School Curriculum Questions for parents out there (Sarasota, North Port: sale, renting)

[angelagardner]

We are heading on our way soon and will be enrolling my child into the 8th grade. My lingering question has to do with whether or not she will be in the same standard in Florida as in Washington. Here is an example of what I mean:
In my area the students are not taught math the same way as I learned, they do not memorize times tables, they do not cross multiply or add from top to bottom carrying the numbers, etc. It is so different that the schools offer "parent math" so parents aren't totally lost. They add in "blocks" and do math sideways instead of top to bottom the old fashioned way.
My daughter was taught to write her letters from the back to the front, which is hard to explain without showing anyone in person but to do my best: she writes all of her letters from the right to the left, bottom to top instead of top to bottom, left to right as I learned. Because of this they do not teach cursive and I have resorted to teaching her "my math" and "my writing and cursive" myself with quite the arguement from her (but she is a teenager so what else is new).
I have scanned the school district websites and can't seem to find anything that will help me decide if we need even more outside work with her so I am hoping that someone is really involved with the school system and can help shed some light on the type of standards in the Florida school system...

[Oobie119]

Well, as a teacher (11 years) I can offer some insight..I have worked in Manatee County for three years but am now working for a special needs school. I have noticed (coming from Chicago) that in many schools, teachers are allowed to teach their way, and they do not have to abide by certain methods. Most of the time though these methods are very effective, and all teachers are evaluated on their teaching skills multiple times during the school year. ALL teachers in Manatee County must be "highly qualified" by state standards. This allows administration to really critique teaching methods and qualifications. As far as handwriting, I have never heard of kids writing from right to left though-and I will tell you, Manatee County does not teach cursive. I dont think Sarasota does either but Im not positive. As far as being in the same "standard" as Washington, I have no frame of reference since I don't know anything about Washington schools. I will tell you that sadly, Florida has scored very low in comparison to other states. However, Sarasota and Manatee Counties are the two top school districts in Florida and have many A+ schools to choose from. Both districts have very strict qualifications, and very tough standards for their teachers. This makes Manatee and Sarasota counties very desirable for those relocating. If you can provide me with the area you will be moving too, I can offer some school suggestions and give you more info on the schools in your area. Hope this was helpful and let me know if I can help with anything else..

[sspollock]

I am also moving to sarasota county from Colorado, I have three girls aged 8,9,and 12 who are all in the gifted and talented programs here, my concern is also about the schools in this area not knowing anything about them I have NO idea which way to turn, we have not bought a house yet as I need to find out which area is the best for my children, my husband is actually in the area now and just needs me to tell him which zone to look in. Academics is very important to us as well as safety. Any help would be much appreciated.

[SoFLGal]

Sarasota county has one of the best school systems in the state of Florida. It also has Pine View School for the Gifted, which was ranked the top school in Florida and one of the top schools in the Nation. It is a public school and the requirements are that you live in Sarasota county, have an IQ of 130 or more, pass the achievement tests required and have teacher recommendations. I have two children that attend PV and we are more than pleased with the school. It services grades 2nd-12th. Here's some more info on that subject:
Welcome to Pine View School
Pine View School - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Public Elites - Newsweek.com
Pine View wraps up perfect Olympics | HeraldTribune.com | Sarasota Florida | Southwest Florida's Information Leader
America's Best High Schools: Gold Medal List - US News and World Report

There are many other fantastic school in Sarasota county. Here's a website where you can see how the schools are rated:
School Accountability Report...
or www.GreatSchools.com

Alright, if I were checking out schools other than Pine View these are the schools that I would look into, in order. This is also how they are ranked by the state of Florida.

Southside services most of the downtown area south of Main St. North of Main would be mostly Booker school district. The Palmer Ranch area is mostly Ashton school district. There are other schools in the area but these are ones that I have either had personal experience with or I have friends that have kids in the schools.

Sarasota ranks as one of the top districts in the state by a number of measures, including test scores, graduation rates and teacher compensation.

It offers distinctive programs tailored to different student needs, including Florida's only school for the gifted, the state's largest special needs school and one of a handful of career-focused high schools.

For Elementary
Southside Elementary
Venice Elementary
Ashton Elementary
Cranberry Elementary (North Port)
Taylor Ranch (southern Sarasota county)
Lakeview Elementary
Gulf Gate Elementary
Laurel Nokomis Elementary (mid Sarasota county)
Tatum Ridge Elementary
Garden Elementary
Phillipi Shores
Fruitville Elementary
Englewood Elementary (southern Sarasota county)

For Middle
Sarasota Middle

High School
Riverview

[loves2read]

one point to make is that EVERY elementary school in Sarasota county has a classroom on every grade level for G/T students who qualify for the program...and there could be more than one per grade level--just depends on how many students qualify as G/T
students don't have to go to Pine View to be in a G/T program
my daughter (who teaches at PineView) tells me that there are many local schools with G/T students who choose to stay in their local school and not travel to PineView-

frankly I don't think any students are trained to do math the way parents were taught it--maybe to their detriment--
each state has curriculum standards
you might check the FL dept of education and see if the standards are posted there...
I know in TX that each discipline by grade level has set of what student should be taught that year--and to some extent how it should be taught--although districts usually make those standards more regimented...
in my local district in TX it has gotten so bad that every fourth grade classroom on the third Tueday in October is supposed to be doing the same lesson in math or language arts or science or social studies that every other fourth grade classroom is doing--not just in the same school--but in EVERY school in the district
frankly to me--as a parent and former teacher--that is too much like Nazi Germany or Stalin's Russia for me...
anyone that tied to the calendar and a list of what should be covered has not taken into account any type of problem that could come up in a classroom or the fact that not all students learn at the same rate
it is applying assembly line rules to teaching and that just does not work out very well IMO

[angelagardner]

There are some things I am sure that I was taught that will be obsolete due to technology advances but there are some things we just have to know...I am not impressed with Washington in the fact that the math subjects don't teach basic skills. I can't even take her to a grocery store and have her figure out a sale price. Ugggg!! I have become teacher to her this summer and she is NOT liking it--but what else is new with a teenager. My joy as a parent is to say that it's part of parenting and that it is my job to torment her with my life lessons.

[loves2read]

yes
the schools for the most part have given up "rote/memorized" knowledge for the most part
and as a teacher and a parent I do think some facts/info should be memorized and that is just plain boring, timestaking work--but for students to know verb tenses (especially past perfect), pronoun agreement, math times tables, percentage take off--spelling rules
you just have to knuckle down and do it
otherwise they have to compute the math every time they want to figure anything out

there is no time for this in modern curriculum I think because so much of it goes to doing curriculum that teaches them how to test...

[culturedmom]

Though we haven't lived in Washington state or Colorado, my kids have gone to schools in Arizona and Arkansas and all around Florida (we moved alot). Also, I ahve my Ph.D. in Education so their schooling was the number one top priority for us, and part of the reason why we moved to the neighborhood we did here in Sarasota.

Compared to the other schools around the country (including the 3 different schools they went to in SoFL), I have been very pleased with the Sarasota Schools. My kids go to Ashton and it has been a wonderful experience. They push reading and have many activities and insentives throughout the year to encourage reading, unlike any other school I have seen actually. My DD's math studies were similar to the way I was taught, memorizing multiplication tables and adding/subtracting down and over, for example. There were a few things that I was not familiar with, but I ended up just teaching her my way and she choose which was the easiest for her. However, that did not happen often over the last year at all.

Also, as someone has mentioned, each school has a G/T program. Ashton has the REACH program which is wonderful and I know parents who like it better then Pineview. I konw that FL has a bad reputation for schooling, but that is not evident in the Sarasota County Schools, as I have noticed.

[culturedmom]

Originally Posted by loves2read

yes
the schools for the most part have given up "rote/memorized" knowledge for the most part
and as a teacher and a parent I do think some facts/info should be memorized and that is just plain boring, timestaking work--but for students to know verb tenses (especially past perfect), pronoun agreement, math times tables, percentage take off--spelling rules
you just have to knuckle down and do it
otherwise they have to compute the math every time they want to figure anything out

there is no time for this in modern curriculum I think because so much of it goes to doing curriculum that teaches them how to test...

See I haven't noticed this at all in my kids' school. My DD just about everyday in her 3rd grade class had a times worksheet of 100 problems on the same number. They start at x's 1 problems and then if they finish the sheet in 15 minutes the next day they get the worksheet of x's 2 problems. If they didn't finish the sheet in 15 mins the next time they would ahve to do the same sheet over and over until they could finish it. It forced memorization and if the teacher found a child not being able to pass a sheet after a certain number of tries she woud send home flash cards. I thought it was a wonderful system.