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I am new to the site, and I have done a few searches and found a lot of info. about schools. I've got a pretty good list going, but I am hoping to fine tune it and even add more to it if I can.
My family is applying for citizenship in the next couple of months (we have a lot of family in SC so we'll be sponsored). We have a 6 year old and a 2 year old so school is definitely a huge factor for us.
We're not sure yet where we will live as we're so early into the process, but we're thinking between Anderson and Greenville. I've gathered that Private School is the way to go based on some of the threads I've read on here, so I'm almost inclined to go towards Private. The problem with Private is that most I've come across are religiously affiliated, or they are non-denominational but still religious in their own way. My husband is Athiest, so this isn't an option for us.
Anyone know of any non-religious private schools that I may have missed, or am I wrong and I can find a really great public school?
I really do not think private is the only way to go. We moved here almost 4yrs ago. I did all the research in looking at graduation stats, sats etc. We found the wren/powdersville/tlhanna or anderson 1 and 5 (i think where hannah is) seemed the best. Our kids go to the wren schools and we are very happy. I feel you get what you put into your childs education too. We challenge our kids, involved in school, and they do fine.
The only neg. I found was not challenging gifted kids earlier. The schools in sc seem to offer only an out of the box thinking class until 6th grade. This was/is an issue for us. We had to help stretch our kids brains by doing things out side of school. They got 100's in reg mainstream classes. Once in middle school they were able to take honors or high school classes. Very happy with the outcome.
You are correct in your assessment that almost all of the area private schools focus on a religious education. I'm not knocking that, it is the correct choice for some families.
If you are thinking of locating between Anderson and Greenville, Anderson District 1 is the best choice for the criteria you listed. That district has three high schools, with separate elementary and middle schools for each. If you check their test scores on line through the SC department of education you will see they typically do much better than the average SC school.
I know test scores aren't everything but they can give you some idea of which schools are doing well and which ones are floundering. Looking at scores over several years combined with the figures they give on staff tenure can be helpful to show how stable the school system is over the long term.
When we moved here last spring we wanted good schools and more of a country feel than you get on the East or South side of Greenville. After a lot of research we narrowed it down to the Anderson District One area. We have been VERY satisfied so far. Our daughter brought home information for some special engineering track for high school the other day and was really excited about classes in robotics and biotechnology.
No school is going to be perfect but Anderson District 1 is one of the best options in this area.
Our son brought home the engineering paperwork too. He is super excited about this!
Quote:
Originally Posted by VolstuckinNC
You are correct in your assessment that almost all of the area private schools focus on a religious education. I'm not knocking that, it is the correct choice for some families.
If you are thinking of locating between Anderson and Greenville, Anderson District 1 is the best choice for the criteria you listed. That district has three high schools, with separate elementary and middle schools for each. If you check their test scores on line through the SC department of education you will see they typically do much better than the average SC school.
I know test scores aren't everything but they can give you some idea of which schools are doing well and which ones are floundering. Looking at scores over several years combined with the figures they give on staff tenure can be helpful to show how stable the school system is over the long term.
When we moved here last spring we wanted good schools and more of a country feel than you get on the East or South side of Greenville. After a lot of research we narrowed it down to the Anderson District One area. We have been VERY satisfied so far. Our daughter brought home information for some special engineering track for high school the other day and was really excited about classes in robotics and biotechnology.
No school is going to be perfect but Anderson District 1 is one of the best options in this area.
Define what a "great school" looks like? Having had three children and three step-children go through school, both public and private, I have come to the conclusion that the school is what YOU make of it.
Granted you don't want your children going to a school where there is a knife fight breaking out on a regular basis, and there are some "rough" schools out there, but most of the public schools in the Upstate are decent and provide a good mix of ethnic and socioeconomic diversity as well as instruction.
We have done everything from public, to private, to boarding school for our kids and found that either way, you have to be on top of their education and very much involved in their schooling.
My advice is save the money and go public. I live in Taylors and I've been very pleased with the schools here.
My daughter is in Kindergarten at Bethel Elementary and we love it. We love her teacher and my wife volunteers there a lot and really likes the school overall. It's very safe, has a great curriculum, etc. Also a lot of kids zoned for Bethel are also zoned for Mauldin middle/high and I have heard those are two very good schools as well.
That being said I strongly agree with other people that school is what you make of it. If you send your kids to private school and don't teach them anything at home they're going to come out just as lacking as if you send them to a public school and don't teach them anything at home.
Everyone is giving me faith in the public school system. All I've heard when telling people (people herein Canada, and our friends and family in the US) we're moving is that SC has some of the worst public schools, but I think I value the opinions of the parents of the children actually attending these schools a little more. My step brother when to the Hanna school, so my step-mom and my dad are pushing for us to move closer to Anderson but I'm really liking some of the areas I've found closer to Greenville. There's some really nice real estate for a great price around Easley/Pickens/Powdersville/Willamston.
Like I said though, we're really early in our process so the perfect house in the perfect neighbourhood is hopefully out there!!
School is generally what you make of it. I attended private school my entire life but taught public school for seven years. Yes, some schools are better than others, but test scores involve SO much more than whether the school is "good" or the teachers are "good." I have seen a lot of schools try REALLY hard but certain students consistently get low scores no matter what the school try and it drags down the reputation of the school (Trust me, I've jumped through hoops trying to get kids to learn and have fun doing it, and many still don't). Anyway, point being, there are lots of good schools in the Upstate and other places in SC. If you are a good parent and care about your child's education (and don't place him/her in a school that has serious problems such as poor enforcement of discipline), then you will find many schools to be great.
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