CA schools failing my son - I need to move home (Boston: real estate, school districts)

[kamoto]

My daughter did fine with 30 students per class, but my painfully shy son is failing miserably in that environment. He is only a freshman. I grew up in Belmont. In the late 70s early 80s, Belmont had track one, track two and track three classes. I was in track three for math, and in trig, we had about nine students. Have things changed? Or does Belmont still have different levels of instruction? What about other schools. My short list is Harvard, acton, concord, Dover, Lincoln. Do those school districts ensure the shy but bright kids have a chance? Any school district you think has the ability with their intervention programs to help my son? Any info appreciated.

[Dm84]

You need private school. Even the "top public schools" tend to have more than 9 kids in a class. There's just too much demand and not enough space to coddle people on that level outside of SPED.

[Peabody99]

I teach special education for a living. A few years back I did work for one year in a great suburb but the classes weren't small, the teachers had high expectations and the students needed to live up to that. I doubt you will find such small classes in any public school. It sounds like you can afford a top town/school so if you have the money I'd agree with the other poster and say private school is good.

[porterhouse]

https://www.bostonmagazine.com/best-...on-2017-chart/
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...uaJ/story.html

There are some great school districts with small class sizes if you don't mind paying to live in an expensive town.

[gf2020]

If your son is already a freshman in high school then moving him all the way across the country is not going to help the situation.

[ECPCVC]

Why not just go to private school in California?

[tysmith95]

I went to high school more recently. In the 2000s in Andover. I remember there was level 1 2 and 3 classes plus AP courses for upperclassmen. I never took any level three courses, but I believe that they provided additional instruction.

[kamoto]

Well, private school in San Francisco area is going to cost 20k per year. I don’t want to pay private when my tax dollars should be affording my son what he needs. CA real estate taxes are shared equally throughout the state. Equal education for all bull. I like the mass system where the wealthy districts charge more in real estate tax. He has few friends in his district, considering they are all children of immigrants and obsessed with studying. So moving him to mass to be near his massive Italian family may do him some good. Thanks for the inputs on Andover school and the track system. I used track three classes to eventually land at Boston college. Class of 1992. Teachers in Belmont knew my name and would not have let me fail. CA teachers couldn’t give a crap. They can barely survive the real estate situation here. You send them an email and no reply.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by kamoto

My daughter did fine with 30 students per class, but my painfully shy son is failing miserably in that environment. He is only a freshman. I grew up in Belmont. In the late 70s early 80s, Belmont had track one, track two and track three classes. I was in track three for math, and in trig, we had about nine students. Have things changed? Or does Belmont still have different levels of instruction? What about other schools. My short list is Harvard, acton, concord, Dover, Lincoln. Do those school districts ensure the shy but bright kids have a chance? Any school district you think has the ability with their intervention programs to help my son? Any info appreciated.

I had WAY more than that when I was in Belmont schools. You were just in a very small class size, which is odd, because my brother graduated BHS in 84 and his class size was much larger than mine. You need a private school if you want small specialized classes.

[tysmith95]

Originally Posted by kamoto

Well, private school in San Francisco area is going to cost 20k per year. I don’t want to pay private when my tax dollars should be affording my son what he needs. CA real estate taxes are shared equally throughout the state. Equal education for all bull. I like the mass system where the wealthy districts charge more in real estate tax. He has few friends in his district, considering they are all children of immigrants and obsessed with studying. So moving him to mass to be near his massive Italian family may do him some good. Thanks for the inputs on Andover school and the track system. I used track three classes to eventually land at Boston college. Class of 1992. Teachers in Belmont knew my name and would not have let me fail. CA teachers couldn’t give a crap. They can barely survive the real estate situation here. You send them an email and no reply.

I know that today level one courses provide a higher gpa basis. Because of this it's hard to get into a top tier institution like BC with level 2 and 3 classes. I think admissions are just more competitive today then they were in the 80s.