[sm0483]

Hello All,
I am planning on moving from New Jersey to South Florida, specifically Palm Beach County. I lived in PBC a couple of years ago and didn't really like it but now that I have a child and see how pricey it is to live in NJ, I was considering moving back down. My only concern is the school system. I've heard that Florida has a poor school system. Any imputs? My son would be starting Kindergarten in the fall. Thanks.

[TriMT7]

It is an exaggeration that the school system in Florida is "poor."

As for Palm Beach County in particular, there are bad schools in Palm Beach County (typically, in the bad areas), and several nationally ranked schools in Palm Beach County. Just as there are bad schools in New Jersey, and good schools in New Jersey.

Some cities have better schools than others. The best schools are typically in the suburban areas (with exceptions of course), so check out the cities of Jupiter, Wellington and Boca Raton. Jupiter, Wellington and Boca get a "9" rating (out of 10) for its schools on Greatschools.net. Compare to whatever city you're coming from in Jersey.

[crazynip]

It's pretty bogus that people say Florida's schools are so poor.

[sm0483]

Thanks for the advice. I kinda feel the same way. I'm sure there are poor school systems in every state. As well as good schools. I just don't want to make a mistake when it comes down to my child's future.

[Swimmom32]

Originally Posted by sm0483

Thanks for the advice. I kinda feel the same way. I'm sure there are poor school systems in every state. As well as good schools. I just don't want to make a mistake when it comes down to my child's future.

WE came from NJ Schools then moved to NC and have been in Boca for 2.5 years now and our children now Middle school and our son is a Junior in HS are doing the same work here as there friends up North...We have been very pleased despite what other people say....The bottom line for us is our friends who attend the Public schools here have been accepted to the same Colleges as some our friend's kids up north...and the Florida University's for some reason at this point and time are extremely popular and we are seeing A lot of Northerners in particular moving here for them....and those attending afar in florida and locally as well

Just do your homework best as you can, and make a trip and visit the areas you are interested in...

[crazynip]

Some of the people who move down here are real ****ing snobs and look down on people who live here. I suppose if you can afford to send a kid to private school, go for it. All the kid will end up with is the same education they would have gotten at a public school and a healthy cocaine habit...

[Gatornation]

School system is useless. You can easily find a top SCHOOL in Florida. It's just likely you'll be living in an area with higher homes prices.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by TriMT7

It is an exaggeration that the school system in Florida is "poor."

As for Palm Beach County in particular, there are bad schools in Palm Beach County (typically, in the bad areas), and several nationally ranked schools in Palm Beach County. Just as there are bad schools in New Jersey, and good schools in New Jersey.

Some cities have better schools than others. The best schools are typically in the suburban areas (with exceptions of course), so check out the cities of Jupiter, Wellington and Boca Raton. Jupiter, Wellington and Boca get a "9" rating (out of 10) for its schools on Greatschools.net. Compare to whatever city you're coming from in Jersey.

You can't compare those rankings between states, as the ranking is based off of the test scores within that state.

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

You can't compare those rankings between states, as the ranking is based off of the test scores within that state.

And what are the fundamental differences between standardized test scores between states?

It is logical to assume that a school is ranked a 9 or 10 in Florida, chances are (very good chance) that it is better, or at least equal, to a school ranked 5, 6, or 7 in another state.



IMO (and admittedly, I'm not a parent.... yet), unless safety is an issue, or unless the schools are absolutely atrocious (because of student body), or unless the kids need a special program because of learning needs, parents spend WAAAAY too much time trying to find "the absolute best" schools. One of my best friends went to the prestigious Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts. I went to public schools in Florida, in a county (St. Lucie) that has working class demographics.

My friend has not achieved more professionally in adulthood, even though he attended an obviously better school, his SAT scores were not better, and he did not get into any school that I couldn't have also gotten into.

[Swimmom32]

As a Parent I think Standardize Scores are a Joke..They Do not measure to what the kids know...My son has a 3.4 GPA he is Junior and A lot of the kids from the Senior Graduating Class have been except to Cornell, NYU, FSU and UF..However our son Doesn't do well on his Standardized Tests and yet knows all the material at school etc...The Tests DO not in my opinion tell the whole story....Everywhere there are Learning disabled kids, Kids that have 504's all these kids take these Standardize tests FCATS here or whatever and lets face it if a child doesn't test well it will bring the scores down...Our HS has a 96% Graduation Rate which I can say is the Same for the Schools up North where my Son went too and his friends Still Attend...There are good schools in every State and Bad Schools in every State and the fact that kids from Up North are attending the same schools as the Florida HS Kids for College what does that say?