Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Minnesota > Minneapolis - St. Paul
 [Register]
Minneapolis - St. Paul Twin Cities
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 01-28-2013, 09:58 AM
 
Location: Minnesota
959 posts, read 1,824,106 times
Reputation: 758

Advertisements

We currently live in the Wayzata district and HATE it. We moved here because we thought the school district would be great (our son was to start K that year). We made it 2 years in the public schools and ended pulling him out and sending him to private in 2nd grade.

The public school #1 was OVERCROWDED beyond belief. There were over 700 kids in the school (now over 850) and it was like a zoo there.

The staff was not good and the principal was a disgrace. We had a situation where a para admitted to lying about our son so she would not get in trouble for not watching the child she was in charge of and to make a long story short, they principal completely blew it off. It was an extreme situation where our son was accused of doing something he never did and even when the para came clean and said she lied, the school sided with her and the principal refused to move my child to another classroom and made him sit in the class with that para all year long.

The parents in the school are so snobby and competitive and that is just not how we live. Everyone is so materialistic and the moms dress up to pick their kids up from school like they are getting ready for a date. My husband and I just do not fit in with these people and we know what a mistake we made by moving to this district. The poor kids live in a pressure cooker because they are always made to feel like they have to be the best at everything.

We do have a choice to open enroll them in the surrounding districts, but I would like to hear from parents who have kids in these districts before we do that. It won't be for a couple years when it is time for our son to go to middle school.

Can anyone give me any first hand advice on any districts surrounding Wayzata where the competition is not so high and the parents are just more down to earth?
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 01-28-2013, 10:12 AM
 
812 posts, read 2,172,425 times
Reputation: 314
We live in the Robbinsdale district but chose the Hopkins district. I've heard good things about the elementary school you'd probably go with in Robbinsdale, it's in Plymouth. Hopkins was closer for us than the other side of Robbinsdale. I am very happy with Hopkins schools. I have a third grader and feel that they are very reasonable and understanding. There is a diversity of income levels there but I've never felt that was any snobbery related to it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-31-2013, 08:58 AM
 
5 posts, read 18,267 times
Reputation: 10
Default Why not a charter school?

Why not a charter school? My kids go to Beacon Academy, a K-8 charter in Maple Grove. It's off Maple Grove Pkwy, south of 94, so probably not too far for you. It's a smaller school of about 420 students with a great administration and staff, and a very welcoming community. Classes are capped at 24 students, with two classes per grade. Not pretentious at all. There is always a lottery though for the younger grades. It seems easier to get in for middle school. If you want to be in the lottery for next school year, the application deadline is tomorrow (Feb. 1) at 4:00pm.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-31-2013, 09:21 AM
 
4,176 posts, read 4,669,643 times
Reputation: 1672
Interesting perspective on Wayzata schools. I've heard similar complaints from my relatives whose kids are in Edina schools. It seems there are things that test scores can't measure -- imagine that.

Quote:
and the moms dress up to pick their kids up from school like they are getting ready for a date.
Hilarious. The very definition of suburban hell.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-31-2013, 09:26 AM
 
20,793 posts, read 61,297,575 times
Reputation: 10695
Quote:
Originally Posted by Viola75 View Post
Why not a charter school? My kids go to Beacon Academy, a K-8 charter in Maple Grove. It's off Maple Grove Pkwy, south of 94, so probably not too far for you. It's a smaller school of about 420 students with a great administration and staff, and a very welcoming community. Classes are capped at 24 students, with two classes per grade. Not pretentious at all. There is always a lottery though for the younger grades. It seems easier to get in for middle school. If you want to be in the lottery for next school year, the application deadline is tomorrow (Feb. 1) at 4:00pm.
Because most charter schools are terrible and test scores are horrible. Case in point--less than 60% of the students at Beacon are proficient in math, 80% in reading and 53% in science and those numbers are on a downward trend.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-31-2013, 02:49 PM
 
413 posts, read 763,643 times
Reputation: 268
Quote:
The parents in the school are so snobby and competitive and that is just not how we live. Everyone is so materialistic and the moms dress up to pick their kids up from school like they are getting ready for a date. My husband and I just do not fit in with these people and we know what a mistake we made by moving to this district.
Anyone find this statement to be a bit ironic? Putting down others because they aren't like you or because they dress differently is just as snobby coming from you as you perceive it to be from them.

The Wayzata school district is massive. The high school is the largest in the state. Painting everyone with one brush like that is really quite arrogant.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-05-2013, 07:17 PM
 
Location: West Palm Beach FL
39 posts, read 114,773 times
Reputation: 49
No, I don't think too many people find it ironic. Wayzata is a very nice and wealthy area, but unfortunately there are lots of snooty people there too.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-26-2013, 11:48 PM
 
2 posts, read 3,066 times
Reputation: 11
Default Wayzata district

Quote:
Originally Posted by hammy5 View Post
We currently live in the Wayzata district and HATE it. We moved here because we thought the school district would be great (our son was to start K that year). We made it 2 years in the public schools and ended pulling him out and sending him to private in 2nd grade.

The public school #1 was OVERCROWDED beyond belief. There were over 700 kids in the school (now over 850) and it was like a zoo there.

The staff was not good and the principal was a disgrace. We had a situation where a para admitted to lying about our son so she would not get in trouble for not watching the child she was in charge of and to make a long story short, they principal completely blew it off. It was an extreme situation where our son was accused of doing something he never did and even when the para came clean and said she lied, the school sided with her and the principal refused to move my child to another classroom and made him sit in the class with that para all year long.

The parents in the school are so snobby and competitive and that is just not how we live. Everyone is so materialistic and the moms dress up to pick their kids up from school like they are getting ready for a date. My husband and I just do not fit in with these people and we know what a mistake we made by moving to this district. The poor kids live in a pressure cooker because they are always made to feel like they have to be the best at everything.

We do have a choice to open enroll them in the surrounding districts, but I would like to hear from parents who have kids in these districts before we do that. It won't be for a couple years when it is time for our son to go to middle school.

Can anyone give me any first hand advice on any districts surrounding Wayzata where the competition is not so high and the parents are just more down to earth?
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
I completely agree with hammy5. We moved out of Wayzata district after living there for only four years. We lost over $100,000 from what we put into our new house because we hated it so much. The teachers were great and my kids thrived academically, but they were unhappy. They always felt that they had to be the best at sports to fit in. The parents are just a clique as the kids are. We now live in a community with average schools and EVERYONE around us is very easy to get along with. Our kids are thriving in the top 2% of their grade. We are happier now than we have ever been! I feel sorry everyone in the district having to deal with the overcrowding issues. It makes a world of difference living in a community that is much more relaxed!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-27-2013, 05:02 AM
 
Location: Minnesota
959 posts, read 1,824,106 times
Reputation: 758
Can you tell me where you moved? If you don't want to do it on here, can you send me a PM?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-27-2013, 06:27 AM
 
20 posts, read 36,732 times
Reputation: 10
I am very interested in this topic as well. My family will be moving to the Twin Cities at the end of the 2013-2014 school year. I have 2 boys, ages 10 and 13 and the school environment is very important to my wife and I. On paper, Wayzata testing and opportunities looks great, but we're big proponents of environment and class sizes driving kids success and happiness, and that doesn't square with the size.

We are moving from the southern US, where the high school is ~850 kids, and the kids do great academically, but don't really care about athletics. My older son is an aspiring outdoorsman who plays saxophone, but only for fun; not showing an interest in becoming Kenny G. My wife visited Eden Prarie High earlier in the year, and was impressed with the opportunities, but worried about the size.

I will be working near the Metrodome, and would prefer to avoid an hour commute. Otherwise, we aren't locked into a particular area. Can anyone provide guidance or thoughts on the culture of schools around the twin cities?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Minnesota > Minneapolis - St. Paul
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top