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How are your public and private schools in the northwest area? I looked at greatschools.com but wanted more info then they provided. I'm not a fan of large testing so I dont want to know how well they did on a certain test but how your experience was with them as a school for your child.
Anyone have kids in Pea Ridge, Rogers, E.S., Huntsville school districts??
How to they compare to each other?
How is the education?
Hows the teacher to child ratio?
What kind of field trips do the kids take?
Also heard there was a private music school in the area?... Anyone know about it??.. I cant seem to find it online anymore
How are the science programs?.. I have a little boy thats into science BIGTIME!
What about any private schools? Worth the tuition? Specializing in any one thing?
Do you have charter schools or magnet (concentrates around a certain subject) schools there?
What about any tuitoring programs within these schools? I have a son with learning disabilities and want to move to a place where they will help him with that.. Any mentoring programs from the high schools to the smaller kids?
Thanks in advance for any responce... We are less then 2 wks away now to visiting your beautiful area ... Cant wait!!!!!!!!!!!
Good for you for asking all the right questions. I'm only able to touch on a few.
Honestly, I don't think you can group Pea Ridge, ES, and Huntsville in the same category as Rogers. Rogers is a big district--it now has two high schools.
Now if you want to talk about the big three--Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers--that's a comparison. My opinion only (I graduated from FHS as did my older daughter, who is now attending Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois), Fayetteville school district produces great graduates. Year over year, the high school has numerous National Merit Finalists (in recent years, we've been second only to Central High School in Little Rock).
OK back to Pea Ridge, E.S., and Huntsville--all are small district. This can be a good thing if that is what you and your children are looking for. ES tends to attract more artsy families. There is a small creative school in ES that folks rave about. I believe some areas in Pea Ridge might actually be in the Rogers school district. Huntsville is pretty "secluded" from the major NWA big towns. You'll have to drive 30 minutes to get to Fayetteville or Springdale. Again this has plusses and minuses.
"Specialized" schools--in Fayetteville there is Haas Hall Academy . This high school specializes in math and science. Last year students did a project on how the city of Fayetteville could save lots of money by placing solar panels on its stop lights.
I can't think of a specialized music school. There was talk of a fine arts school in the Rogers area though I'm not sure of its status. Update--I think I found the link to the Benton County School of the Arts
Regarding your son's learning disability,--if your child is put on an IEP(individual education plan), special services will be offered to him. There may be lots of hoops to jump through but as a parent, I'm sure you understand you have to be an advocate for your children ( you're asking all the right questions )
What I'd suggest doing for the next two weeks is make initial contact with the school districts you mentioned. Email your questions to them prior to your visit.
BTW, bring your coat. It seems cold fall weather is here. And if the leaves hold, you're in for a full fall foliage treat!
Good for you for asking all the right questions. I'm only able to touch on a few.
Honestly, I don't think you can group Pea Ridge, ES, and Huntsville in the same category as Rogers. Rogers is a big district--it now has two high schools.
Now if you want to talk about the big three--Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers--that's a comparison. My opinion only (I graduated from FHS as did my older daughter, who is now attending Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois), Fayetteville school district produces great graduates. Year over year, the high school has numerous National Merit Finalists (in recent years, we've been second only to Central High School in Little Rock).
OK back to Pea Ridge, E.S., and Huntsville--all are small district. This can be a good thing if that is what you and your children are looking for. ES tends to attract more artsy families. There is a small creative school in ES that folks rave about. I believe some areas in Pea Ridge might actually be in the Rogers school district. Huntsville is pretty "secluded" from the major NWA big towns. You'll have to drive 30 minutes to get to Fayetteville or Springdale. Again this has plusses and minuses.
"Specialized" schools--in Fayetteville there is Haas Hall Academy . This high school specializes in math and science. Last year students did a project on how the city of Fayetteville could save lots of money by placing solar panels on its stop lights.
I can't think of a specialized music school. There was talk of a fine arts school in the Rogers area though I'm not sure of its status. Update--I think I found the link to the Benton County School of the Arts
Regarding your son's learning disability,--if your child is put on an IEP(individual education plan), special services will be offered to him. There may be lots of hoops to jump through but as a parent, I'm sure you understand you have to be an advocate for your children ( you're asking all the right questions )
What I'd suggest doing for the next two weeks is make initial contact with the school districts you mentioned. Email your questions to them prior to your visit.
BTW, bring your coat. It seems cold fall weather is here. And if the leaves hold, you're in for a full fall foliage treat!
Great Escape, what a wealth of information you just offered "'needing more." I am sure she will put it to good use. By the way Bentonville has its share of merit finalists and semi finalists as well.
I love your info about coats and sweaters unless we have a huge change. Yes, fall is a little early, I think they were saying yesterday we will peak a little early as well, probably in about 10 days or so, certainly before the first of Nov like last year. I just dug up my sweet potatoes this afternoon.
Needingmore, keep us posted on your progress and have a great trip.
Progress??!!... Its hard when you are talking 4 very different adults and 2 little boys all making our way down there to see if we like it...
No really... We are all doing well.. The boys CANT wait to get to Arkansas.. We have looked at youtube videos, pictures and rented a movie from the library about it just so they can check it out... So far so good!!!
As far as the schools and our location.. We are looking at *possibly* opening a business in ES.. Plus I already have a job waiting in either Rogers or Fayetteville for me.. So I have to look at living between those 2 areas. Thats why I was looking/asking about the schools around there. We've seen a really nice house with the acrage we want in the Clifty area which is in Huntsville schools.. But really want to check out around Garfield area too (which has an elementary school in the Rogers district) I cant stress it enough that we dont want to live in the city.. 20 acres with some dirtbikes, treehouses and a huge garden is what we want. I dont care if its 2 miles down a dirt road..lol
As far as the schools go.. I know all those districts are going to be very different...
ES= artsy tourist town
Huntsville, garfield areas = small town schools.. long ride home on the bus.. etc.
Rogers= bigger city = more to do and more help... which usually has better testing scores and such...
I want to know if anyone has had any experience with those certain schools? Hows the teachers? principal? Is it trendy? back hills? I'm not ready to talk with any districts yet. I would prefer getting insiders opinion first.
Thanks for the links on the specialized schools. But do you have charter or magnet schools there? ... Open to the public?? I read that there was charter schools in the NW but it didnt say where or what their names were.
As far as my son.. His issues are all borderline and he has a very high IQ which means they wont qualify him for any state-federal help.. They have very broad "ranges" and having a high IQ automatically means that you are smart w/o issues??.. I dont get it.. But thats a whole other matter... I just want to make sure there is help for him no matter where I move to. He also is into science so a magnet school that targeted that area would be best for him too.. but I dont know if thats an option there either..
Our trip is on schedule so far. We would be pulling into the mountain ranges around sunset on the 28th and we are all very excited about it!!! Less then 2 wks to go
Garfield has the elementary in town and is part of the Rogers School District. I always have thought Rogers has good school,but it is probably ten times bigger than when I went to school there in the 80s.
I'm going to step out here with my opinions, if you have a child with a really high IQ, he'd probably do better in a larger district. Huntsville and Pea Ridge are not going to have the resources. Eureka Springs might due to the artists who are attracted to the area.
Again, honest opinions, you will have to advocate for your children. Public schools are aiming at the middle. Those at the top or bottom *can* get lost. Here's my personal example of advocating--when my older daughter (a National Merit Scholar) was signing up for her classes for senior year, the teacher said, "Oh she must have a math and science class". I said "no". She's already fulfilled her graduation requirements (she'd done that by 11th grade). She knew what she wanted to do with her life (theater and psychology) and an upper level math and science class weren't going to help her. Extra theater tech classes would.
Long story, I stuck to my guns. She didn't take a math or science her senior year and it did not hurt her. She is now attending a Big Ten school majoring in theater and psychology. She took her only required college math class during her freshman year at college.
I can't think of any charter schools besides the ones I previous mentioned. I did run into an old friend of mine on Friday. She had just "interviewed" Haas Hall Academy. She was impressed but did stress this is a math and science school that preps for college (read *rigorous coursework*). HH is trying to add eighth grade.
Most of the private schools in the area are affiliated with "religious organizations"--Shiloh in Springdale, First Baptist Church; St. Joseph's in Fayetteville-Catholic Church. etc.
Have you thought about homeschooling? There is a very active group of homeschoolers throughout the area.
Other thoughts--Fayetteville is home to the University of Arkansas and a fabulous new green library-Fayetteville Public Library . Both are excellent resources for supplementing education.
I have been advocating for my son the last 2 yrs. He is borderline ADD, Anxiety and Dyslexic too.. Here in MI (dont know what the laws are there yet) but if he tests with one of these learning disablilties THEN the school HAS to provide special tutoring/schooling for him.. and if they dont do it the district has to PAY to send him to who does. So no child is left out without getting the specialized teaching instruction he needs. He is not able to keep up with the brainiacs because of his learning disablilties but hes very smart. So I just want to make sure there is something for him down there.
Do you have school of choice there? So no matter where I live he can go to any school, in or out of district? We have that here, but I didnt see anywhere if you had it there or not.
BTW as far as bringing our sweaters...lol.. We had snow here last week and tuesday its supposed to be in the middle 60s.. So we are always prepared for anything..lol
No, we do not have "school of choice." Although, you can request a transfer. In the Fayetteville school district, if you live in one elementary zone, you can request to attend a different elementary. Keep in mind, transportation will not be provided, and transfers are only good for one school year at a time. So every year you'd have to request a transfer (and you're also subject to not having your request granted.
No, we do not have "school of choice." Although, you can request a transfer. In the Fayetteville school district, if you live in one elementary zone, you can request to attend a different elementary. Keep in mind, transportation will not be provided, and transfers are only good for one school year at a time. So every year you'd have to request a transfer (and you're also subject to not having your request granted.
And your request won't be granted if the school is full up. Which happens frequently in Northwest Arkansas.
And your request won't be granted if the school is full up. Which happens frequently in Northwest Arkansas.
I've noticed that they have very low student to teacher ratios there.. some as low as 9-1.. Is that normal there? or are they getting more teachers to off set the rise in students?
(also I'm not looking in Fayetteville or Springdale schools since we arent looking to move by there)
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... Cant wait!!!!!!!!!!!
