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Yes because i went to the schools and i lived in the suburbs in town.
Good night. I wish I had not engaged you on this. waste of time.
One quick question before you go, did you also go to the schools in Columbia we are talking about? If not then by your logic, how do you know they are not that much better than West Florence? Just curious as to how you know this if the only people who can judge a place are people who lived and/or went there or have kids there.
i never made any claims about Columbia schools. I said Florence schools are fine and I gave specific reasons for it which you basically ignored. One of the schools you touted has a 6 school score, west and south florence high both have a 5. i don't think the school score tells you anything about the teachers but the differnce b/t 6 and 5 doesn't seem worth pointing out.
you don't have to compare every thing and make it a competition. You were the one who said Florence schools 'don't stack up, just the way it is'. I responded to your bragging.
I did live in Columbia and I think feels much less safe. Just my two cents. i don't think most people who live in w. florence think Columbia is more safe.
I dn't dislike Columbia and I am not trying to steer people away from it. I'm only saying crime and schools in Florence suburbs are not an issue in my view.
Adios.
Last edited by ClemVegas; 06-20-2016 at 07:10 PM..
i never made any claims about Columbia schools. I said Florence schools are fine and I gave specific reasons for it which you basically ignored.
you don't have to compare every thing and make it a competition. You were the one who said Florence schools 'don't stack up, just the way it is'. I responded to your bragging.
I did live in Columbia and I think feels much less safe. Just my two cents. i don't think most people who live in w. florence think Columbia is more safe.
Adios.
Not bragging, again, calling it like the data shows despite what your perception is. Just trying to help a newcomer looking for the state's best schools find them.
ok, but when I did the same thing with FMU vs other colleges, you didn't like that. you applied my point about k-12 to college. it seems like a contradiction.
you never proved west and south schools are not among the 'best schools' in terms of teachers. Education stems from the teachers, not student body demographics. there is no point in talkng about number of failing students unless you are trying to use it as evidence the teachers are no good.
i won't respond to you again. this is going around in circles.
i don't have a perception about a school that I attended. I have insight about my experience and other graduates's accomplishments after we graduated. How can the school not be as good as any other if this is the case. the point of k-12 education is to prepare for college and get a good job.
Last edited by ClemVegas; 06-20-2016 at 07:25 PM..
ok, but when I did the same thing with FMU vs other colleges, you didn't like that. you applied my point about k-12 to college. it seems like a contradiction.
you never proved west and south schools are not among the 'best schools' in terms of teachers. Education stems from the teachers, not student body demographics.
Dude, I dont care about how FMU compares to other colleges, im a grad student at Clemson and im doing well in my career, FMU can have horrible numbers but as long as it doesn't have an effect on where Im at in life I dont care! You have just failed to provide any data to back it up...none, just anecdotal assumptions. I could make one too, and it would be that you're probably right, FMU wouldnt stack up to Clemson but I have no numbers to prove that. Also you anecdotaly noted that only the low level kids at WF went there and I know thats incorrect because half of my friends are from WF and I know how they did in HS.
Every single thing you have said this whole time has been completely anecdotal and not backed by any sort of data. Everything I have said has been backed up by facts from the SC Dept. of Education. Give me any data, any research, that backs up your argument and simply being a West Florence alum is only enough to give your opinion if not backed by data.
FYI, I have to research this information for my masters program and had to in undergrad for several research papers on the education descrepencies in SC so while I may not have kids there or have grown up there, I would venture to say I am a little more than a transient college student 10 miles away (or 2 miles away since I lived in WF and not on campus).
Last edited by ColaClemsonFan11; 06-20-2016 at 07:36 PM..
anecdotal is talking about a school you didn't attend with no specifics about the teachers. you have never responded to this point.
your west florence students all needing to do remedial classes is anecdotal, there is no way to corroborate it. i don't think it is likely that you knew every student from florence and if they were in remedial classes. we also have no way of corroborating that you were a better student. you can assert anything. to me it sounds like bragging.
you are asserting the student body demographics proves good school or bad school. I disagree with that. It is about the teachers. Education stems from teachers. It makes no sense to define a school by the bad students if students have gone to the same school , were accepted into good colleges, and obtained good jobs in challenging professions. you can't prove this is not true. you can say it is anecdotal if you want.
if you are going to CU, why didn't you know it is a top 20, 21 public university per US News. they tout that all over their website.
i'm going to escape from this circle now.
Last edited by ClemVegas; 06-20-2016 at 07:40 PM..
anecdotal is talking about a school you didn't attend with no specifics about the teachers. you have never responded to this point.
your west florence students all needing to do remedial classes is anecdotal, there is no way to corroborate it. i don't think it is likely that you knew every student from florence and if they were in remedial classes. we also have no way of corroborating that you were a better student. you can assert anything. to me it sounds like bragging.
you are asserting the student body demographics proves good school or bad school. I disagree with that. It is about the teachers. Education stems from teachers. It makes no sense to define a school by the bad students if students have gone to the same school , were accepted into good colleges, and obtained good jobs in challenging professions. you can't prove this is not true. you can say it is anecdotal if you want.
if you are going to CU, why didn't you know it is a top 20, 21 public university per US News. they tout that all over their website.
anecdotal is talking about a school you didn't attend with no specifics about the teachers. you have never responded to this point.
I did...remember us talking about graduation rates and test scores, how many got into 4-year colleges? Thats one way to measure how good the teachers are. Looking at what percentage of teachers have advanced degrees, 20% more of the teachers at Dutch Fork, Irmo, and Chapin (respectively) have advanced degrees than WF's teachers...not saying an advanced degree makes a good teacher but its the only other way aside from test scores, graduation rates, etc. that you can really measure a teacher.
your west florence students all needing to do remedial classes is anecdotal, there is no way to corroborate it. i don't think it is likely that you knew every student from florence and if they were in remedial classes. we also have no way of corroborating that you were a better student. you can assert anything. to me it sounds like bragging.
Again, the sarcasm went over your head since this was a saracastic response to your claim that the kids in remedial classes at West Florence were the ones who went to FMU ar an attempt to slight FMU i guess. I'll be the first one to say I was not the smartest kid at FMU and a few WF kids made better grades than I did. I think you just completely missed my point and the sarcasm.
you are asserting the student body demographics proves good school or bad school. I disagree with that. It is about the teachers. Education stems from teachers. It makes no sense to define a school by the bad students if students have gone to the same school , were accepted into good colleges, and obtained good jobs in challenging professions. you can't prove this is not true. you can say it is anecdotal if you want.
It does not fully dictate the school but does play a role. Why? Because many of these students are the ones who don't care, get in trouble, cause disruption, etc. Now I am generalizing of course and in no way am I suggesting that all poor students are that way, but when you have a lower socioeconomic class at the school, it does have the tendency to increase these types of issues. Aside from this, funding and programs offered are also a big part of what makes a school good or not as I have said now for the third time. WF has a less per pupil expenditure than other schools here. It also does not have the same amount of STEM programs that places like Chapin, Irmo, Dutch Fork, and River Bluff do (the STEM program in SC was started at Dutch Fork). Dutch Fork has a health sciences campus that rivals what FMU has, WF does not have anything close to that. This is what I am talking about.
if you are going to CU, why didn't you know it is a top 20, 21 public university per US News. they tout that all over their website.
I saw it was #1 in SC but I missed the US News ranking but you're right, it is all over the site...need to pay more attention apparently!
OP, I thought of another area that may be a good place to look at, I am not sure anyone listed Traveler's Rest yet but its a nice area, 10 miles or so from downtown Greenville with a fantastic downtown on the Swamp Rabbit Trail and at the base of Paris Mountain. Its developing out there but still pretty small and quaint so you may want to check that place out when you come visit as well.
It was actually one of the first towns I started with. I think it was another post. Probably my first onthe sc forum. While school ratings aren't everything (I know), travelers rest schools seem to not be as good. Is there only the one district there?
It was actually one of the first towns I started with. I think it was another post. Probably my first onthe sc forum. While school ratings aren't everything (I know), travelers rest schools seem to not be as good. Is there only the one district there?
TR is part of Greenville County Schools which is all of Greenville County. That was the one thing I figured might be a drawback for you as I know TR doesn't tend to rank as high. To be honest, I am not very familiar with TRHS so I wouldnt be able to give any good insights on that school but overall Greenville County School District is very strong and has some phenomenal schools so if there is any school choice opportunity, you might be able to go to a better HS.
Like I said, not too sure about TR, it may be a good school and ranks poorly...anyone else on here know more about TR?
Wilson High school has the IB program that any parent/student can apply to, including students not living in the areas zoned for the school.
The schools offer AP courses starting in the 11th grade, and these include math and science courses. This is STEM preparation unless you want to argue that college level science and math courses that are credits in STEM majors is not a STEM program.
I and others were able to get into good colleges, colleges ranked much higher than FMU, and colleges that offer more STEM majors. Many of us graduated with degrees in STEM related fields. I think this refutes your premise that our schools don't stack up based on some kind of STEM funding/program comparison. I know Carver Elementary has a STEM based curriculum. If a school offers math, science classes, that is STEM. So it comes down to how good the teachers and textbooks are, and you can't talk about the teachers and textbooks.
The schools in FLorence are not underfunded. Physicians, etc would not send their kids to an underfunded school. The schools in Columbia are generally much larger, west florence is a small school. Schools with more students have a larger heat load, which requires more AC to offset, and AC costs are the biggest expense for any building. You have to look at funding in terms of costs to run a school and costs to run a school are not related to number of students in a linear relationship.
Comparing schools with a focus on the student body stats without talking about teachers and textbooks is like comparing Target and Walmart in terms of the success of the customers in life rather than in terms of the customer service, prices, cleanliness at the two stores.
Teacher and textbooks are the thing, along with the extracurricular activites, and the offering of AP coures and an IB program. There are also special needs programs and other programs like REACH. all of this requires funding and it is funded.
Do you think the schools in Columbia with the 3, 2, 1 school scores are adequately funded? Your premise seems to be the schools in the smaller cities are underfunded, yet there are larger schools in the urban areas of the bigger cities that have lower school scores than many rural and small city schools. i don't think there are many students at those schools who are going to college especially in a STEM program, yet the schools are not underfunded.
it seems like every time I have posted something positive about the schools in Florence in response to questions about them, you show up to say Columbia schools are better. It is almost like an algorithm is in place in which a comparison between Florence and Columbia schools must be made but it does not include any discussion of teachers, and student / parent experiences with the schools, and what the students do post-graduation. if the students who apply themselves while in the schools can get into good colleges and then obtain good jobs, the school has accomplished it mission. it doesn't make sense to use the unmotivated students and the students who struggle to learn at a school to grade a school in comparison to another. they don't teach the courses.
I would not tout a school if I did not think they are good schools, simply because I went to them. i am not getting paid for this.
if you are saying things like Windsor Forest backs up to Darlington street when it doesn't back up to Darlington street, I think people should take what you say about Florence with a grain of salt. Being a college kid in town for 4 years gives a person a limited perspective on a city vs long term residents who went to the schools or have kids who went to the schools. i think that your claim that the west florence suburbs, which you claim are not suburbs, has higher crime than the Irmo area is baseless. it has a much lower population and population density, which means less criminals and less probability of interacting with criminals. The suburbs are an adequate distance from the high crime areas downtown.
a few years ago, a young woman attending USC was shot by a drug addict in Five Points in Columbia's downtown and there is a gas station in that area that closes at dusk because of the crime issues.
I meant to add that students in the advanced and intermediate courses at schools in any city are not in the same classrooms with the failing students who tend to be the most disruptive. and if you didn't attend a school, you cannot say with certainity there is a significant amount of disruption by students in the school simply by looking at student body data. a consistently disruptive student will be kicked out of the school.
i've spent too much time responding to a person who referred to me as 'Champ'.
Last edited by ClemVegas; 06-21-2016 at 05:24 AM..
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