Can anyone tell me what makes the St. John's county schools so good? (Jacksonville: 2014, house)

[snuffybear]

Originally Posted by SaintCabbage

Most schools in St. Johns get a 10/10 rating on greatschools.org, so it's not a Florida thing where the standards are lower or something...

10/10 is relative to the state tests given in that state. Ie, Schools in Florida that are rated 10/10 had very high FCAT scores (now FSA).

Not totally apples-to-apples with other states....ie, SAT scores tend to be higher in the northeast.

I do think greatschools is usually pretty accurate though. But an 8 in Connecticut may not be the same as an 8 in Florida. Most 9/10 school districts are very good though.

[SaintCabbage]

Originally Posted by snuffybear

10/10 is relative to the state tests given in that state. Ie, Schools in Florida that are rated 10/10 had very high FCAT scores (now FSA).

Not totally apples-to-apples with other states....ie, SAT scores tend to be higher in the northeast.

I do think greatschools is usually pretty accurate though. But an 8 in Connecticut may not be the same as an 8 in Florida. Most 9/10 school districts are very good though.

Oh wow, you're right:

The GreatSchools rating is a simple tool for parents to compare schools based on test scores. It compares schools across the state, where the highest rated schools in the state are designated as “Above Average” and the lowest “Below Average.” It is designed to be a starting point to help parents make baseline comparisons. We always advise parents to visit the school and consider other information on school performance and programs, as well as consider their child's and family's needs as part of the school selection process.

[snuffybear]

Saint Cabbage, are you being sarcastic?

I'm just saying, you can't compare apples-to-apples scores from Florida's FSA test and New Jersey's NJASK test or CT's CAPT, or New York's test or CA's or VA's.

PARCC is (was) attempting to do this with a standardized test across 30 states-- but Florida wasn't part of that because they just turned their FCAT into FSA to include Common Core (which was PARCC's objective as well). Many of the states that were in the PARCC consortium have dropped out...including Ohio the other day...I think they are down to about 10 states. And for states that did use PARCC and SBAC (similar to PARCC, used in other states), the results are not yet reflected on greatschools, nor will they have a lot of validity due to tons of issues.

School districts in northeast that are "10" do tend to be more demanding of the students, or on top districts in Fairfax County VA or Palo Alto CA, New York, etc. As an example, my HS in the northeast had SAT averages about 200 points higher than FLA, though it was a "9" district down to "7" recently on greatschools (due to low state test scores last year, apparently), compared to the St. Johns HS which is a "10". IMO, the SAT scores are more telling of the caliber of students because they are taking the same test across states (apples = apples) and the SAT is harder than the FCAT, FSA, and other state tests.

We agree -- dig deeper -- which the OP is trying to do by asking us our opinion on the schools.

[snuffybear]

Originally Posted by SaintCabbage

Most schools in St. Johns get a 10/10 rating on greatschools.org, so it's not a Florida thing where the standards are lower or something...

The standards and tests actually were written in each state, until Common Core began. But greatschools does not yet reflect the new common core tests.

[SaintCabbage]

Originally Posted by snuffybear

Saint Cabbage, are you being sarcastic?

No, I didn't know it was at the state level. It doesnt change my tune, the schools in northern st johns county have been great. Some bumps in the road with the brand new schools, but hasn't affected the quality. It really boils down the teacher honestly.

Ironically, I went to school in Fairfax VA and Loudoun VA, so I have a pretty good gauge on how our local schools fair to the "big city" schools in the suburbs of DC.

We all know common core stinks, it's a step backwards.

[snuffybear]

Originally Posted by SaintCabbage

No, I didn't know it was at the state level. It doesnt change my tune, the schools in northern st johns county have been great. Some bumps in the road with the brand new schools, but hasn't affected the quality. It really boils down the teacher honestly.

Ironically, I went to school in Fairfax VA and Loudoun VA, so I have a pretty good gauge on how our local schools fair to the "big city" schools in the suburbs of DC.

We all know common core stinks, it's a step backwards.

Agree with all this. I put my specific comparisons above.

But it's amazing how much people really don't understand about all the testing and school ratings, even educated parents. And times have changed a lot since we (parents) went to school.

The thing is...I feel there is balance here that may not be present in Fairfax County or Loudon, VA or Palo Alto or Princeton, etc. Read about the Race to Nowhere (google the film)....I don't see the schools being a pressure cooker here as it is in the places above. There have been serious problems in those places, where the kids are so driven and competitive. Here, people seem to enjoy life and have hobbies and love the weather, beach, etc....so all the eggs are not in the academic basket.

[SmtSF]

We came from the Palo Alto schools. The rates of suicide, depression, anorexia…it's heart breaking. What's even worse is the lack of reflection exhibited in some of the parental responses. A psychiatrist in Palo Alto wrote an article on how to help kids find balance -- focus on experience not achievement, build confidence, reduce the stress, get your kids a pet -- and parents' comments ranged from "we should come up with a psychological profile of suicidal kids the way we do serial killers" and "where is the empirical evidence that kids that are pushed too hard are not successful adults."

We are so happy to be in a place where more than your test score matter and kids are encouraged to have a life that includes playing for hours for no conceivable reason other than to enjoy the day.

[snuffybear]

Yep, that is exactly what I mean SmtSF. I read some of the articles about the issues and crisis in Palo Alto and they were upsetting. The northeast schools had the same tendencies....and a lot of denial from parents too. Like "oh that kid had issues" (when there were 4 suicides in a year in a certain town known to be a pressure cooker) not, "wow, what is it in our community that could be contributing to this outcome?"

Interestingly, when I mentioned "Race to Nowehere" to a school counselor here, she had never heard of it. I think that was a bit naive (as there is a drive to take a lot of AP classes in HS here as well, and a school counselor should have heard of the film by now) but at the same time, kids in this area are not committing suicide over grades or not getting admission into Ivy league colleges, like is going on in CA and VA and other regions in the US where schools are top rated. One thing to note is some of the breakdowns occur freshman year in college (google "Madison Holleran" as an example - there were a number like this last year in the northeast, it IS a trend, and if you look at the HS they came from, they are usually in competitive areas).

Some of this is the culture in the south...people are happy with state schools for college and there is not as much pressure to get into the Ivy League or Stanford or MIT, etc.

Other part I think is the weather, proximity to ocean, and the school district doing a good job of keeping things positive and normal. One example is that HS starts 9:15 in St. Johns County as they have responded to the research showing that teenagers need more sleep. I also think with the great weather and so many great choices of activities every day, people are generally happier ... so many choices ie, walking dog on beach to going to the pool, friends, bicycling, running, team sports, restaurants, watersports, touristy stuff, etc. And the kids can get outside most of the year.

[CSD610]

Originally Posted by fsquid

because the parents actually give a ****.

They apparantly also have very good teachers and other staff who care.

[sithlord72]

I too have considered St. John's County schools and was just in St. Augustine yesterday. I saw Heritage Landing & was very impressed due to the fact I have young kids.(7&3).

I also saw Pallencia which was very nice but seemed a little bit out of my price range . I had no qualms about Pallencia, but it didn't have that young family feel.