Good School or Good School system? (neighborhood, top schools, safety)

[smarty]

Every parent I know thinks school in their town is best and of course their kid is the smartest kid.

I often wonder what people's opinion of a good school or school system is. What makes it good? What is the definition of good?

High SAT score?
Low Teacher to Student ratio?
A Nice school building?
Higher paid teachers?

[puffle]

Originally Posted by smarty

Every parent I know thinks school in their town is best and of course their kid is the smartest kid.

I often wonder what people's opinion of a good school or school system is. What makes it good? What is the definition of good?

High SAT score?
Low Teacher to Student ratio?
A Nice school building?
Higher paid teachers?

Attention to students individual needs, qualified teachers that enjoy teaching, variety of clubs and activities, safety, $$ spend on each student, faculty that is just and in addition to some of the attributes Smarty mentioned. It doesn't matter if your child is going to the top ranked school in the state if your child slips through the cracks because he is not an honor student or because the school is loaded with wealthy kids with too many clicks to count and you are not.

[smarty]

Originally Posted by puffle

Attention to students individual needs, qualified teachers that enjoy teaching, variety of clubs and activities, safety, $$ spend on each student, faculty that is just and in addition to some of the attributes Smarty mentioned. It doesn't matter if your child is going to the top ranked school in the state if your child slips through the cracks because he is not an honor student or because the school is loaded with wealthy kids with too many clicks to count and you are not.

Very interesting views.

"Attention to students individual needs" I find only if you are more than 1-2 years behind then you will get the attention (via IEP). Or else, you are average. The std response is your kid will be fine. If you kid is smart, only if you are 2 grades smarter then you get attentions.

"qualified teachers that enjoy teaching" There used to be a saying... those cannot do... teach! I wonder how you know which teacher is qualified and enjoys teaching or if you even have a choice of teachers for that matter. Parents complain if the teachers give every one As (grade inflation) but students love them. Parents complain if the teachers give everyone Cs and students hate them. Is a bad grade reflect on the student or teacher?

"variety of clubs and activities" Nowadays, the question is more can you afford to pay for these clubs and activities due to budget cuts.

"safety" If your neighborhood is safe, then you are safe. School is mostly a micro image of the town.

"$$ spend on each student" Richer town has better school? I thought teachers do it for love of teaching not money.

Yeah. I often wonder if the top schools are due to having better and smarter students.