Allegheny Traditional Academy and Manchester Academy (Pittsburgh, Lincoln: 2014, neighborhoods, magnet schools)

[kylsttn]

I'd love to get some input from parents, teachers, or community members who have had some experience with either of these two schools. We live in Brighton Heights and will be sending our first off to Kindergarten next year. We are considering these two along with our neighborhood Catholic school (open to other suggestions that would keep the drive time under 15 mins). What have you seen at these two schools? What sorts of questions would you recommend while touring or talking with people at each location? Thanks for your help.

[Uptown kid]

Manchester Academic Charter School
Allegheny
Manchester
...
I am 23 now though I can look with hindsight. The kids (mainly boys) who went to propel schools/charter schools/magnet schools/catholic/goal-honors programs at city schools grew up to do very, well even if they didn't go to college. Yet Pittsburgh Public Schools have got to be the worst in the nation for poor white and black men. 35-55% boys who I grew up friends with who went gen education in PPS got jumped into gangs in the basements of high schools including Alderdice. Lincoln is a Shuamen Pipeline and Westinghouse/Woodland Hills/Carrick/etc is an ACJ-prison pipe line.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by kylsttn

(open to other suggestions that would keep the drive time under 15 mins).

Have you ruled out Morrow? I don't have kids, but it saddens me to see many of my neighbors not utilizing the free school that is mere blocks away.

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by kylsttn

I'd love to get some input from parents, teachers, or community members who have had some experience with either of these two schools. We live in Brighton Heights and will be sending our first off to Kindergarten next year. We are considering these two along with our neighborhood Catholic school (open to other suggestions that would keep the drive time under 15 mins). What have you seen at these two schools? What sorts of questions would you recommend while touring or talking with people at each location? Thanks for your help.

I can say that the plan for next year is for our son to begin kindergarten at ATA. We have several neighbors in the War Streets who've had generally favorable experiences there with their kids. FWIW, these are professional, often dual-income couples who could send their kids elsewhere if they so chose. Additionally, I work with a colleague whose wife is a teacher at ATA. They live in the North Hills but she's mentioned to him that, absent the geographic difficulty of not attending school with their local friends, she would have embraced sending her own 3 boys to ATA.

I know less about Manchester but the bit I have heard is generally positive. I know a woman who has sent five different grandchildren through Manchester and swears by it. Honestly, I'm pretty sure she's been trying to recruit our family there for the last 6 months.

That's all anecdote and I fully understand that's not data, but you're able to find that elsewhere.

Hope that helps.

[kiawah5243]

My children went to Northside Catholic School until we moved in 2014. I would ask about how many children are enrolled. It is always a question about how long they are going to remain open. The biggest reason we left Brighton Heights were the schools. We lived there for 20 years, and for the most part loved it, but had to find other options for high school.

[kylsttn]

I think we have ruled out Morrow. We just haven't heard anything with much good to say about it, especially as the kids get a little older. It is frustrating. I love the idea of sending the kids to school just 3 blocks away. Our neighbors with four kids just moved this summer and it was 100% due to the schools.
I understand that there are some bigger, more complex issues at play here but I'd really prefer to not get into them on this thread. Just interested in what you have experienced and/or what you have heard about elementary schools on the northside (or nearby).

[sparrowmint]

Stay away from Propel Northside. Some other Propel schools are great, that one is chaos.

[Uptown kid]

Allegheny over Manchester. Though Manchester (both the area & the school) is getting better there's an unspoken stigma you'd learn very soon. Allegheny has always done a recognizable job of educating kids from diverse backrounds and managing neighborhoods with uneasy relations...

[kylsttn]

Thanks folks. I appreciate the feedback. Any advice on what sorts of questions you might ask when visiting?