Moving to Tampa... would love some help! (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: real estate, apartments)

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by Atari2600

I mean, there's many dozens of them. Go to Zillow and look at the school listings in the greater Tampa Bay area, and then look at their ratings on "Great Schools." I don't really save those homes in Zillow... because they are 1s and 2s... so I don't have any of them saved.


Some of the /better/ ones are in Plant, Fish Hawk, etc... but "better" is like 6s and 7s... which is still quite bad. The realtor we talked to today was "shocked" that the high school in Plant was a 5 or 7 (can't remember which). She said she had always thought it was such a great school... I was like, did you look at Great Schools? More than half the students are failing...

Zillow is not the place for school ratings. The Florida Department of Education is the only place with statistical data regarding a school's academic performance. Anything else is BS.

RM

[Atari2600]

Originally Posted by Trip Mcnealy

I highly doubt there are schools getting 1's. I havent seen that ever. Teacher salaries have been raised as well. It will take some time but they are investing in the pipeline. Just by reading your few posts it seems lke Tampa may not be for you, which is OK! We all have our wish lists.

~25 Schools that are a 3 and 2
https://www.greatschools.org/florida..._scores_rating



~25 Schools that have a 1

https://www.greatschools.org/florida..._scores_rating

Originally Posted by MortonR

Florida organizes schools on a county-wide basis rather than by city, town or township like you're used to from up north.

You keep saying this. I'm from Miami... not from up North. I'm not a New Yorker. I currently own a house in Fort Lauderdale / Cooper City, which I rent out. I am currently living in Texas, and am moving from Texas back to Florida, but instead in Tampa.

Originally Posted by MortonR

Zillow is not the place for school ratings. The Florida Department of Education is the only place with statistical data regarding a school's academic performance. Anything else is BS.

RM

Zillow gets the ratings from "GreatSchools.org" which gets them from the Florida Department of Education.

Originally Posted by MortonR

Rather than fuss about this stuff embrace it and move on. If you've committed to come here you're stuck with us, and as far as places like Fishhawk there are a lot worse areas you could be in. Do be aware that there is a caste system in Fishhawk of sorts. If you live in the original sections they're often referred to as the "ghetto" by some. I never grasped this as It's tough to understand how a $300k+ house could be "ghetto".

RM

Don't get me wrong, I love Florida. It's the best state in the union... hands down.



I'm just disappointed in how bad the schools are in Tampa. It's not this bad in Fort Lauderdale, or Miramar, Cooper City, Davie, Plantation, etc. Who are you guys voting for, for your city commissioners? This should not be a difficult problem to fix.I should quit Federal employment and run for city commissioner.





Anyway, I apologize... I'm not trying to trash Tampa. I'm going to love Tampa... it has a lot of history, and I'm going to have fun... and I'll be back in Florida. But it was a wake-up call to me to see so many really, really bad schools...

[MortonR]

GreatSchools, along with other such ratings web sites, monetize their information. In other words, they can be "gamed" and the results steered by interaction of the members and participants. GreatSchools "ratings" are their construct, not the raw data from the Florida Department of Education.

OK, so you haven't lived "up north". The point is to draw a comparison with how Florida organizes it's school districts. It's a lousy business model, no matter how you look at it.

Long story short, Florida stinks when it comes to education, no matter how you look at it. Some districts are better than others, but it's relative. Hillsborough has a long standing issue with poor fiscal management, probably because it's a hard core "old boy's" environment, where the way you get ahead is to hitch your wagon to someone higher up that's in favor with the administration. That's one of the reasons (in my opinion) why they're so top-heavy with administrators.

As an aside, I would add that being a "bad" school isn't necessarily a bad thing. I worked in Title 1 schools and they were some of the best places I ever worked. Why? Because the educators there were dedicated professionals that were committed to the success of the students. There was far more funding as a result of them being Title 1 schools, so the resources available to the students were far beyond anything a highly rated school got. That's one thing people don't realize - highly rated schools are often poorly funded because the District will direct resources elsewhere where they're in much greater need. Let the PTA buy that new equipment you want!

One of my children was a special needs kid. They went to two of the worst schools in the area, but I wouldn't have traded those years for anything. The dedication of their teachers and the caring environment they experienced were wonderful, and not something they would have gotten at our neighborhood schools that were both A rated.

My point is that you have to look beyond the numbers. Just because a school isn't "A" rated doesn't mean it's a bad school. And that's based on the Florida DOE school rating data, not some third party website that sells their data and advertising to make a buck.

Don't like the public schools here? Home school or drop $10k+ to send them to private schools. Those are your choices.

RM

[ccgirl2019]

I've been in Fishhawk for 18months. Moved from MA, arguably the best state for education. My daughter is graduating this year from high school from an 'A' rated school. She qualified or bright futures and got her tuition and fees completely paid for 4 years at Florida state schools. She is in all AP classes. Guess what...she has friends at other area high schools and the education was about the same. It was comparable to what she was doing in MA as well. Have you looked in Fishhawk/Bloomingdale/Valrico/Riverview? Those are nice areas with very good schools. I will say be careful with the 'A' rated schools there seems to be a good deal of elitest attitudes and students with affluenza.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by ccgirl2019

I will say be careful with the 'A' rated schools there seems to be a good deal of elitest attitudes and students with affluenza.

Great feedback, and quite true.

As a former administrative employee of the school district who had Fishhawk schools under my management, I found this to be very much the case - there's truly a caste system in Fishhawk.

I was at Newsome HS one day when I overheard some students talking in the media center about "those kids from the hood." Thinking that there were possibly what were known as "satellite" students that are bussed in from outside the area, I asked one of my co-workers that was based at Newsome about this.

He just chuckled and said that they were referring to kids who lived in the original (oldest) part of Fishhawk, which was considered the "ghetto".

Brother. First world problems, for sure.



RM

[ccgirl2019]

Originally Posted by MortonR

Great feedback, and quite true.

As a former administrative employee of the school district who had Fishhawk schools under my management, I found this to be very much the case - there's truly a caste system in Fishhawk.

I was at Newsome HS one day when I overheard some students talking in the media center about "those kids from the hood." Thinking that there were possibly what were known as "satellite" students that are bussed in from outside the area, I asked one of my co-workers that was based at Newsome about this.

He just chuckled and said that they were referring to kids who lived in the original (oldest) part of Fishhawk, which was considered the "ghetto".

Brother. First world problems, for sure.



RM

You must be talking about "Phase 1", lol. Very true. The reality is a little distorted. We often talk of the "fishhawk bubble". A lot of people are shocked when something "bad" happens here. I'm sure it happens more than people know, people just hide it and pretend it doesn't. There are some nice areas of Valrico and Riverview zoned for those schools too. My son goes to the middle school but doesn't want to go to the high school because of what goes on there. But, it's an "A" rated school....which is why I only put so much stock into the ratings. Not sure what we're going to do since he has friends and really doesn't want to move again.

I appreciate your feedback here, btw, it helped me when I was looking to move.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by ccgirl2019

You must be talking about "Phase 1", lol. Very true. The reality is a little distorted. We often talk of the "fishhawk bubble". A lot of people are shocked when something "bad" happens here. I'm sure it happens more than people know, people just hide it and pretend it doesn't. There are some nice areas of Valrico and Riverview zoned for those schools too. My son goes to the middle school but doesn't want to go to the high school because of what goes on there. But, it's an "A" rated school....which is why I only put so much stock into the ratings. Not sure what we're going to do since he has friends and really doesn't want to move again.

I appreciate your feedback here, btw, it helped me when I was looking to move.

Randall is a great school. I have a number of good friends who still work there, and they do a great job - middle school is an area I would never choose to work in, as the hormones that cause through the hallways will make you crazy.

When we moved to the area in the mid 90s, Mrs. RM wanted to live in a gate community. The only one around at the time was River Hills. I set up a visit and as a part of it I arranged for us to spend some time at the community playground with our youngsters. We chatted with a number of people there, all of which were very nice - but - nearly every one of them started the conversation by asking what section we lived in.

That was enough to convince Mrs. RM that River Hills was *not* someplace we wanted to raise our family. We built a house in Bloomingdale East and have never regretted it.

Glad I could be of assistance.

RM

[EngGirl]

Originally Posted by MortonR

Great feedback, and quite true.

As a former administrative employee of the school district who had Fishhawk schools under my management, I found this to be very much the case - there's truly a caste system in Fishhawk.

I was at Newsome HS one day when I overheard some students talking in the media center about "those kids from the hood." Thinking that there were possibly what were known as "satellite" students that are bussed in from outside the area, I asked one of my co-workers that was based at Newsome about this.

He just chuckled and said that they were referring to kids who lived in the original (oldest) part of Fishhawk, which was considered the "ghetto".

Brother. First world problems, for sure.



RM

The same exact story with Seven Oaks in Wesley Chapel! I mean elementary kids were talking about "those kids from the hood" and even some teachers said it out loud. I couldn't believe it when I heard it myself! Caste system indeed! Some people feel entitled for no good reason.

[JimLathrup]

Originally Posted by EngGirl

The same exact story with Seven Oaks in Wesley Chapel! I mean elementary kids were talking about "those kids from the hood" and even some teachers said it out loud. I couldn't believe it when I heard it myself! Caste system indeed! Some people feel entitled for no good reason.

Especially some posters even here on this site and all over the internet seems to me. Self-aggrandizing, self-appointed and omniscient

[cjairo191]

Originally Posted by JimLathrup

Especially some posters even here on this site and all over the internet seems to me. Self-aggrandizing, self-appointed and omniscient

That is what happens when you grow up in the suburbs and are sheltered from the real world. I hope these kids are exposed to other cultures and social economic statues. And yes, there are some that are cleaner and superior. London for example.