Could anyone say anything about Finn Hill/kirkland public schools? (Seattle: crime, home)

[Garfunkle524]

Originally Posted by BellevueNative

The last straw was when a mom brought biscotti to her son's soccer game as the post-game snack.

Hahaha this is amazing. I bet she took him to Nordstrom afterward to reward him with a pair of boat shoes. I'd also be willing to bet the biscotti had organic humanely-raised vegan cashew butter in it, which was recommended to her by her #crossfit coach who also happens to be her plastic surgeon she sees twice a week.

Originally Posted by EvilCookie

I do have to say, I had an eye-opening moment the other day; we've moved to Sammamish for the top-notch schools, the whole demographic and bullying issue was huge for me too. My son is not in K yet but we walked over to the playground of one of the 10-rated elementaries, where they had those extremely wholesome looking kids running around in their soccer uniforms, with very classy wholesome moms standing by - and then I watched this cute little 8 or so year old boy start yelling something at a girl and hurling insults about her "big booty"...the moms didn't even bat an eye. I do have to say, I sort of faced my own prejudices right there - had I witnessed this at a 'lower-class' type neighbourhood, I would've attributed it to the demographics and lack of class as par for the course; wasn't expecting to see this type of stuff here. But I guess kids are kids.

Are we talking about a soccer game or a delicious bowl of oatmeal?

By the way, bullying is very real at ALL income levels. True story - a teenage girl sent herself to the ER after trying to kill herself because her friends were making fun of her for having yoga pants that weren't LuluLemon. She had some generic brand that was bought at a regular ol' big box store. From what I understand, while this indicates other serious emotional problems, the bullying in this case was actually pretty extreme.

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by BellevueNative

I'm wishing you better luck with the bullying and Stepford thing than my friends are experiencing up there. One just moved her family to the east Renton Highlands so they could escape the Sammamish culture. Big focus on "keeping up with the Joneses," and lots of bullying/competition, which was making the kids miserable. Also, the parents were getting annoyed with the cultural divisions and increasingly transient feel to the community, with many parents not seeming to take much interest in passing school levies, volunteering at school/pta/fundraisers. The last straw was when a mom brought biscotti to her son's soccer game as the post-game snack.

I refuse to participate with school/pta/fundraisers because it would require that I interact with the "Stepford" wives (I just posted about this sort of thing on the Issaquah vs West Seattle thread). I really do feel that these "wholesome" and "classy" (and yes, mostly blonde -real or not-) mommies would eat me for breakfast if given the opportunity. Not in the aggressive way or course, no, no, no... that's not how it's done.... the "one up" is achieved by the casual mentioning of something or some experience particularly attached to SES where the conversational participants can either cluck together in agreement, or not ... If they are still intimidating to me (and I've had the benefit of age, experience and education) I can only imagine how younger people feel. I will only volunteer to help the classroom teachers and the students or in the library reshelving books.

Biscotti actually sounds really good right now. I might have to make some later...

[EvilCookie]

Originally Posted by BellevueNative

I'm wishing you better luck with the bullying and Stepford thing than my friends are experiencing up there. One just moved her family to the east Renton Highlands so they could escape the Sammamish culture. Big focus on "keeping up with the Joneses," and lots of bullying/competition, which was making the kids miserable. Also, the parents were getting annoyed with the cultural divisions and increasingly transient feel to the community, with many parents not seeming to take much interest in passing school levies, volunteering at school/pta/fundraisers. The last straw was when a mom brought biscotti to her son's soccer game as the post-game snack.

I'm not sure what it'll be like by middle/high level but I'm not too worried about elementary. This actually wasn't at our assigned school; ours is Samantha Smith, and from what I've seen so far around the school and the community people seem very friendly, many highly educated, tech-industry immigrant families from all over the world who are very focused on education and discipline their kids strictly, which is exactly the environment I've been looking for. Smith is also where the Quest program goes here. (I wouldn't consider myself a 'tiger mom' type, but I like the idea of having that be the peer environment for my kids).

My perception of Sammamish in general is that it's becoming more ethnically diverse as many of the original owners become empty nesters and move away and young newcomer families move in. Hopefully it'll remain on the same level in terms of education, schools etc.

[BellevueNative]

Originally Posted by joyinthejourney

^^ is the biscotti thing a joke? what's wrong with biscottis??

As an after-game snack for kids? No. It is supposed to be something with nutritional value, like orange slices.

[EvilCookie]

Say what you will though, I will still always take schools in a neighbourhood with higher SES, education levels, etc, over a school with a large percentage of lower-income, blue-collar families - even if the former comes with some uppity, snobby attitudes. I've been on that side of the fence myself as a child of immigrants, and I can tell you that bullying in a 'rougher' type school is typically very different from what happens in the better neighbourhood schools. For the most part, even if some bullying, drugs, and other issues start up by the kids, they typically have very involved parents and administrators, and these kids have a lot more to lose - the parents don't want Junior to jeopardize their college careers, reputations etc, so they'll generally intervene and the situation stopped before it can get too serious.

Kids from uninvolved families, whose parents don't have the time or ability to be engaged, and who don't care too much about an education don't have a whole lot to lose. They can also be more used to aggression, and view some degree of violence and even petty crime as normal. And the parents may not be there to keep the kids in check. So bullying and other problems can progress quickly, to where they turn into full-on violence. And the schools tend to not be very proactive either.
That's been my experience at least. Of course there's always exceptions, it depends on each person and their attitude. But that's the general trend I've witnessed.

[BellevueNative]

It seems like there should be some healthy in-between. Competition and high standards can be good, but it seems to be unrealistically out of control in some areas of the Eastside.

Sammamish sees alarming rate of teen suicide, drunk driving | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News

As many as 1,000 concerned Sammamish parents will gather Monday night for a community meeting to discuss why their teenagers are so troubled.

Two big issues set the meeting in motion. The first is the alarming teenage suicide rate in Sammamish, and the second is high number of kids who are drinking or drugging and then getting behind the wheel of a car.

Local police first spotted the DUI trend and say it has stayed consistent for years.

"I think they probably think they are cooler if they drive behind the wheel drunk because then they can go to school and brag about it but I don't know," said skateboarder Daniel Dunham.

There's concern the area's affluence may be part of the problem, mixing busy parents and children with too much disposable income and spare time.

"Maybe people are trying to prove themselves to their friends, or it's like peer pressure. Kids are young, they make stupid decisions," said Ryan Kennedy.

There's also the high suicide rate, which seems out of line for a city the size of Sammamish.

"We've just had this rash of teen suicides in our community. We've had four in this community in this last year," said pastor Jeff Lancicome.

Teens in Issaquah, Sammamish will wear T-shirts Sept. 10 to support suicide prevention : The Issaquah Press – News, Sports, Classifieds and More in Issaquah, WA

Five teens in Issaquah, Sammamish and Snoqualmie took their own lives during the past school year.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by BellevueNative

As an after-game snack for kids? No. It is supposed to be something with nutritional value, like orange slices.

As a former youth soccer coach for 12 years, I'd prefer they bring biscotti to orange slices. All that acid on an empty stomach and running isn't helpful. Those granola/oatmeal bars and water or a sports drink are the best thing.

[BellevueNative]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

As a former youth soccer coach for 12 years, I'd prefer they bring biscotti to orange slices. All that acid on an empty stomach and running isn't helpful. Those granola/oatmeal bars and water or a sports drink are the best thing.

Touche. But I guess I would never think cookies (packaged biscotti) would be a suitable recovery snack.

[kirkland2010]

Originally Posted by EvilCookie

I do have to say, I had an eye-opening moment the other day; we've moved to Sammamish for the top-notch schools, the whole demographic and bullying issue was huge for me too. My son is not in K yet but we walked over to the playground of one of the 10-rated elementaries, where they had those extremely wholesome looking kids running around in their soccer uniforms, with very classy wholesome moms standing by - and then I watched this cute little 8 or so year old boy start yelling something at a girl and hurling insults about her "big booty"...the moms didn't even bat an eye. I do have to say, I sort of faced my own prejudices right there - had I witnessed this at a 'lower-class' type neighbourhood, I would've attributed it to the demographics and lack of class as par for the course; wasn't expecting to see this type of stuff here. But I guess kids are kids.

yes. Kids are kids. I think there will be some bullying in any school. Yet, good school with good teachers and involved parents will make things better. So are you going to move to a better school, or stay there?

[kirkland2010]

Originally Posted by joyinthejourney

"extremely wholesome looking kids and very classy wholesome moms??"

LOL... by this i am guessing you mean a bunch of blonde kids and moms wearing some designer clothes or something?

onto the subject of Kirkland schools. I am also surprised by the low ratings. I am trying to decide on a city to live in and what took Kirkland out of the running was the low school scores. Yet everything keeps saying Lake WA district schools are good. No, they're not. They're ok, maybe average, but if schools are a top concern, Kirkland isn't really a top choice.

According to the data, LWSD is the second best in WA. What is the top choice in your opinion? Bellevue? The houses are old, and there will be more apartments with the light rail coming. I feel Bellevue is downhill.