how is it dealing with palm beach county schools? WPB (Boca Raton: apartment, rental)

[bocamom]

I am planning to make the switch from private to public for my child, and wonder what sort of things i should be prepared for in a WPB area elementary school?

It will be second grade. I am really nervous and hope that it will be a positive experience for my child. I have spent so much money on private school and can't afford it anymore - never could. . .

[StarlaJane]

Only if you have no other choice.

[bocamom]

am i being naive to think that a public gifted school might be a better choice than private montessori?

he was bored to tears, but safe. I really can't afford it. I could ask for a scholarship.

[bale002]

Originally Posted by StarlaJane

Only if you have no other choice.

Obviously there are different opinions and the answer will also depend on the particular community.

I tend to share the view expressed by StarlaJane, adding that sending a child to public school is tantamount to neglect at best, possibly child abuse.

Someone authoritative wrote a long time ago, dispense with the education of the schools and have good masters at home instead.

Perhaps another alternative is to search out a home school group in your area, of which there is at least one in Boca.

Having said that, Boca Raton public schools have a reputation for being at least tolerable. I know of a Boca mom who switched her sons from private to public school, and it went well, but they were entering high school, so more mature and at a "natural" break.

To be sure, any of the paths is strewn with risk, as is life itself.

We wish you the best.

[TriMT7]

I'm going to advance a completely different suggestion than the above posters: GO FOR IT.

I myself am a product of St. Lucie County Schools, which doesn't exactly enjoy the best reputation around. My family couldn't afford private schools if they wanted. Fast forward now past college and grad school, and I have done much better career-wise and education wise than ALL of my friends that went to private school.

Any child that has a parent actively involved in their education will thrive. Palm Beach County public schools have some of the top rated individual schools in the COUNTRY. Your child will go to Palm Beach Day school. I know named partners of law firms who send their kids to that school.

It's harsh to say, but a subpar students will be subpar in private or public schools. Smart kids in bad school situations will be naturally curious to supplement their own educations with books and learning programs. As for me, my family took regular trips to the library, and I spent a LOT of time reading as a child. You have presented yourself as a parent that is very involved, so I think it's safe to say your child will go far in any school they go to.

The tricky part with public schools becomes Middle and High School age. It is then that social development becomes more important. At that point, try to get your child into advanced learning classes, gifted classes, magnet programs, or advanced placement programs.

On the other hand, I know children of doctors who are not doing well in private schools, and it could MAYBE be because the parents are always gone. Home schooling is an option for some, but I have never met a well-adjusted home schooled adult in my life (yet!) lol.

[bocamom]

WEll, I am a single mom who has to get a job or my kid won't eat. I think my child is home schooled to a large extent, and I can trace his advanced academic needs on myself as i didn't know any better, not having much experience with children. I have worked in the arts and academia in the wpb area, and living near Palm beach public school (NOT PALM BEACH DAY SCHOOL, which is not at all public) will put me in an area where I can start to build back my life. I can also get a little apartment on the intracoastal there for the price of a dump in boca. wpb rental prices are VERY soft right now.

I were wealthy I'd arrange fabulous tutors for him on the subjects he is interested in. but in this universe he also needs to attend a public school day care, basically. More than anything he needs science education, and I am trying to provide it as it is clear that his private school absolutely cannot entertain him academically.

I can get a really small and musty place that makes me want to cry near a highway and golf course drainage ditch (i mean conveniently located and on a canal) in south central Boca and send him to a school with a good academic reputation and a gifted program that says they are set up for "highly gifted kids" (Del Prado elementary). I don't like roads and golf courses. I like living flat on the beach, like I do now, in a C/D rated school district with no gifted program.



I am not particularly happy with montessori, although the art and PE and Music "specials" are fantastic, there is almost no science or foreign language education and my son is wicked bored. Oh, and it is pricey and I drive a total of
2 hours a day to get him there because I can't afford to live close by and on the water, so it is not a carbon neutral situation.

someone please make this decision for me as i seem to dull witted to decide between what is best for him (boca or stay with private at the cost?) or me (wpb?). i can't seem to weigh the extra time we will spend at the norton museum (would be his bus stop!) and other cultural options in wpb and being in a more vibrant city atmosphere with a west central boca experience, which seems a bit like mommy abuse to me, as i am allergic to designer handbags.

are there any single men in central boca OR downtown west palm?

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by bocamom

I have worked in the arts and academia in the wpb area, and living near Palm beach public school (NOT PALM BEACH DAY SCHOOL, which is not at all public) will put me in an area where I can start to build back my life. I can also get a little apartment on the intracoastal there for the price of a dump in boca. wpb rental prices are VERY soft right now.

Palm Beach Public is actually what I meant. The lawyer I am talking about sends his kids there, his wife is in higher education. They COULD afford private.

[bocamom]

any chance they'd talk to me?

i would love to talk to a parent from there. I am considering just loitering in the area until i meet one.

the school board and school staff are unable to answer questions like:

what is the gifted pedagogy?
what do they do in class?
is there an arts based education?
what sort of discipline do you employ?

i can't imagine and a parent wouldn't ask those kinds of questions but they are treating me like a freak and avoiding me and talking in total political doublespeak.

any ideas who else to call? is there a particular journalist who would have the inside scoop?

[StarlaJane]

Well, if you can't afford a private school--or it is going to be so stressful financially that your child may not see you as often or the situation will cause you to be emotionally and pysically stressed--then public school is certainly going to be your best option, especially b/c the private school your son was attending was not challenging him. I also agree that a child's home situation is usually more important than his or her academic environment; you can fill in a lot of gaps at home by augmenting your child's intellectual growth.

There are some excellent schools in the PBCounty system but they are usually run like private schools and have admissions procedures. There is Dreyfoos [High School], which is very good (so I've heard) as well as Bak Middle School. As far as Palm Beach Public, here is a helpful link:
Greatschools.net Search: palm beach

If I were in your situation, I would live in Jupiter and send my kids to public school there.
Greatschools.net Search: jupiter elementary
But if you can somehow [later on] find a way to get your child into the aformentioned middle and/or high school, then I would try to do that, although Jupiter is also a good alternative at the middle and high school levels.

[bocamom]

i am much more concerned about the social environment and influences. the school is half hispanic, and the other half is about ten percent other with the other 40% split black and white.

my experiences with hispanic kids in boca has been great so i have a hard time with my friends' telling me it is different in west palm cause i haven't a clue what demographics and income level (it is a title one school, 75% on free or reduced lunch as opposed to 5% in the boca schools and a 70% white demographic int eh boca schools). people keep intimating that this is an issue, like, even the school board memebers, and it makes me angry on one hand because who cares what color the kids are and how much moeny they have, but if people KEEP mentioning it, maybe I am being NAIVE.

what does this mean to a second grader? i was raised both ways, sometimes in boca private schools, and soemtimes the only white person in a poor class in a broward public school, and i just don't remember either one being better or worse in any way, but i was a kid, and more interested in roller skating and reading than racism and class politics