[laulob]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Underperforming students take away from quality teaching time. Students that need extra attention are often disruptive in some fashion even if it is not just paying attention and being called to task or by simply needing extra time to have things explained in more detail. That means less time for other students. Also sometimes a teacher will have to "dumb down" their lesson to a class that has a number of lower students. This eliminates challenges for better performing students. You may not realize it but it does have an impact and that is why many parents are interested in the better performing school systems.

Also note that I am not saying that the teachers are not as good. The teacher I know in the Meriden system is one of the best I know. I agree a lot of an education has to do with the student themselves and particularly the parents involvement in the child's education. Poorer performing schools though also tend to have more less involved parents than the better performing systems. Jay

I agree with Jay. Poorer performing schools also tend to have less to offer students in terms of advanced classes and clubs. They also can get less state funding because of low test scores which then could lead to cutting activities like sports, music and/or art.

[Silli]

Why not just move to Wallingford?

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by laulob

They also can get less state funding because of low test scores.

I wish. The lower the test scores drop in Hartford/Bridgeport/Etc., the more money the state appropriates to them in ECS funding.

[DavieJ89]

Originally Posted by Stratford, Ct. Resident

I wish. The lower the test scores drop in Hartford/Bridgeport/Etc., the more money the state appropriates to them in ECS funding.

money is not always the solution though

and to JayCT, thanks for your post on why low performing schools hurt motivated students, very enlightening thank you

I agree a lot of an education has to do with the student themselves and particularly the parents involvement in the child's education

I have pretty distant and apathetic parents unfortunately, like I said it was my own fault my grades weren't the best. my parents were well aware of my grades but just didnt seem to care or do anything about it. my 18 year old sister and my 14 year old brother are suffering now because of it.

I graduated high school down here in Orlando, FL. People say school systems up north are ahead of schools down south. I think this is true. When I moved to Orlando in late 2005 during my sophomore year, the kids were being taught stuff I was taught at Naugatuck High School in the 9th grade. I made everybody else in my class look dumb on my first day of school knowing all the answers

And the Orange County Public School system is rated "A" by the state of Florida (pretty damn good IMO for a school system where the student body is 66% minorities). Different schools in different states have different standards I suppose

Whether or not schools up north are better or not, I'd rather have my future kids attend school in Orlando then in Waterbury or Meriden

[JViello]

Originally Posted by Silli

Why not just move to Wallingford?

Excellent point. Wallingford itself is a decent "town". I have family there myself.

[NK1959]

If Wallingford for some reason doesn't appeal to you, and you are looking for something more near the city, then I'd suggest Rocky Hill. I lived in CT my first 30 yrs of life and was born and lived in Wlfd for 18 of them but moved often after that due to my xhusbands work. Of them, my kids learned the most in Rocky Hill. Rocky Hill had fabulous schools with a great gifted program. When we moved up here to NH after 3 yrs in Rocky Hill, my kids were way ahead of the rest, and NH schools are no slouches. If you do decide on "Wallyworld" as the natives affectionately call it, go for one far side of the town or the other, not so much the middle... too busy traffic wise.If you are on the east side anywhere near rt 68 you can get to town in 5 min. It has the benefit of having Choate-Rosemary Hall available if your kids were to to go a private high school. I went to Lyman Hall , on the east side, and did just fine.. college, etc... they also have a great vocational system there. On the west side is Sheehan. They have a planetarium and a pool (we were so jealous!) so gym has swim classes. I don't know as much about their other offerings but I believe you can be in the voca program from anywhere in the town. Music and sports are available at both schools, but of course I'm biased towards LHHS on that one since I spent about every spare minute in the music dept. My great niece goes there now, having just transferred from a nearby northerly town and is happy in school for the first time, ever.
More info than you probably wanted, but hey, it's a first hand acct...

[gobosox5]

Cheshire and Southington would be the obvious choices. Both are within 15 minutes of Wallingford, and within 30 minutes of both Hartford and New Haven. Both also have very strong recreation and sports programs, though they have slightly different feels to them.

Cheshire was one of the top 100 towns in the state according to CNNMoney. From my experiences with Cheshire though, (similar to a lot of my town, Farmington), they seem to be kind of elitists. They know there town's good and they are out to prove it. I'm involved with a lot of youth sports in the area, and I consider Cheshire to be a "soccer" town, if you know what I mean. They also have the winningist girl's swimming program in the country. They excel in pretty much every sport, having the financial and human resources to develop good programs. But, people there can tend to be a bit snotty (though a good majority of them are extremely good people).

Southington, on the other hand, is slightly more of a blue-collar town. Still no worries about crime or lack of a quality education though. But you're more likely to see people driving pick-up trucks instead of SUV's. They love their football and baseball in Southington and have the hardware to prove it. That's where Rob Dibble and Carl Pavano grew up. There's lots of great new neighborhoods in Southington, and a real nice downtown. It's a bit more down to earth than it's neighbor to the south.

Also look at Rocky Hill and Cromwell. Both slightly smaller towns, but they are both very family orientated as well.

Hope this helps.