Please help with schools - mom is near tears.... (Sweetwater: homes, elementary school)

[bdpop]

One thing I have been reading on this board is that the schools down here may be one, sometimes two whole grade levels below the schools up north.

BTW; what is "Southern Flare" pertaining to the schools here?

[markhunt]

Originally Posted by bdpop

One thing I have been reading on this board is that the schools down here may be one, sometimes two whole grade levels below the schools up north.

BTW; what is "Southern Flare" pertaining to the schools here?

I probably didn't use the right word (nor spell it right; flair). But basically what i'm trying to get across is that I found there to be huge cultural differences between myself and a lot of the southerners in small town FL that have roots here going back multiple generations.

For me this is a factor in choosing schools while I am here in Florida, and I am guessing that there could also be some northerners that might feel the same.

[beckycat]

I don't believe these ratings of schools here, they are based of a rediculous test. I think the FCAT should not be used to determine whether or not your child passes or not. They are taliking about changing that. I've been here for 9 years and the schools that my kids have gone to have been great! I was very weary before we moved here from PA with all the bad rep FL schools get. Both kids went to Wilson Elementary, Greenwood Lakes and Lake Mary High. I think before anyone judges the schools, come here and check them out. Just my 2 cents.

[westerndog]

@ the OP:When you seek advice on education, please consider the source.
For example, in regards to the last poster giving you school advice:
wary, not weary
and I think ridiculous, not rediculous
I am not sure what taliking means.

Perhaps this is the "Southern flair" previously discussed?

not judging, just saying.
My two cents.

[Parrotrosie]

Originally Posted by westerndog

@ the OP:When you seek advice on education, please consider the source.
For example, in regards to the last poster giving you school advice:
wary, not weary
and I think ridiculous, not rediculous
I am not sure what taliking means.

Perhaps this is the "Southern flair" previously discussed?

not judging, just saying.
My two cents.

for example...greatschools.com gives the opportunity to give reviews...a student posted this review for Crooms Institute of Technology.....Great schools gives it a t 10 out of 10 rating....my paid for subscribed service gives it a 7 out of 10 rating...a student on great school posts the following review...

Posted August 18, 2007
The quality of Crooms has dropped greatly in the recent years. I m a 2005 graduate, the first graduating class. I have noticed my predecessors have been in a steady decline of intellectuals. I remember the days when Crooms was thought to be the 'Geek School' where intellectuals could go and seek out higher education and social surroundings that would be superior to the public schools. The school does not keep to the original standards that it had made for itself. 'Maintaining a GPA of 2.5' for example, but yet they still keep students who can't meet that standard. This sadly, is a distraction for the other students and lowers the schools scores and integrity.
Submitted by a student


.....Predecessors??? in a steady decline of intellectuals?? I don't want to go into what some of the other reviews looked like...check it out for yourselves...

Again, it is one data point. I can make typographical errors, and at times, I can make many ...lol... it is not the final judgement of a person's intelligence how they do on a message board, but taken in context, can it help? Sometimes, yes.

[clevedark]

All I can say it calm down, mamma, everything will be ok. You just moved which is really tough, you're having a hard time navigating the school system. Just enroll your kids in a convenient not so bad school that you've visited and feel comfy with, and stumble on through to the end of the year.

I think the time you should really start worrying about the quality of your kids' school is third grade. Another year to reassess is 6th grade. Then 9th grade. You've got a couple of years to figure out where your kids can go.

In the meantime your kids are guaranteed a good early education because you're clearly a mother who is concerned with education and you'll give them a great head start at home regardless the ranking of their public school.

[beckycat]

Originally Posted by westerndog

@ the OP:When you seek advice on education, please consider the source.
For example, in regards to the last poster giving you school advice:
wary, not weary
and I think ridiculous, not rediculous
I am not sure what taliking means.

Perhaps this is the "Southern flair" previously discussed?

not judging, just saying.
My two cents.

Sorry for the typos. Thanks, Parrotrosie.

[ngrome]

Originally Posted by bdpop

One thing I have been reading on this board is that the schools down here may be one, sometimes two whole grade levels below the schools up north.

BTW; what is "Southern Flare" pertaining to the schools here?

Well, that's slowly changing, there has been improvement over this past decade with FL schools, but part of that is because of the growth and development. See my similar post below:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/7381180-post220.html

[happytobeback]

Thank you to all that have responded to my post. It is true that I am mom that is very involved in her children's education. I understand that we are only talking about kindergarten. However, I believe that we have worked too hard up until now to educate and raise well mannered boys that I am NOT willing to just hope that it is the right choice.

It is true that moves are difficult even when you are "thrilled" with your destination. I took the weekend off from researching and will be digging back in today. I am grateful for all of your information and hope to have my son in a new school in the next few days. For those of you that are going to be relocating from out of the state. Be sure to bring your medical records/shot records with you. We did not have these with us and have been waiting for them to arrive in the mail. (Ped. office would not fax) You cannot register without this.

[connor35]

Here is something important to remember about school grades: Grades, I believe, are based on percentage of students who achieve thresholds.

So you could get an A by having a high proportion of kids gets just barely to the threshold.

Whereas if a certain proportion of kids are way above the threshold but some kids didn't make the threshold, the school would be a B or C.

What you, OP, want to know, is how effectively can a school educate your good student. You want to know which school best educates the TOP kids, not the average kids. And school grades will only give an insight into how they educate the average kid.

My take is that teachers educate kids far more than schools do. Especially within a county that presumably has a similar curriculum across schools, it's really the individual teacher than makes a difference. And some teachers are better at teaching the students with less natural ability whereas some are particularly gifted with taking the top student even further.

So don't worry too much about grades or rankings. Instead consider the individual teachers and work to get the teachers who are the best with the top students.