Somerville public schools (Quincy: low income, 2014, crime)

[newhavengal]

Does anyone have information on the Somerville public schools. I am looking for elementary school for 2 children. Do many kids who attend the elementary schools stay in the system through high school?

[timberline742]

What part of Somerville?

[Giodante]

I went through the system, but things may have changed since then. Here are some things that are important to consider though, based on my own experiences:

1) Stay away from the Cummings. The kids there for whatever reason haven't valued education in at least a decade, and tend to spend their time playing sports, bullying, and not speaking English. This is not a reflection on the neighboring community, which is nice. The school is just an oddity.

2) The Kennedy School is the opposite of the Cummings, and I transferred there even though I didn't live in the area just so I could get an education worth something. The academics are tough, the students care, and the school is known for giving a quality education. Many of my best friends to this day are people I met in my two years of middle school at the Kennedy.

3) All of the other schools are just...alright. Things may have improved a bit though, so do your own research.

4) Somerville High School has been a mixed bag recently. While I was there, it was ranked the #1 urban high school in Massachusetts, and MA is no slouch for education overall. In fact, SHS was usually one of the only urban high schools at academic and artistic competitions, and I was in almost all of them, so I know this for a fact. Beyond that, we won often. However, keep in mind that had I only done what was expected of me, and not a LOT more, I would NOT have been ready for a top college.

However, the year after I graduated, most of the teachers retired (the city wanted young, cheaper teachers), and within a year or two the school had a turf war between a Hatian and an El Salvadorean gang, according to people I know who were still in it (gangs were nonexistent while I was there). This is probably related to the rise of gangs in Somerville overall for the next five years, during which a disabled girl was gang raped and I believe 12 gang members were shot in a shootout. After this, the city got serious about stopping crime and it actually went away. The hipsters started coming in and pricing out the gangbangers, and they built Assembly Row on top of the abandoned parking lot the gangs were using for their shady business.

SHS is probably fine now. No more gangs, the "new" teachers have almost a decade of experience, and the city as a whole is a lot more educated than it was when I was growing up. Maybe even the elementary schools are up to snuff now.

[semiurbanite]

My kids are in the Somerville schools and having a great experience. See my previous posts - Somerville is the top performing urban district in MCAS growth over the last 2 years. Gentrification is having a large impact on the perceptions of the Somerville elementary schools, especially the ones on West side of the city. If you control for income, those schools are on par with the top suburbs.

MCAS scores controlled for income
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1O...JmM0NfSEE/view

And click play here (this doesn't even include the exceptional 2014 data): mcasdata

[pennyone]

Originally Posted by semiurbanite

My kids are in the Somerville schools and having a great experience. See my previous posts - Somerville is the top performing urban district in MCAS growth over the last 2 years. Gentrification is having a large impact on the perceptions of the Somerville elementary schools, especially the ones on West side of the city. If you control for income, those schools are on par with the top suburbs.

MCAS scores controlled for income
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1O...JmM0NfSEE/view

And click play here (this doesn't even include the exceptional 2014 data): mcasdata

Love the moving graphics. It really does tell a lot about the performance of kids from more affluent economic classes in big cities with greater socio/economic diversity. It's also surprising that towns with affluent populations and "good schools" sometimes score only evenly, or score lower than the kids from higher economic classes in the bigger cities.

What I get out of it is that the teachers who teach in diverse city schools like Somerville and Quincy districts work very hard to push their willing students to move ahead, despite the often negative distractions that can sometimes exist in city school systems. I think they have to work harder than teachers who teach at more affluent school districts so kudos to them.

[semiurbanite]

Originally Posted by pennyone

Love the moving graphics. It really does tell a lot about the performance of kids from more affluent economic classes in big cities with greater socio/economic diversity. It's also surprising that towns with affluent populations and "good schools" sometimes score only evenly, or score lower than the kids from higher economic classes in the bigger cities.

What I get out of it is that the teachers who teach in diverse city schools like Somerville and Quincy districts work very hard to push their willing students to move ahead, despite the often negative distractions that can sometimes exist in city school systems. I think they have to work harder than teachers who teach at more affluent school districts so kudos to them.

Exactly. As most studies have confirmed, and most data supports - the school itself plays little part because student achievement correlated with the socio-economic status of the household. Affluent school systems ride on the coat-tails of their residents and also teach to the test more because it support the reputation of the town and supports home prices. However once you get to 60%+ low income, I think the SES/achievement correlation falls off.

[Shizim]

Originally Posted by semiurbanite

Affluent school systems ride on the coat-tails of their residents and also teach to the test more because it support the reputation of the town and supports home prices

Be careful. Its one thing to tout Somerville after "controlling for income" and saying they are on par. Its another to slander to make you point. you go from championing your position to being another mud slinger. its unbecoming. you have no way to validate your "teach to the test" theory or prove that they "ride on coat-tails".