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We are considering moving from NH to Sarasota or Sarasota Springs with two of two daughters. One is a freshman in HS and the other is in 7th grade and has moderate to significant cognitive disabilities. I have been researching on-line the area high schools and am interested in peoples' opinions/experiences with the high schools in this area. I realize that the best thing may be for them to go to different high schools because of their different needs, but at least in Florida that is an option. In NH the only options are the public high school (which is very good academically but I don't know how it will be for my younger daughter's disabilities), or private Catholic schools, which would not accomodate my younger ones needs. Thanks for any and all input!
I don't have any experience as a parent with high schools, but I did go to high school in Sarasota. There are three public high schools in Sarasota. Booker serves the north part, Sarasota serves more or less the middle part and Riverview, the southern part. Sarasota Springs CDP would probably be in Sarasota (the dividing line is more or less Bee Ridge Road between Sarasota and Riverview). I would say Riverview is the best out of the three, followed by Sarasota. I wouldn't say any of them are bad, and they each have some redeeming qualities. There is school choice, but I know Riverview is hard to get in sometimes.
Also, I am not too familiar with private schools. But, there is Cardinal Mooney (catholic, obviously) high school and the out of door academy (plus more smaller schools).
You also have Pine View in Osprey which is a gifted public high school. I am sure someone here could tell you more than me about it.
I have absolutely no experience as a parent in dealing with Sarasota's High Schools. However, I have recently graduated from Booker High School and previously attended Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School (both) in Sarasota. That aside, I've had many friends deal with various High Schools around Sarasota.
There are about six main High Schools in the Sarasota area. I'll give you a short description of them, their location, etc. in the following.
Riverview High School. It's located off of Proctor. It caters mostly to the south end of Sarasota, including the south end of Siesta Key. In general, it's supposed to be a rather decent school. Currently part of it is under construction, adding new classrooms and the like. They have their own "gifted" program, composed of primarily AP classes. I believe it's called "IB" or something to that affect. All I really know about it is they use British standards for writing, etc. That aside, they've had a bit of controversy regarding one of their administrative officials (one of the Vice Principals, I believe) being caught and charged for a DUI not once, but twice. And keeping his job, after.
Sarasota High School. Located off of Bahia Vista and Tamiami. It caters to what's called "Midtown" (apparently; if you look at the signs around the area's Starbucks) and the north end of Siesta Key. It is, what you might call, your average high school. Drugs and drinking, of course, and a pretty decent academic system. Typical cliques, though the school takes a bit more of a tighter hand with censorship. The buildings aren't all exactly up to stat, but it isn't necessarily horrible either.
Both Riverview and Sarasota are rivals, and are what you might consider a "sports oriented" High School.
Booker High School. Located near 32nd street, between Tamiami and Washington, in what's typically referred to as "New Town." This is the "ghetto" school, serving the north end of Sarasota. It has a low FCAT score, incompetent administrators, and some of the absolute best teachers in Sarasota. Don't get me wrong, it has its fair share of horrible teachers (I can list off far too many), but there are plenty of teachers who go far beyond intelligent, inspirational and amazing.
The thing about Booker is, however, it's an art's school - and a magnet school. Any child in Sarasota (and outside of Sarasota) can go there, regardless of district, assuming they can be accepted into the Visual Performing Arts Program, or one of the other various programs the school has. (This ranges from law, science, etc). All of these are exceptional programs, despite the recent budget cuts and problems they've been faced with.
Unlike most "ghetto" schools, you'll actually find the largest mix of kids at Booker, and very often little of the major cliques. Admittingly, there are rivalries between the various programs - but for the most part, the traditional cliques do not apply. That aside, you take classes with kids from similar programs to you. General Ed with General Ed, VPA with VPA, Science with Science, etc. A little mixing happens, true, but not always.
Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School. Located down Fruitville and near Beneva, this is a private High School with a Catholic curriculum. Cardinal Mooney claims to have a clean and safe campus with high quality teachers and good kids. This is a lie. Cardinal Mooney has the biggest drug problem in Sarasota, one which is not limited to the kids alone. Admittingly, you wont find much weed at Mooney - or stoners in general - but you will find hordes of alcoholics, cocaine, prescriptions, etc. Though the standard curriculum is technically harder (On level = Honors, Honors = AP, AP = Freakin' harder), the teachers, themselves, are picked from the bottom of the barrel based souly on faith with no regard to ability. Since having gone to Cardinal Mooney, I've actually found myself drinking with a former teacher and watching her pop pills. It's sad.
Unlike Sarasota, Booker, and Riverview; Cardinal Mooney keeps Orwellian-esque tabs on its students, enforcing an Orwellian-esque uniform and simply disturbing rules.
Sarasota Military Academy. Located, literally, down the street from Booker High School. Sarasota Military is a charter school modeling itself after a Military academy, instructing the kids in such an environment. For kids who want a military career, it's typically their first stop. For troubled youths, usually it's one of their last chances. (Triad aside, though that's really not worth talking about - it isn't a major school). Aside from being a military academy, one of the only real notable things about the school is the power they give their students to police themselves. Those who receive referrals, etc. are called to the Honor Board, a committee made up of students who decide on the proper course of action.
Pineview. I haven't much experience with the school itself, aside from the fact it's a "gifted private school." It's hard to get in, and offers an excellent education. There isn't a real drug problem. The only real issue with the school is, essentially, it's populated by elitists. From what I understand, it's actually a 1st-12th grade school. The only real notable thing about the school, from my experience, is their art program which has a tendency to win the local Sarasota art awards. Though I attended Booker, I was not in the art program. I might be somewhat biased, but having attended the shows I, personally, find their art program to be highly skill oriented with very (very) little creativity allowed (or encouraged). I, personally, believe they've only won such awards due to their gifted status - of course, you could easily argue I'm biased.
Finally, a few of my experiences from both Cardinal Mooney and Booker.
I attended Cardinal Mooney for my freshmen year and a portion of my sophomore year. I was not Catholic. In addition to this, I was also obese. Though I attempted to be socialable, I often found myself as the outcast. You might call what I have to say biased because of that, but I personally believe it gave me a much better view as to what the school actually was.
Cardinal Mooney is populated by, essentially, the students of upper class Catholic families and upper class families who's students couldn't get into Pineview. The students, themselves, are a very highly clique-oriented bunch with a malicious streak. Going into the school, I couldn't believe the prevalence of partying, drugs, sex, and the sub-standard education given.
Though their problems aren't often reported in the news, you'll be surprised at what a little research can do. The year previous to my attendance, Cardinal Mooney almost joined the ranks of Columbine and Virginia Tech, the students and the administration having pushed one of the students too far. One of the students, a senior at the time, had purchased a gun and had planned to kill several people. Though his plan was foiled, the fact he was that far is problem enough.
As I said before, I was one of the ostracized kids. I often found myself the subject of harassment, not just by the students but by the school itself. After having reported several kids for their constant bullying, the administration failed to do anything. After that, the families of the kids reported me, saying they thought I was a danger to the other students - because I was being bullied. I found myself in a dark room with a police officer searching through my things, threatening to Baker Act me based - quite literally - on my choice of music. Metal. I have a few metal CDs in my backpack, apparently enough for the school to call my mental health into question. It took having a lawyer to threaten the school with a lawsuit to stop this. That year several students were given referrals or expelled for showing up to school drunk, drinking during school, etc. At least one student attempted to take her life.
The following year, another student attempted to take her life. Except, this student attempted to do it on campus. She was the grand-daughter of one of the teachers. At least two students were busted for possession of both cocaine and marijuana - and a lot of it, at that. In their lockers. They were dealers. Several other students were caught with illegal narcotics in their cars, as well.
I left Cardinal Mooney to attend Booker High School. I had no idea about the VPA program initially, nor did my family. Though I live on Siesta Key, I decided to check into Booker based on what one of Cardinal Mooney's religion teachers kept saying - often as a put down - in class. "If you don't like Mooney, go to Booker!" The class often laughed at this. I figured, "What the hell? I'll take his advice." I looked into Booker. I checked out the VPA Art and VPA Theatre programs, as I had a love for both. In the end, I joined the Theatre program as a Theatre Tech - I'd never been happier.
Booker High School (like most High Schools in Sarasota now, I believe, though not at the time) operated on block scheduling. Essentially, you took eight classes a year and four classes a day. The classes rotated each day (though when I first went, they rotated each semester). For students in the VPA, two classes each day are dedicated to your major. VPA Theatre kids, for instance, spent half their day across the street in the theatre itself. Actors concentrated on acting, singing, dancing, whatever their classes called for. They were trained, literally, to act. Techs spent half their day learning to design sets, build props, build sets, learn to use power tools, learn to weld, learn to paint, learn (to a degree) draw, etc. All the basics anyone in construction - in general - needed to know. They also learned to design lights and sound, as well as operate the light and sound boards.
VPA Art spent half their day in the art room, or around campus, working on their pieces. In their senior year, they were essentially given the freedom to do most anything - with a few guidelines attached. Their main focus was building their portfolio for college. Actually, senior year for all the VPAs were essentially like that. Your main focus was your portfolio for college.
I didn't know much about VPA Music. The students, I think, often specialized in one instrument or several. Voice was an option. However, their Jazz Ensemble was incredible. They'll often boast that it's better than most college ones. This isn't exaggeration. It's absolute truth.
VPA Film created all the visual media that went into the morning announcements - played across the school as a news broadcast. The students presented all important announcements with it, and when they weren't working on new commercials they were developing short films to be showcased in the Theatre at a later date. The Film kids probably, out of all the VPAs, had the most fun. They were pretty free to do what they wanted, and create what they love.
The biggest issue with Booker, I found, was the terrible administration. The entire administration building was chaos, the teachers loathed the principal, the principal was funneling money from the VPA to the sports programs, the students were pissed, etc. Though the school did eventually replace the principal at the time, due to the distaste of the old one, Booker lost some of its best teachers and ruined some of its best programs.
A good example. When I first entered Booker we had a Law Program, similar to the VPA Program. Due to the principal at the time, we lost the main teachers of the Law Program - several successful lawyers, etc - and eventually lost the Law Program itself. Though I believe its spirit still exists within the reformed Science program. In reality, we've lost a lot of incredible teachers to other schools and counties due to the general dislike for the administration itself. Still, though, they continued to have many great teachers. (Several of which I still keep in contact with, today).
Since having gone to Booker, though, there's a bit that's changed. Due to budget cuts, many classes have been canceled from the curriculum. The entire security team has been replaced, with a couple exceptions. The school is being "policed" even more to prevent kids from skipping, leaving, etc. A good thing, most people think. A bad thing, in my mind. Part of the charm of Booker was how friendly security was and the openness of the school. Many of the kids who skipped always came back, often only leaving for food. (We never wanted to miss our VPA classes), and security only wanted to keep us safe - not enforce crazy rules on us. I can't truly speak for how it is now, but replacing the guards is a somewhat depressing move.
Anyways, that's what I know and those were my experiences. Hope it helps.
Edit: Almost forgot. The Out of Door Academy is a High School located in Lakewood Ranch which a lot of Siesta Key kids and upper-class kids go to. They also have an Elementry to Middle School (?) campus on Siesta Key itself.
Pine View is not a private school but is a public school. It does have special testing though for entrance. Pine View has grades 2nd-12th grades and was rated one of the top schools in the Nation.
Also, I just have to make a comment on the art department. I may be a bit biased as well since my daughter is in art at Pine View. They have had some absolutely fabulous artists come out of Pine View in the last few years. Mrs. Lauer who runs the high school are program is one of the most dedicated, inspiring women I've ever met and puts her heart and soul into everyone of her kids.
I agree with most everything that was stated above but felt like I had to comment on a few points.
Pine View is not a private school but is a public school. It does have special testing though for entrance. Pine View has grades 2nd-12th grades and was rated one of the top schools in the Nation.
Thanks - I don't know most of the specifics on Pine View, as my only association with them has been through the art shows, etc. I never knew they were a public school, I suppose I'd always assumed private.
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Also, I just have to make a comment on the art department. I may be a bit biased as well since my daughter is in art at Pine View. They have had some absolutely fabulous artists come out of Pine View in the last few years. Mrs. Lauer who runs the high school are program is one of the most dedicated, inspiring women I've ever met and puts her heart and soul into everyone of her kids.
I won't deny they've had some fabulous artists. As has Sarasota, Riverview, and Cardinal Mooney. Even Sarasota Military has had a few good artists in their school.
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I agree with most everything that was stated above but felt like I had to comment on a few points.
Thanks! I'm glad you did - I hate leaving things inaccurate.
Look up ave maria preparatory school in sarasota-- great school and both your students could attend there, Your youngest would receive amazing accomodations with a very qualified staff. ALL their teaching is individualized
I didn't know that Ave Maria served students without disabilities. That would be great if both of my firls could go tot he same high school.
We have many kids that have very minor issues, some of them are very emotional, some are just mildly ADD. She would fit in with this group (socially I mean) Im sure if you told Sister the situation she would be very willing. Your daughter would probably be very challenged academically as all our teachers do individual academics..
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