Different School Rating. How differenet is 8/10 from 10/10? (Westlake, Hudson: real estate, crime)

[NEO_F]

Hello Fellow City-Data Posters,
Husband and I are new to Northeast Ohio, in late 20s, no kids yet, but we are planning life around it
So we are thinking about buying a house in Solon for its strong public school system.

But we are not sure about the difference of schools within Solon.

For example, if we go to greatschools.org today (Solon Schools - Solon Ohio School Ratings - Public and Private) I would see

Grace L Roxbury Elementary K-4 7/10
Parkside Elementary K-4 8/10
Arthur Road Elementary School PK-4 10/10
Dorothy E Lewis Elementary School K-4 10/10

My questions are:
1. Does it matter, if we purchase a house in Solon that is assigned to an 8/10 elementary school?
I am slightly confused about the "assigned" thing. Could we send our kids to the 10/10 elementary school, even if we are not "assigned"?

2. How different are the schools?
Of course school ratings will be different depending on where I look, city-data's own ratings are:
Grace L Roxbury Elementary K-4 94/100
Parkside Elementary K-4 95/100
Arthur Road Elementary School PK-4 92/100
Dorothy E Lewis Elementary School K-4 97/100
so I Appreciate you sharing ideas how much the ratings reflect quality of teaching.


Thank you!
NEO_F

[SquareBetterThanAll]

My opinion: skip the Greatschools and City-Data ratings. Though the have value in getting a ballpark idea it is simply some random company's made up calculation based on state data, sometimes combined with other local info.

The most useful and generally accepted evaluation system is from the state itself. The districts as well as individual schools are ranked based on academic benchmarks and include demographics information as well. In most cases this is most of the info the sites above use for their ratings.

This should be the page you're looking for. Pages - Ohio School Report Cards

As far as sending your kids to an assigned schools, most districts allow for open enrollment within the district assuming there is space. In many instances if there is much disparity between schools everyone is thinking the same thing you are and the best rated schools are full in most if not all grades. In Solon, which is a big more academically homogeneous, that may not be the case.

[L2DB]

IMO, the differences (if any) are not big enough to override any of the other factors that would go into your house decision.

I.e. if house A is 5% cheaper or a 10 minute shorter commute or whatever, don't choose house B just because it's in a 10/10 rated school. The ratings are fuzzy at best.

[NEO_F]

Hi SquareBetterThanAll,
Thank you for pointing me to the state evaluation system. This is very helpful.

Your explanation on "assigned" helps a lot. So in theory we would be able to send our kids to schools in the district, depending on available spaces.

Good to know this, thank you.
NEO_F

Originally Posted by SquareBetterThanAll

My opinion: skip the Greatschools and City-Data ratings. Though the have value in getting a ballpark idea it is simply some random company's made up calculation based on state data, sometimes combined with other local info.

The most useful and generally accepted evaluation system is from the state itself. The districts as well as individual schools are ranked based on academic benchmarks and include demographics information as well. In most cases this is most of the info the sites above use for their ratings.

This should be the page you're looking for. Pages - Ohio School Report Cards

As far as sending your kids to an assigned schools, most districts allow for open enrollment within the district assuming there is space. In many instances if there is much disparity between schools everyone is thinking the same thing you are and the best rated schools are full in most if not all grades. In Solon, which is a big more academically homogeneous, that may not be the case.

[NEO_F]

Hi L2DB,
Thank you for pointing out not to let the "assigned" school dominate the house decision. I was quite apprehensive of making this big decision based on fuzzy ratings.
Thank you!
NEO_F

[Peregrine]

Originally Posted by L2DB

IMO, the differences (if any) are not big enough to override any of the other factors that would go into your house decision.

I.e. if house A is 5% cheaper or a 10 minute shorter commute or whatever, don't choose house B just because it's in a 10/10 rated school. The ratings are fuzzy at best.

Totally agree. I applaud you for wanting the best for your kids., I do. But you are totally over analyzing. Your kid will get a fantastic education in ANY Solon school.
With parents like you, how could they not.

[reretarf]

Those ratings are all bull. I don't know where they come up with those numbers, but all the schools in Solon are run by the board, so they are forced to teach the same things, plus the teachers in every school rotate from school to school all the time, so one school can't really be worse than another. I recommend sending your kid to whatever school is closest to your house.

[deskjockey]

Your children will be taught the same curriculum in most schools; Solon, Orange, Aurora, Westlake, Hudson etc. They will tell you that so and so school system is rated higher or lower than other schools implying that one is better than the other; that is bull. A lot depends on your children and the support system at home. Ratings provide you a general guideline, that's it.

School ratings are over rated and have a hidden agenda, they justify the real estate prices. They are used to trick home buyers.

As a long time former Solon resident, I know that the well- to-do do not send their children to Solon schools. Crime is going up in Solon, it was recently rated less safe than Brooklyn!

Curriculum is set at the state level and not at the board level.

[Peregrine]

Originally Posted by deskjockey

A lot depends on your children and the support system at home.

I would say everything. I have a friend who decided to take a chance and send her kid to CMSD. Check this out: SHE'S LEARNING! and doing well. Crazy, right?

[deskjockey]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

I would say everything.

I do not disagree with you Peregrine. She is learning because, intrinsically, she prolly has what it takes to learn.

People look up school ratings (take these with a bag of salt), buy homes in cities that have good school rating (pay more than fair price for the home) and send their children to school. All done, right? This is just the beginning of the marathon, not the end of the race.