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I have been looking at the fcps.net website again and it seems to me that Dunbar and Henry Clay are really magnet schools and you don't need to live in their school district anyway if you qualify--is that right?
If so, then all this worrying about falling into their districts doesn't much matter? Or do they have a "standard" high school (which is desirable) and then a gifted and talented track?
They have magnet schools housed within them but are primarily district schools.
So does that mean that the good scores are artificially inflated by the gifted and talented kids, or are the "regular" kids doing well, too? (I know all these are artificial distinctions, but I'm just trying to figure it all out.)
I wold imagine that the kids in the magnet programs do bring up the school as a whole. However, by high school it probably isn't that much as lots of kids that aren't in magnets take A/P classes too. Another factor is the percentage of kids in the magnets is not huge so they would have to be scoring off the charts to bring the entire school up a significant number. I am not sure if the individual school report cards have the breakdown of magnet vs non-magnet students. I have seen breakdowns but what I have seen is broken down by race, gender, and free lunch.
I wold imagine that the kids in the magnet programs do bring up the school as a whole. However, by high school it probably isn't that much as lots of kids that aren't in magnets take A/P classes too. Another factor is the percentage of kids in the magnets is not huge so they would have to be scoring off the charts to bring the entire school up a significant number. I am not sure if the individual school report cards have the breakdown of magnet vs non-magnet students. I have seen breakdowns but what I have seen is broken down by race, gender, and free lunch.
Well as long as non-magnet kids have access to the great college prep stuff, too, then it must be a good all around school.
My pleasure. Yes, non-magnet school kids have many opportunities if they are motivated and willing to study! TC High will be offering the IB program to all students that live in that district. It is actually not considered a part of the magnet programs since once the district kids fill up the spots they won't accept out of district kids anymore. I don't know how long this will take but it's an interesting approach. I believe (and you can confirm this via fcps.net) that Dunbar and HC offer the most AP classes.
Regardless if elementary, middle, or HS, a student has to apply to be accepted to a magnet school the year before a school year. Depending on the school, there may only be a small number of students accepted. If there's a school you're interested in, you're much safer to live in that school district.
The most interesting things about the scores posted IMO is looking at the mix of the schools. There are some schools listed that have very good scores and you would expect, but other schools that come from a much more diverse background and some would expect lower scores I think.
On the HS, I'm not sure what rating that is that has the HS not meeting the state requirements. The only HS here that has been cited for not meeting the "no child left behind" rule was Bryan Station High School. They actually lost a large number of students about three years ago. Lafayette had approx 200 students registering at the last minute. Henry Clay also received a large number that chose to leave Bryan Station. Tates Creek at that time was on the verge of not meeting requirements, but perhaps they have made some positive strides.
All of the HS in Fayette county offer a variety of level of courses. There is a lower level for kids that need a slower approach. There's the "basic" level course. Then there's advanced classes for students and then of course your AP courses. So, within each HS, a child has the opportunity to find a level of class that is challenging and appropriate.
Regardless if elementary, middle, or HS, a student has to apply to be accepted to a magnet school the year before a school year. Depending on the school, there may only be a small number of students accepted. If there's a school you're interested in, you're much safer to live in that school district.
The most interesting things about the scores posted IMO is looking at the mix of the schools. There are some schools listed that have very good scores and you would expect, but other schools that come from a much more diverse background and some would expect lower scores I think.
On the HS, I'm not sure what rating that is that has the HS not meeting the state requirements. The only HS here that has been cited for not meeting the "no child left behind" rule was Bryan Station High School. They actually lost a large number of students about three years ago. Lafayette had approx 200 students registering at the last minute. Henry Clay also received a large number that chose to leave Bryan Station. Tates Creek at that time was on the verge of not meeting requirements, but perhaps they have made some positive strides.
All of the HS in Fayette county offer a variety of level of courses. There is a lower level for kids that need a slower approach. There's the "basic" level course. Then there's advanced classes for students and then of course your AP courses. So, within each HS, a child has the opportunity to find a level of class that is challenging and appropriate.
Thanks for that. I like the idea that there are good options for a variety of kids in a variety of neighborhoods. My biggest concern right now is the middle schools because there seem to be fewer good ones to choose from.
Thanks for that. I like the idea that there are good options for a variety of kids in a variety of neighborhoods. My biggest concern right now is the middle schools because there seem to be fewer good ones to choose from.
When we registered at Beaumont Middle School (before we moved to Woodford County) I was a bit upset because our registration counselor said that Beaumont was very crowded and many of the classes that my son wanted to take (upper level/advanced classes, plus the electives) were already full and overfull. But I loved the school and the personal attention -- even given the size of the school and that it was registration -- the principal made a big effort to meet my son in person. But upon registration the person said in some cases there were 35+ students per class, but that they would keep adding students because as a public school, they have to take the students that live in the district (as we did at that time, in our temporary apartment). But the school overall has good test scores so something must be going right.
To try to answer one of your previous questions -- Dunbar is one of the biggest high schools in KY and as such, the magnet students (in the math and science program) could not possibly, statistically affect the test scores because there are so many more students not in that program but in the high school. Dunbar has many AP courses and was rated very well among the top high schools in the country for AP courses (Henry Clay was also, as was Woodford County High in Versailles). The Dunbar area (and Henry Clay too) in general covers a real estate area that is economically among the highest real estate in Fayette County.
You need to live in the district to go to Dunbar or Henry Clay. The geographical area of Henry Clay includes the downtown/campus area. The geographical area of Dunbar includes some very nice, expensive subdivisions in or near the Beaumont area, but also areas nearby that are less expensive but still quite nice. If you want to factor elementary schools into the equation it quickly becomes very expensive real estate.
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