Your experience (and your kids') with Portland schools (Beaverton, Lake Oswego: best schools, best)

[Yankeemama]

Originally Posted by urbanlife78

I can't agree more, this is a huge factor with a child's education. A mediocre school can be the best school ever if their is healthy parental involvement with the advancement of education with the child.

I hope you still believe this once you move back and have kids. You will be pressured to get into one of "the best" schools but there are neighborhood schools that are good and would be even better if people in the neighborhoods gave them a try. I think your generation may have a shot at making the schools here more equitable. I wish you and your wife the best.

[dent_arthur_dent]

It is interesting to look at the GreatSchools ratings -- there is a definite sense that those scores do not tell the whole story, and that there could well be a good deal of good that is overlooked by people who are just 'following the numbers.'

[Nell Plotts]

In the past West Sylvan and Lincoln were competitive socially and academically, there is no reason to believe that has changed. My daughter thrived, my son was unhappy and changed schools.

[oldtintype]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

In the past West Sylvan and Lincoln were competitive socially and academically, there is no reason to believe that has changed. My daughter thrived, my son was unhappy and changed schools.

Perfect example of why it's so important to visit schools and look for what works for the individual.....

[dent_arthur_dent]

Yep -- it really isn't a one-school-fits-all situation.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

I hope you still believe this once you move back and have kids. You will be pressured to get into one of "the best" schools but there are neighborhood schools that are good and would be even better if people in the neighborhoods gave them a try. I think your generation may have a shot at making the schools here more equitable. I wish you and your wife the best.

My wife loves that I am a researcher when it comes to things like this, so I will definitely be doing a ton of research when schools. We have a friend that has a kid in school in St Johns and is hugely involved in the neighborhood and the school, and basically swears by the quality of the school their child is going to.

I think we are fortunate to have a few friends and family that have kids now in Portland so we will be able to use them for help with deciding what type of schooling and which schools will be the best for our child when we one day have one.

[dent_arthur_dent]

That's the best scenario -- to actually have contacts within the schools who can give you more detailed reports on what the school is doing right/wrong.

I am curious about Madison High in NE: it is scored pretty badly on Greatschools but then there are lot of positive comments about it. Has anyone on here sent their kids to Madison? (Looking at the positive comments on Greatschools, there is something pretty suspicious about the way about a dozen of them were posted in the same three-day period.)

[oldtintype]

Madison is a very diverse school economically, racially, country of origin, etc. There are pros and cons to that--a con is that not everyone is going to test well. A pro is that your kids meet a lot of different people like the real world.

Madison seems to have really made some great changes and there is a lot of positive feedback about the school, but the great schools rating will never compete with the likes of Lincoln as the number of ESL students alone at Madison will skew test results (which doesn't mean the school isn't good).

I definitely would not rule it out just based on their great school rating--see it in person and get a feel for it.

[Nell Plotts]

The only reason why Lincoln students test well is that their parents have been insisting that they study and learn from the time they were in kindergarten. They are not innate geniuses.

Bottom line: parental involvement means more than the building. Peer relationships are also critical at that age.

[oldtintype]

Yes, that's my point--just because all of the kids don't test well doesn't mean the school isn't good. And not everyone has the luxury of being heavily involved (as in stay at home parent with expendable income). I think there is a larger parent base at Madison now that IS able to be involved this way which has helped.