Elementary schools in Sugar House (Sandy, Cottonwood Heights: neighborhood, school district, salary)

[weasy]

We are an English family who will be relocating to SLC from Australia pretty soon and have 2 girls, 10 and 8. We are particularly looking at Sugar House as we have been told it is more diverse (we are not at all religious). However, we have read not so great things about the public schooling in Utah so I was wondering if anyone is able to comment on the elementary schools in Sugar House (Uintah Elementary especially). What are the class sizes like? I have looked at greatschools.net but the class sizes on there seem to bear little relation to what I read about in other places.

Would we be better looking at private schooling and, if so, can anyone recommend any good private schools other than RHSM and McGillis, with a smaller than usual LDS influence.

Thanks.

[musicbean]

The Waterford School is good- I don't think it has any religious ties. It's in Sandy, UT.
I will be quick to tell you, though, that private schools aren't that prestigious here. There are some GOOD ones, however, when one of your friends has to go there, it's because he couln't behave himself in public school. I'm not saying that the private schools are filled with behavior problems, however, many may wonder what your kids did if they go there. Public school is the norm, really. I don't know how it compares to other states but I have some friends who went to Harvard that graduated from a public high school. I hope this helps.

[kwm03160]

Waterford is one of the most expensive private schools in the state.

[jhwest]

My sister taught at Waterford for five years and was not too impressed with it. There is a high percentage of students with ADD/ADHD.
My kids went to Carden Memorial School (Private, in Sugarhouse). I can't say enough wonderful things about it. it is pretty affordable (about $4700/year, whereas Waterford is over $12,000, I think). It is Christian, but not LDS. I think the LDS population is about 50%. It is rather old-fashioned. Manners are very important, and children are taught to be polite. Very strict uniforms. The teachers are very loving and encouraging and I felt like it was such a good atmosphere. It is rigorous, but there is no standardized testing, so the children are only taught what is important, not what will be tested (very unusual for a school). They teach french and cursive starting in kdgtn, then add Latin in 6th grade. Lots of study about the arts and lots of poetry memorization. If you have any more questions, PM me. They don't have a website (believe it or not. They really are old-fashioned!)

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Those class sizes are accurate. Utah has one of the largest class size on average in the country. And a low teacher salary scale. However, as a former teacher, I can tell you that class size is not the only factor determining quality. Look on GreatSchools.net for the test scores, that's much more important.

[knye]

You might look into Highland Park Elementary on 2700 So. It is in a beautiful new building, on a large green campus in a nice neighborhood. It has a number of specialists in the arts and in physical education. It is part of Salt Lake School district. My granddaughter attends HPE, and we couldn't be more impressed with the facility, the programs and the staff. I am a retired teacher with experience in two states, plus Montessori training, so this recommendation does not come lightly.

[Lmejh]

If you take a look at the raw stats for class sizes in Utah you'll see something like 20-25. This is misleading because they count the small classes for disabled children, which have something like 5-10 kids. However, even though the classes are overcrowded, it doesn't mean the schools are bad. Welcome to Utah!

[weasy]

Thanks for that, this is what I was trying to say, that the stats didn't seem so high and yet I keep being told class sizes are high.

We're no longer looking in SugarHouse anyway, we visited and found it far too urban for us, we live in semi rural Australia and love it...

Originally Posted by Lmejh

If you take a look at the raw stats for class sizes in Utah you'll see something like 20-25. This is misleading because they count the small classes for disabled children, which have something like 5-10 kids. However, even though the classes are overcrowded, it doesn't mean the schools are bad. Welcome to Utah!

[kaytidid]

So where will you be settling, Weasy?

[weasy]

Still not sure, need to have a longer look around than we got on our short trip last May. Hubby won't look out your way so my favorite is up Park City way or the Olympus Cove/Cottonwood Heights area.