Pittsburgh Colfax K-8 (Churchill, Edgewood, Homewood: how much, neighborhoods, school districts)

[sqhiller50152]

I was searching through the forums and the only information I could find regarding this school seemed a little outdated (2008 or so).

Does anyone have any opinions on Colfax? What are the teachers like? The students? The building?-Is it upgraded to modern standards (air conditioning, wifi, smartboards), etc?

Any information provided is appreciated. Thank you!

[gladhands]

It's a nice, modern facility. By virtue of being newer, the middle school building is definitely nicer. It has amenities you won't find in most urban schools, like a swimming pool and 3-D printers.

Colfax has a generous and hypervigilant PTO that ensures that PPS budget cuts don't impact Colfax the same way they do other schools. It's ethnically and economically diverse, but almost all of the poor children are black, and the affluent children nonblack.

[sqhiller50152]

Originally Posted by gladhands

It's a nice, modern facility. By virtue of being newer, the middle school building is definitely nicer. It has amenities you won't find in most urban schools, like a swimming pool and 3-D printers.

Colfax has a generous and hypervigilant PTO that ensures that PPS budget cuts don't impact Colfax the same way they do other schools. It's ethnically and economically diverse, but almost all of the poor children are black, and the affluent children nonblack.

Thank you for this information. What do you mean by "middle school building?" Are the 6-8 students in a different building? Does that building connect to the K-5? What about air conditioning (my child has bad allergies)?

[chocodusk]

Great topic- I am also looking for more information. Do they have music/ arts/ other languages. At what ages do they start those? How is the after/ before school care? How much recess do they have in a day? How crowded are the classes and what ratio can be expected?
Thanks for all your help!

[MountainDewGuy]

Colfax probably has the highest family average income for the Pittsburgh public grade schools, as the boundary lines were rigged to lump North Squirrel Hill and Shadyside students into the same building, which happens to be at the edge of that boundary. So if you can afford to live in those neighborhoods, then the school is good because like most schools, the higher the wealth of the parents, the better the school.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by MountainDewGuy

Colfax probably has the highest family average income for the Pittsburgh public grade schools, as the boundary lines were rigged to lump North Squirrel Hill and Shadyside students into the same building, which happens to be at the edge of that boundary. So if you can afford to live in those neighborhoods, then the school is good because like most schools, the higher the wealth of the parents, the better the school.

Why did they close Wightman School? Not enough kids North of Forbes at some point?

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by MountainDewGuy

Colfax probably has the highest family average income for the Pittsburgh public grade schools, as the boundary lines were rigged to lump North Squirrel Hill and Shadyside students into the same building, which happens to be at the edge of that boundary. So if you can afford to live in those neighborhoods, then the school is good because like most schools, the higher the wealth of the parents, the better the school.

Shadyside being added to Colfax is historically speaking very recent - something which happened only in the last 5 years. Colfax also doesn't just include North of Forbes, but the vast majority of Squirrel Hill South as well (the border is around the Squirrel Hill Tunnel). And it has long maintained some weird enclaves in Homewood, East Hills, and Lincon-Lemington-Belmar - enclaves which remained even when PPS otherwise "normalized" their feeder patterns to follow neighborhood lines. Thus I don't think it's fair to say it's rigged. I do think adding Shadyside to Colfax recently was a conscious attempt by PPS to get more upper-middle class East Enders to send their kids to public school however.

[MountainDewGuy]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Thus I don't think it's fair to say it's rigged. I do think adding Shadyside to Colfax recently was a conscious attempt by PPS to get more upper-middle class East Enders to send their kids to public school however.

Like you said, the borders were adjusted to lump Shadyside and North Squirrel Hill together and get those kids under the same roof. I think it is totally fair to say that it's rigged. Then they lumped much of South Squirrel Hill with neighborhoods as far north as Frankstown Road near homewood resulting in a Minadeo feeder district that is shaped like a backwards L. Pretty easy to see that the majority of people with wealth manipulated the borders to make sure that certain areas went to the same building, even if it means other feeded boundaries not making much sense.

[gg]

Originally Posted by MountainDewGuy

Like you said, the borders were adjusted to lump Shadyside and North Squirrel Hill together and get those kids under the same roof. I think it is totally fair to say that it's rigged.

Rigged? Maybe the school district realizes what they did in the first place didn't work! Neighborhood schools work, but you start forcing neighborhoods with like minds in education to share with neighborhoods of a different mindset and you get a lousy district. Hmm, Edgewood and Churchill are prime examples of total destruction. There are reasons people choose certain neighborhoods and school districts are a big part of that decision if there are kids involved. Disrupt a school district and watch the more educated move out and move out fast.

[robrobrob]

When drawing boundaries for schools, districts want to have a certain amount of "affluent" kids. I don't mean rich but kids that are at least solidly middle class and have families that want to participate in school activities and spend the time outside of school needed to have their kids succeed.