Northern Lehigh School District (Slatington, Penn: house, school districts, taxes)

[roxxy]

Can anyone give me any information on the quality of education my child would receive at the schools in the Northern Lehigh school District. I hear everyone saying how good Parkland and East Penn school districts are. How does Northern Lehigh compare to these school districts? What are the main differences? Any info would be very much appreciated.

[toobusytoday]

Northern Lehigh is a not very well funded district in a more rural, blue collar town. The scores, according to SchoolMatters - Home, show that it does not compare very well to the surrounding Lehigh Valley schools. On the positive side, they do have a great website and it looks like active parents groups. Schools are small. I've only driven through Slatington to go to their football stadium. My sons High School (Southern Lehigh) plays them in football and I go to watch my son in the marching band. The town is a typical old-school PA town that looks like it hasn't changed much in the last 30 years. I would guess that they don't get alot of newcomers. You would probably get more house for your money.

Smaller districts like Southern Lehigh and Saucon Valley have better reputations but much higher housing costs.

[roxxy]

Thank you for the helpful reply! Cheaper housing versus good schools can be a challenging decision. We want to have a comfortable, nice spacious home, yet we definitely want to give our kids the best education possible.

[toobusytoday]

I would opt for good schools every time. In fact we have! Something to remember though is that what's good for one family might not be the best fit for another. If you like the area around Slatington, go visit the schools and see what you think. On their website only the Middle School (always the most challenging for any district) looks a little run down. Even though the schools in East Penn looked good on paper and the housing costs were lower then where we ended up, we did not want our kids in a large High School. That was important to us, but many people are moving to East Penn and Parkland because they might prefer a larger High School and the slightly higher scores are more important to them. Thank goodness that we all don't want the same thing!

[moving2lehigh]

I am also interested in the Northern Lehigh School District because my husband and I just put an offer on a house in Slatington! We don't have kids yet, but are planning to soon. I was a bit worried about the school test scores, but wanted to know if any locals in the school system can give advice. I thought it might be comparable to Northwestern Lehigh which is also a small, rural district but they have bonuses such as small class sizes and dedicated teachers. Sometimes great school districts can be overrated, and the small good ones get left out. Anyone have any more information?

Thanks!

[Mamba Cat]

Please keep in mind that PSSA scores are not the be all and end all of a good school. The scores measure how well an aggregate of students do when being tested on specific standards-they are a valid and reliable measure of this. However, they are not a valid and reliable measure of how the SCHOOL is overall. The single most predictor of how well a child will do in an academic setting is not the curriculum, teachers, or class size- it is the child's home environment. This is something that is often overlooked because it is a factor that is completely out of the school's hands. Google the Coleman Report for more info.

I would not choose Parkland, East Penn, Southern Lehigh or any other school district based solely on test scores or other superficial indicators of quality. Do these students score well because of the quality of the education received, or is it because they come from a loving and supportive home environment that values education (most likely a mixture of both)? If the latter is true, I wouldn't worry about sending my child to a school in a "blue collar" town. It's something worth pondering for a bit...

[toobusytoday]

I don't think anyone has suggested choosing schools based on test scores, they're just one thing to look at. Big schools don't mean big classes any more then small schools mean small individual classes. Often it's a matter of if the school district can keep up with the growth or can afford more teachers to keep the class size down. I think it was about 7 or 8 years ago that Southern Lehigh added it's first modular classroom to one of the elementary schools. The intention was to have it for a short time. Of course, it's still there along with one or two others. Thank goodness they finally started building a new 4-6 building which will eliminate the squeeze at both the middle and elementary schools. East Penn is also planning to build or renovate one or two of their schools. Yes, more schools means higher taxes.

The best thing we did was to actually visit the middle and elementary schools that we were interested in. Since they are a priority when moving it makes sense to see how they are run also.

[Mamba Cat]

"I don't think anyone has suggested choosing schools based on test scores"

You're right, they didn't. I didn't say anyone in this thread did either. I guess I should have made that a little more clear.

[greengrass123]

Being a student in this area I would advise you to move into a district such as Northwestern Lehigh or Northern Lehigh if a stronger education is your goal. Along with smaller class sizes, these districts also have affordable housing especially compared to Parkland or other large districts. Many students in the larger districts do not know the students in their same graduating class which may make it harder for your child to feel comfortable being a new student. Among the students those schools have worse reputations whereas Northwestern Lehigh and or Northern Lehigh have more "under the radar" reputations. Northwestern Lehigh focusses on academics a bit more than sports whereas Northern Lehigh promotes their sports a bit more than Northwestern Lehigh. Hope this helps!