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Old 08-11-2008, 02:40 PM
 
9 posts, read 31,489 times
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My husband and I are considering moving to the Portland area and have narrowed down the areas to West Linn and Lake Oswego. We love the areas and everything about them, including what we have heard about the exceptional schools. However, several people I have spoke with have knocked the Oregon public school system, including the above areas, stating that it is underfunded and that many children are falling behind. Now I am as confused as ever! We have three kids, so where they go to school is as important to as where we live. We are not interested in private schooling. Any insight on how Oregon fairs nation wide and specifically WL and LO? Any first hand info. would be helpful! Thanks.
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Old 08-11-2008, 09:47 PM
 
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I haven't lived in LO for that long so my view is limited and don't know much about WL schools. Our kids are in an elementary school here in LO and so far it has been great. We are impressed and our kids are doing well. The teachers seem to care. Also a lot of parents are involved in the schools. There are so many PTA and volunteer groups it is hard to pick.

A lot of the people that live here donate to the schools to make sure they are properly funded. And so far, all schools in LO are rated exceptional, so they are doing something right.
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Old 08-12-2008, 07:41 PM
 
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Good to hear more positive feedback. Just curious where you moved from and how are the schools so far compared to your kid's previous school? We are coming from Tucson where the schools in general leave a lot to be desired. However, there are a few great districts and even many differences among the schools within them. I guess that is how any area is?
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Old 08-12-2008, 07:54 PM
 
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Lake Oswego and West Linn are the finer parts, more upper class, of the Portland area. Sometimes referred to as the richer, the yuppier, the snobbier, you know... the golfers! =) Just kidding.

They have very fine schools and provide a fine education. Education is underfunded all over the country. We are all stuck in the "No Child Left Behind" thingamobob so we, as parents, need to take up the slack. If a child is falling behind I would look at how involved the parent is and I think you will find your answer very fast.

I would not be surprised that the community is very involved in the school district there. The families can afford to have mom home and involved in the kids lives. Now the Portland School District- um, yeah...go Private if you can. Portland School District these days seems like a scam of tax dollars. I don't see much improvement in the schools there; they seem to be going down hill. Stick with the West Linn and Lake Oswego- if everybody could live there believe me- they would.
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Old 08-12-2008, 08:27 PM
 
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It's always easy to thumb your nose at PPS but there are very good schools in the district too--some of the best in the state. It's an issue of the schools varying in quality, not that all are bad--far from it. The schools that are "going down hill" are in the worst neighborhoods in Portland in terms of crime and poverty level. Lake Oswego and West Linn would have similar problems if they had such a population which of course, they don't. It's easy to have top notch schools with wealthy parents who are involved and donate funds to the schools too. The Portland schools are just as good in similar type neighborhoods such as Forest Park or Ainsworth Elementary, Alameda Elementary, Lincoln High, West/East Sylvan, etc. But test scores don't show the whole story either. Especially if you have a child who doesn't fit into the one size fits all education model. In that case PPS has some of the best offerings out there with the variety of special focus options, charter schools, etc.

There are also a lot of great dedicated parents in PPS and some great thriving programs. I think many people who have things to say about PPS do so out of hearsay and don't actually have a child in the district.
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Old 08-12-2008, 08:47 PM
 
48 posts, read 186,999 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldtintype View Post
It's always easy to thumb your nose at PPS but there are very good schools in the district too--some of the best in the state. It's an issue of the schools varying in quality, not that all are bad--far from it. The schools that are "going down hill" are in the worst neighborhoods in Portland in terms of crime and poverty level. Lake Oswego and West Linn would have similar problems if they had such a population which of course, they don't. It's easy to have top notch schools with wealthy parents who are involved and donate funds to the schools too. The Portland schools are just as good in similar type neighborhoods such as Forest Park or Ainsworth Elementary, Alameda Elementary, Lincoln High, West/East Sylvan, etc. But test scores don't show the whole story either. Especially if you have a child who doesn't fit into the one size fits all education model. In that case PPS has some of the best offerings out there with the variety of special focus options, charter schools, etc.

There are also a lot of great dedicated parents in PPS and some great thriving programs. I think many people who have things to say about PPS do so out of hearsay and don't actually have a child in the district.
I agree with this comment 100%. I, however, was a product of the East side Portland's Public School District. The schools he mentioned are in good areas with lots of wealth, too, the same as Lake Oswego and West Linn.
There is no argument about the schools on the East side of Portland and their lack of funds. They are what they are. I was lucky enough to go to one of the better ones...Parkrose. But, I moved into Parkrose from Reynold's HS and it was very hard to place me in classes as at that time Parkrose was further behind in curriculum. I ended up taking some classes over again that I had already taken at Reynold's. My parents graduated from Cleveland but it was much different then in the early 70's than it is now. So, no, my child is not a student, I was. Toward the top of my class, which honestly wasn't very hard at all considering the company I was in. My son, however, was homeschooled for many years and now attends a great school district in Gladstone.
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Old 08-12-2008, 09:57 PM
 
290 posts, read 1,177,141 times
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Ok. First of all, yes, I live in LO and I'm not wealthy. As in, I have to work to support my family. And we even shop at Costco, and never played golf and don't drive luxury cars. And I do know multiple people that live here and are not wealthy either.

I did donate to the school this year because it does look like that it makes a difference. Few hundred dollars per year is nothing if it makes such a difference.

About the OP's question. We moved from Austin, TX. The elementary seems to be about the same as in Austin (Leander school district in Austin is very good too at least for the elementary school). The difference is the parent involvement. Middle and high seem to be much better in LO.

I agree that the school rating doesn't explain the entire picture. Exceptional rating doesn't mean everything and parents should be involved with their kids regardless. Although I would stick to strong or exceptional rating. I do think though that SAT scores for high schools do matter though..

By the way, checkout this link for the latest scores:

Federal "No Child Left Behind" ratings 2008 - Oregon Schools Guide - The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
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Old 08-12-2008, 10:00 PM
 
290 posts, read 1,177,141 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldtintype View Post
The Portland schools are just as good in similar type neighborhoods such as Forest Park or Ainsworth Elementary, Alameda Elementary, Lincoln High, West/East Sylvan, etc.
I heard similar things about these schools (Lincoln and Forest Park). So I agree that these schools are nice too.
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Old 08-12-2008, 10:20 PM
 
2,430 posts, read 6,604,108 times
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Those schools you went to aren't part of PPS. They're part of the Parkrose and Reynolds School Districts.

Quote:
Originally Posted by no one special View Post
I agree with this comment 100%. I, however, was a product of the East side Portland's Public School District. The schools he mentioned are in good areas with lots of wealth, too, the same as Lake Oswego and West Linn.
There is no argument about the schools on the East side of Portland and their lack of funds. They are what they are. I was lucky enough to go to one of the better ones...Parkrose. But, I moved into Parkrose from Reynold's HS and it was very hard to place me in classes as at that time Parkrose was further behind in curriculum. I ended up taking some classes over again that I had already taken at Reynold's. My parents graduated from Cleveland but it was much different then in the early 70's than it is now. So, no, my child is not a student, I was. Toward the top of my class, which honestly wasn't very hard at all considering the company I was in. My son, however, was homeschooled for many years and now attends a great school district in Gladstone.

Last edited by oldtintype; 08-12-2008 at 10:32 PM..
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Old 08-12-2008, 10:28 PM
 
2,430 posts, read 6,604,108 times
Reputation: 1227
Wealthy doesn't have to mean you're a millionaire, my point is that average parent in those districts is at least (with I'm sure a few exceptions) middle class and very interested in and involved in their child's education. The schools in PPS everyone complains about are mostly in areas with high levels of poverty--check out the number of free lunch kids--in one school, Rosa Parks, it's 91% of the kids!! Portland is way more diverse economically, racially and socially than West Linn or Lake Oswego and there are more kids whose parents are struggling. Those kids are at a disadvantage academically and schools can't necessarily make up for it.

As for the schools on the east side comment (other poster) you mostly mentioned schools that are in other districts than PPS. On the east side there are many good schools. Alameda is one as an example (I mention elementary because that's what I'm most familiar with) and many other schools who don't get the "exceptional" rating but have strong programs and a lot of really really dedicated parents such as Buckman, Llewelyn, Winterhaven, and so on. The "strong" vs. "exceptional" school thing is kind of misleading with the whole "No child left behind" thing. Some schools didn't make improvements or get exceptional ratings due to the scores of kids in special ed, which is hardly fair. I don't know the stats for TAG in other school districts vs. special ed but the more involved parents are the higher the TAG rating and lower the special ed stats. Not to say that those kids are necessarily smarter, they just have parents with very high expectations.

I think what it comes down to is that if you're an involved parent your child will likely do well in most any school with some exceptions.


Quote:
Originally Posted by PeacePlease View Post
Ok. First of all, yes, I live in LO and I'm not wealthy. As in, I have to work to support my family. And we even shop at Costco, and never played golf and don't drive luxury cars. And I do know multiple people that live here and are not wealthy either.

I did donate to the school this year because it does look like that it makes a difference. Few hundred dollars per year is nothing if it makes such a difference.

About the OP's question. We moved from Austin, TX. The elementary seems to be about the same as in Austin (Leander school district in Austin is very good too at least for the elementary school). The difference is the parent involvement. Middle and high seem to be much better in LO.

I agree that the school rating doesn't explain the entire picture. Exceptional rating doesn't mean everything and parents should be involved with their kids regardless. Although I would stick to strong or exceptional rating. I do think though that SAT scores for high schools do matter though..

By the way, checkout this link for the latest scores:

Federal "No Child Left Behind" ratings 2008 - Oregon Schools Guide - The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
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