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The topic of block schedules came up on another thread - //www.city-data.com/forum/3154460-post4.html - and it made me think of asking for opinions. My kid will be entering Lassiter high school in East Cobb as a freshman, this fall. Apparently, Lassiter is one of only a couple of Cobb County high schools that do not use block scheduling. I think I'm OK with this because the students get year-round teaching in all core subjects, and I suspect the higher-intensity courses (honors, gifted/accelerated, AP) are more manageable on the year-round schedule.
On the other hand, the combination of traditional schedule and new high school graduation requirements leaves college-bound students with one elective at most, realistically. They can take 6 subjects, of which 5 slots are taken up by English lit/comp, math, science, social studies and (foreign language or health/PE) nearly every year. Lassiter offers many interesting-looking elective, of which I don't see how my child will ever have the opportunity to take more than one per year. That seems disappointing.
to any parents out there.....have any of you enrolled your child/ren in this new charter school? if so, what do you think? better than a public school? we are new to the area and our daughter will be starting kindergarden this fall and since we can't afford private school, we are thinking of this charter school might be a good alternative (if not,our public school would be Sanders Elementary).
Thanks in advance for your advice/comments.
I will be moving from Alabama to Georgia hopfully in about 60 days and I need to know the best areas to move to in Georgia? Areas that are safe and close for churches(prophetic/pentecostal), entertainment, great school system for my kids, shopping and full of diversity. I would really like to avoid the "ghetto" or crime infested areas. I also need to know where can I get a job quickly, I have a Bachelors degree but can't really find anything here, I had graduated back in 2006. I have been working mediocre jobs since. I figured once I move there (preferrably before) I can get a nice entry-level position and work my way up. I have a BA in Sociology and you can do almost anything with it. I just have not decided what field yet. I really like to work with youth or people dealing with abuse (not sure). Also, lets not forget a decent commute i don't want o be driving "forever"! Can someone please help me? I also would like to avoid roads that are congested and be able to find my way around quickly, although I guess it would be safe to face a little of opposition. I just want the best possible. Also do you know any areas that accept housing vouchers (just thought I would ask)? Thanks I would appreciate all of your insights.
You need to get a job first, because living in Atlanta is going to be more expensive than Alabama. Just like the rest of the country, it is harder to find a job here now than in the past. Entry level jobs don't always pay well.
When comparing schools from one area to another, statistics will frequently fail you. For example, for whatever the reason in Georgia, too many students take the SAT including students who have no plans to attend college. The best way to compare SAT scores are the scores of college bound seniors. Those scores are available at CollegeBoard.com. If anyone needs a link, please let me know and I will post it. When those scores are compared, a radically different picture emerges. For example, compare Alabama to Connecticut.
As for the elite schools, as has been mentioned, they will be in East Cobb and North Fulton. For all the despair about "Georgia schools", in truth, most kids who transfer into Milton, Walton, Northview, etc. are put back a grade because they cannot do the work at their current grade level. And yes, that includes students from Fairfield County, Wellesley, etc.
As for comparing teacher salaries and total education dollars per pupil, these statistics only have meaning within the context of the cost of living. It would be interesting to see a report which measures salaries and school expenditures which have been divided by a cost of living factor. My hunch is a different picture would emerge. As a corollary, there is a website which reports median household income as a ratio to the cost of living. A county outside of Nashville is number one in the country, Forsyth county is number two and Fayette county is number four.
Finally, I read a report a year ago which included a series of factors thought to be indicators of quality education. It included teachers' salaries, percentage of teachers who hold a masters degree and number of students per classroom. The methodology included plotting data points on a graph and doing a linear regression analysis. As teacher salaries have increased, SAT scores have dropped. As the total dollars spent on education has increased, the number of teachers who hold masters degrees has increased and classroom size has shrunk, SAT scores have decreased. The correlation was strong. Now, to all the teachers out there, I am not saying that teachers are the problem. Indeed, most teachers deeply care about education and their classes. The biggest complaint of teachers I know is the amount of paperwork required. Every time the federal or state government devises a new program, paperwork increases and the curriculum is further stripped from the hands of teachers.
Consider this: of the G8 nations, we are number eight. It is sad and inexcusable.
As for the elite schools, as has been mentioned, they will be in East Cobb and North Fulton. For all the despair about "Georgia schools", in truth, most kids who transfer into Milton, Walton, Northview, etc. are put back a grade because they cannot do the work at their current grade level. And yes, that includes students from Fairfield County, Wellesley, etc.
...
Consider this: of the G8 nations, we are number eight. It is sad and inexcusable.
AtlantaPro's comments match my experience in moving from Canada (a high-scoring G8 nation) to one of those "elite" East Cobb school districts with a rising third-grader. Being a very bright child, she managed to catch up with her Georgia peers in third grade. Had we moved a year later, it might have been too late for her to avoid repeating a year of school. Friends in Canada sometimes ask if we aren't concerned about educating our child in those dreadful, backward southern schools. We think she's getting a dizzyingly superior education to what she'd be getting back home in BC!
It is shockingly how poorly this state's and country's poor schools do, and we need to be working together on those problems, IMO. But the hand-wringing over Georgia schools in general is misleading, to say the least.
When comparing schools from one area to another, statistics will frequently fail you. For example, for whatever the reason in Georgia, too many students take the SAT including students who have no plans to attend college. The best way to compare SAT scores are the scores of college bound seniors. Those scores are available at CollegeBoard.com. If anyone needs a link, please let me know and I will post it. When those scores are compared, a radically different picture emerges. For example, compare Alabama to Connecticut.
As for the elite schools, as has been mentioned, they will be in East Cobb and North Fulton. For all the despair about "Georgia schools", in truth, most kids who transfer into Milton, Walton, Northview, etc. are put back a grade because they cannot do the work at their current grade level. And yes, that includes students from Fairfield County, Wellesley, etc.
As for comparing teacher salaries and total education dollars per pupil, these statistics only have meaning within the context of the cost of living. It would be interesting to see a report which measures salaries and school expenditures which have been divided by a cost of living factor. My hunch is a different picture would emerge. As a corollary, there is a website which reports median household income as a ratio to the cost of living. A county outside of Nashville is number one in the country, Forsyth county is number two and Fayette county is number four.
Finally, I read a report a year ago which included a series of factors thought to be indicators of quality education. It included teachers' salaries, percentage of teachers who hold a masters degree and number of students per classroom. The methodology included plotting data points on a graph and doing a linear regression analysis. As teacher salaries have increased, SAT scores have dropped. As the total dollars spent on education has increased, the number of teachers who hold masters degrees has increased and classroom size has shrunk, SAT scores have decreased. The correlation was strong. Now, to all the teachers out there, I am not saying that teachers are the problem. Indeed, most teachers deeply care about education and their classes. The biggest complaint of teachers I know is the amount of paperwork required. Every time the federal or state government devises a new program, paperwork increases and the curriculum is further stripped from the hands of teachers.
Consider this: of the G8 nations, we are number eight. It is sad and inexcusable.
I have to agree. Coming from Massachusetts to East Cobb, my first grader, a "gifted student" in Massachusetts struggled initially to catch up. Things are fine and dandy now but it was a bit of an adjustment. I keep in touch with friends back north and our elementary school is leaps and bounds ahead in math as well as language arts.
I have to agree. Coming from Massachusetts to East Cobb, my first grader, a "gifted student" in Massachusetts struggled initially to catch up. Things are fine and dandy now but it was a bit of an adjustment. I keep in touch with friends back north and our elementary school is leaps and bounds ahead in math as well as language arts.
We find the same thing in comparing the Cherokee County schools to the schools in NJ. Our 1st grader is doing the same type of work that her 2nd grade cousin in one of the highly touted districts in NJ is doing.
I do compare notes with my friends and family in the garden state and they echo your statements Bob. The Northeast seems to be riding on past glory. Herer here to the Great South!!
Bob I found great pizza at Rosa's in East Cobb.....just an FYI but that's another post.
Hello everyone, new to the thread/forum here...I think this is my first post. I plan to check this forum often so maybe I'll be able to contribute some valuable input.
I live intown in the NW area. I also grew up in the same neighborhood. I started my schooling at a Montessori school near E. Rivers (don't think it's still open), then attended E. Rivers Elementary starting with first grade, then Sutton Middle School, then North Fulton High School (which later merged with North Atlanta with the former campus now home to the Atlanta International School) for one year until ending my pre-college education at Woodward Academy, graduating in 1991. My wife and I now own a home in the E. Rivers district and have a young boy who will enter Kindergarten in Fall 2011.
My impression of what's going on in this area is that more and more families are moving in and warming up to public school so that, hopefully, by the time our son is of age, public schools will be the "cool thing to do" and people won't think twice about sending their children there. Actually, the Morris Brandon district is already there, along with Jackson and Smith, but E. Rivers is probably 5-10 years behind in the transition. I am still very interested in what's going on as I want to be prepared to make a "game-day" decision and possibly enroll my child into private if needed, but am completely open to public school, too. I would love to hear from others in this area and what their impressions are with the schools currently, especially E. Rivers elem. and Sutton middle.
My experiences in APS was great. The Montessori start was very good so I must give credit there, but for grades 1 through 8 I was in the Challenge/Gifted program which really did supplement the standard education quite nicely and accelerated my math and reasoning skills generally two- to three- grades ahead. For example, I know for a fact that I was doing some fifth grade math in the second grade and was always two years ahead in reading. I am not sure how much of getting accepted into the Gifted program is based on parents helping to prepare their children versus god-given aptitude but if there's any way any of you can influence your children's likelihood of getting accepted, I would strongly strongly recommend it.
Anyway, I hope this post doesn't come off like bragging but more to put people at ease about inner city public education. I was in elementary school from 1978 until 1983 when "white flight" was at a peak and so I was in a very highly diverse school, both racially and economically. I wouldn't trade in my experience for the best private schools anywhere. It really does impact the way someone views the world, and I believe strongly that it's for the better.
Please feel free to ask any questions you think I may be able to answer and I look forward to reading more responses to this thread which is very valuable to people with young children deciding what to do. Many thanks to the original poster.
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