Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Jacksonville
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-19-2007, 05:33 PM
 
Location: Jacksonville
10 posts, read 31,169 times
Reputation: 15

Advertisements

Hello all. I am moving to Jax - actually have been living here for four months. Family stayed back in Iowa to sell the house, which has finally happened.

I have a daughter who is a junior in high school. Good student, good person, I don't worry much about her - she's a good kid.

What I am worried about is the schools. Many people have told me to move to Orange Park - clay county schools and avoid duval county schools. We were planning on following that advice, but since I have lived here by myself (renting a room in a house), I found that I really like the area called Intracoastal West. I'm between St. Johns Bluff and Kernan just south of Atlantic. The area is very nice, traffic is not bad, and the commute to work downtown (I work 7am to 4pm) is very easy.

I have talked to a couple of the neighbors, and they are ok with sending their kids to Sandalwood HS, but when I mention it to some of my co-workers, they act like I'm crazy for even considering it.

Could I get some opinions on Sandalwood, Clay county high schools vs Duval county high schools, etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have to make a decision within the next two weeks.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-19-2007, 07:17 PM
 
Location: Deerwood
725 posts, read 2,562,321 times
Reputation: 327
Yes, Clay is better than Duval. But you can do okay in Duval if your daughter takes honors and Advanced Placement classes. The students in those classes care about their education a little more than the rest, but she will still be exposed to a certain undesirable element. i.e. students that have difficulty walking erect, threatening teachers...etc.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-19-2007, 07:34 PM
 
Location: Deerwood
725 posts, read 2,562,321 times
Reputation: 327
Sandlewood High received a "D" under Florida School Accountability, down from last years "C". You can go to the Duval County Public web site and it shows how each school scores in overall achievement.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-19-2007, 07:36 PM
 
Location: NE Florida
17,833 posts, read 33,026,209 times
Reputation: 43378
jim
what grade is she in now. there is a new HS that is suppose to be finished in 2 years right at 9A& baymeadows. the middle school Twin lakes academy is an "A" school
I am not sure what the zoning would be for the new school but I would think anywhere off of JTB would be included
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-19-2007, 09:10 PM
 
Location: Atlantic Highlands NJ/Ponte Vedra FL/NYC
2,689 posts, read 3,939,886 times
Reputation: 328
Quote:
Originally Posted by jim_from_ia View Post
Hello all. I am moving to Jax - actually have been living here for four months. Family stayed back in Iowa to sell the house, which has finally happened.

I have a daughter who is a junior in high school. Good student, good person, I don't worry much about her - she's a good kid.

What I am worried about is the schools. Many people have told me to move to Orange Park - clay county schools and avoid duval county schools. We were planning on following that advice, but since I have lived here by myself (renting a room in a house), I found that I really like the area called Intracoastal West. I'm between St. Johns Bluff and Kernan just south of Atlantic. The area is very nice, traffic is not bad, and the commute to work downtown (I work 7am to 4pm) is very easy.

I have talked to a couple of the neighbors, and they are ok with sending their kids to Sandalwood HS, but when I mention it to some of my co-workers, they act like I'm crazy for even considering it.

Could I get some opinions on Sandalwood, Clay county high schools vs Duval county high schools, etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have to make a decision within the next two weeks.
if she is a top notch student she can test for either paxson or stanton, both are top public schools but it is very competitive, otherwise you could consider one of the private schools, I would shy away from a main stream HS in duval
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-19-2007, 11:26 PM
 
Location: Jax
8,200 posts, read 35,355,510 times
Reputation: 3441
Sandalwood has some good kids, but the school is suffering from overcrowding in a big way. It is the biggest high school in Duval and was once a National Model school.

As Karla pointed out, there is a new high school being built and is set to open in 2010. Students will be pulled from a few different high schools to attend this new school (they will redraw the boundaries ). Sandalwood is one of the high school some of the students will be pulled from. There is no wat to know at this time which neighborhoods in Intracoastal West will be affected by the redrawing of the boundaries.

The elementary and middle schools of Intracoastal West are quite good (many are A-rated), so many parents will switch their children to private school after middle school (Bishop Kenny seems to be a popular choice ). But a lot of parents will have their child continue on to Sandalwood. Some of the kids in my neighborhood attend Sandalwood and they are good kids.

You'll need to judge for yourself whether Sandalwood would be right for your child, but as APVBGuy pointed out, you also have the Magnet School Program in Duval to consider (an alternative to going private) - so you have options.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-20-2007, 11:38 AM
 
Location: Middleburg, FL
754 posts, read 2,805,129 times
Reputation: 443
Stay away from Sandalwood. Period.

If my memory serves me well, I believe Mandarin High is supposed to be a good one. Feedback from the Duval folks on that one?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-21-2007, 08:50 PM
 
Location: Jax
8,200 posts, read 35,355,510 times
Reputation: 3441
Quote:
Originally Posted by joninclay View Post
Stay away from Sandalwood. Period.

If my memory serves me well, I believe Mandarin High is supposed to be a good one. Feedback from the Duval folks on that one?
True, Mandarin had been consistently A-rated until last year when it dropped to a B rating (as did many high schools in Duval/Clay/St John's/Nassau).

Given the choice, I would choose Mandarin over Sandalwood.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-24-2007, 07:20 PM
 
Location: Somewhere Between Florida and Georgia
30 posts, read 133,101 times
Reputation: 20
Overall Duval schools don't rate well but if your child is a good student, she/he should be able to excel. Some Clay and St. John's schools rate better. Mandarin is better than the average Duval school; however, Paxon and Stanton are supposed to be the best. Mandarin parents and students complain about over crowding; which is the case with most average high schools in Duval. Do plenty of research. Check out greatschools.net this site is a great resource. Also the Florida Dept of Ed website. Best of luck!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-24-2007, 07:35 PM
 
Location: Jax
8,200 posts, read 35,355,510 times
Reputation: 3441
Quote:
Originally Posted by MsJax313Atl View Post
Mandarin parents and students complain about over crowding;
.......and that should be alleviated some in 2010 when the new high school opens - Mandarin is another school students will be pulled from to attend the new high school (there were about 8 high schools that will be affected by the new redrawn boundaries).
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Jacksonville
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top