Would You Send Your Kids to Charlottesville City Schools?

[Isle_Gal]

Yes ... please do post a follow-up! And if you think about it could you ask your contact person to comment on the Charlottesville middle school (Walker/Buford I think it is)? We're trying to get to Charlottesville area by this fall, when my son will be entering kindergarten. At first we had decided to focus exclusively on Albermarle County schools (and homes) because the schools have a much better rep. But I would love to be in the city and closer to activities, etc. And many of the homes that I've seen that I liked the most were in the city. I feel like we could find a home that feeds into a good elementary school, but they all end up at the same middle school, which doesn't look great on paper. It would be interesting to hear an educator's perspective on that.

[Pavel]

Yes, all 6 city elementary schools (Greenbrier, B-M, Clark, Johnson, Venable, Jackson-Via) feed Walker (5+6 grade) and Buford (7+8) and then on to C-ville High School. From what I heard Walker and Buford both used to be middle schools, but in the late 70's or early 80's they were changed to one upper elementary and one middle school respectively. You may be interested to know, C-ville area also has private middle schools: Village School | Main | HomePage, Welcome to Field School.

[theshan]

You can call Buford and CHS and ask to get in touch with their PTO presidents, who have kids in the school right now. I think they both will be quite honest about the system's strengths and weaknesses. You are also welcome to take a tour by calling the counseling office.

You will find that the city schools are pretty segregated by class and race, which is due to the tracking system (that is my main criticism). But there are plenty of well-educated and upper-middle class folks who send their kids through Charlottesville City Schools and are active, voice their opinions, do fundraising, and stay involved. That upper echelon of kids is what makes Charlottesville well-known--they win orchestra, band, drama, quiz bowl competitions all the time. The honors-level students go to the Ivy League and other top schools regularly.

Honestly, based on the OP's price range, I would choose to live in the city and send my child to the public schools, even Jackson-Via and Clark (they both have phenom principals who are true school leaders). You will get a nice house with character, in a neighborhood with kids who also go to the same school. Walk to the Farmers Market and the Downtown Mall. Go to Fridays after Five. Education is more than the test scores on a website.

[Isle_Gal]

Thanks, theshan...

Your post reminds me that everything is relative ... a "bad" school in/around Charlottesville is probably better than the "exclusive" private school where we now live. Thanks for the reminder that statistics alone don't tell the whole story.

[amybeth]

Cale is an excellent elementary school. We have a 12 yr old that went there and we currently have a third grader at Cale. Caring teachers, nurturing environment, great afterschool program...

[epJMfan]

I am actually a student who has attended Charlottesville City Schools my whole life. For elementary I went to Greenbriar, which did infact build me into the student I am today. Now, after attending Charlottesville High School (which is one of the best public high school in the country) I am planning on applying to colleges like UVa, Boston University, and NYU.Chs, along with the the middle schools are great for diversity. I have friends of all races, and enjoy learning about the different culture our school has at our anual "This is my Story" project which displays personal stories of different students from all around the world, and how they ended in Charlottesville. When people say that the school is segragated, they would be wrong. That might be more of the case in the lower schools, but definitely not at the high school. So i would recomend to you, to infact send your children to the Charlottesville City Schools. Because as a student myself, I never wanted to go to any other school system or the other local high schools.