I can't say that I know much about the Middle and Senior High Schools though. If you are intrested in a private Christian school, Grace Christian is the largest private Christian school in the state and is very good. Another private school is St. Mary's.
As for my name, Oregonready4 change - I love Oregon, but my husband doesn't. He grew up in a small rural Northern California town and we someday want to move to Montana or Wyoming. But I will forever be an Oregonian!
Welcome, it is a great place to live.

[Clear2land]

Well-stated oregonready4change. We talk a lot here on the Forum about education. I'm in my sixth decade and went to several Oregon schools. In my opinion, parents have more to do about their children’s education than the schools or their teachers. It is far more important to improve report cards than it is to find a schoolteacher who will hand out better grades. Parents need to work with their children more to make sure they are getting everything out of the classroom they can. There are D students in Corvallis that are not learning as much as C students in Medford. We are teachers of our children for the first five or six years of a child’s life. If you really want to give your child a head start, read to them when they are young. Teach them about everything. They are very eager to most willing to learn even before they learn to speak.

I graduated from Roseburg Senior High and I will never forget a fellow student a son of a local Doctor. His parents really knew what they were doing. I admired him greatly for his gift of speech. He could say anything better than anyone else including his teachers. I asked him once how he came to learn the kings English so well. His answer, "It was easy. I just memorized the words in the dictionary and their meaning." His parents took a very keen interest in his learning, I later found out.

One daughter with a Masters Degree, she lives in Aloha. My other daughter is a 4-year BSN Registered Nurse and lives in Idaho.

Test scores would be higher if parents played a larger roll in their Childs education.

Dan

[Balco9]

That is absolutely true about parents playing a roll, but still living in a good school district with most of the teachers having masters degree is idea. Thank you Oregonready4change...
In a bad school district your kid's tend to pickup bad habits from other kid's that are punks.

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by Clear2land

In my opinion, parents have more to do about their children’s education than the schools or their teachers.

I would agree with that, BUT...and I say this after 20 years of observation in the profession...peers have a much greater impact on school-age children than either parents or teachers. Private schools often have less-qualified teachers than public schools, but student outcomes are better. Why? Because your money buys you peer exclusion: private schools don't have to let just anyone in the door and your child will not be exposed to as much cultural rot because those kids that exert negative peer pressure will have to shape up or they get kicked out. To a lesser extent, you can also get a more favorable peer profile by chosing certain public school districts over others. If the constituency of your district is mostly college-educated professionals who had a positive school experience themselves and are deeply involved in their kids' education, chances are there will be a lower level of tolerance for poor achievement from the school. But it's a critical mass issue. In many school districts, teachers spend much of their energy trying to police kids and keeping them from acting like animals because that's where the middle of the bell curve is at.
I don't want to underplay the importance of parental involvement, but the extent to which parents can mold their kids' character is often overestimated. So often I've seen one sibling excel and another in same family slide down the tubes in an educational death wish. No matter how desperately their parents or teachers try to shape them, K-12 kids will naturally emulate those of their own age group in their immediate environment. If that age group has a high dose of hip-hoppers, drug experimenters and slackers, there is nothing you can do to immunize your kids from assimilating those influences. It doesn't mean that it's certain -- DNA also enters into the equation -- but it certainly could happen.

[Clear2land]

Steve, I can agree with a lot of what you have to say especially about the Bell curve and discipline in the classroom. That is not what I was talking about. A parent, a mentor, maybe a really good teacher in a mediocre school district can have more influence than the rest of the teachers, the principal, or the student body public or private.

My cleaning ladies son was struggling in school with poor grades. He was taking summer classes in an attempt to play catch-up. I asked her if it was okay to take him flying. To make a long story short, I took him for his first airplane ride. After, we touched down; I asked him if he would like to do that again? Sure, he said. His third flight was with an instructor. He failed his written and I said, lets go flying. He failed his check right and I said, lets go flying. To make a longer story shorter, Bryan graduated from college with a degree in Airports. Today Bryan is a Captain for Continental Airlines. You will never convince me that the power of a parent or mentor is not greater than the school system.

[Balco9]

Both systems go hand to hand...
I still personally rather relocate to a good school district,
then find the right home in that school district, and then
deal with commuting to work. Some parents can careless
about the schools districts, or some have no choice, but
i have that luxury of that choice. My children are priority
number one and want the best for them. My parents did not
care where we went to school as long as we pass with atleast a
grade of "C"... I do not want my children growing up in that
environment and i bet they will thank me later for that.