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I know this issue has been kicked around before, but was looking for some recent opinons.
How do the Westfield elementary schools (tamaques, jefferson, mckinley, wilson, franklin) compare to each other? I know the north side schools are ranked higher, but any thoughts why? Parents hiring private tutors for all their kids, or is it the teachers?
And are there any differences among the south side schools? How are the low-income kids at McKinley? Is it a negligible factor that adds diversity in a good way or are some of them unruly disturbances because of their parental influences?
And why are the test scores at Jefferson falling year over year ?
Everyone I talked to doesn't think there is much difference between the elementary schools. Can you show me evidence of the declining scores of Jefferson and the other schools scores?
My little girl will be going to Jefferson in a couple of years. I am not worried about a dip in the overall scores. I will make sure she learns and excels the material and supplement it with additional after school programs/activities.
They are all good schools. I would tend to think that it is related to the parents. I am sure some people will take this the wrong way, but income is usually related to education levels. higher income, means bigger house. Higher education USUALLY means you will show more interest in your kids education, so
Big house > kid does better in school.
So some of the schools are in the are of town with bigger houses and are ranked a little higher. If you are willing to take a strong interest in your kids education, your kid will be just fine
With that said, they are still all great schools.
Please feel free to post the 1 or 2 examples you know that will totally disprove me (even though I said "usually" a lot)
Everyone I talked to doesn't think there is much difference between the elementary schools. Can you show me evidence of the declining scores of Jefferson and the other schools scores?
My little girl will be going to Jefferson in a couple of years. I am not worried about a dip in the overall scores. I will make sure she learns and excels the material and supplement it with additional after school programs/activities.
This is where I got the bit about Jefferson's scores...but it's just a question, not necessarily a judgment. Maybe they're not teaching to the test and the kids' learning levels are doing better in a way that isn't measured. Who knows.....but take a look.
Hmm no comments about the cacciola kids...i thought i'd get opinions on both sides, but perhaps it's negligible as I speculated and the kids fall in line w/ the majority of the students (which could go good or bad) and what the teacher expects of everyone.
Having looked at Westfield last year I do recall one of the big issues with families in town was the continuing rezoning/shuffling. Realtors would never mention it but speaking to a couple of families I found there were some problems that needed to get resolved. It kind of makes sense, once everyone hears of a great town(s), they usually flock there with their kids in tow (or in belly).
However, some of these towns just arent prepared to tackle on the surplus of new families. Meanwhile, developers continue to prop up every .25 acre they can find and local govnt just continues to concede in their zoning laws due to plenty of political 'pressure'.
If I were looking at Westfield today, I would speak with the school district about school class sizes and if rezoning is being considered in the street I'm looking to buy. I would speak to the local parents about their experiences. There are big income differences within Westfield. Any 30k plus town will have the same. It's part of life but I absolutely realize the more affluent families will spend more in outside resources and in having inside political pressure (HSA), to make sure things get done a certain way. Not saying one way is better than the other but it does create a divide. The divide is not seen as much in the younger years of elementary school but from grades 4 and up you start seeing some things that are unfortunately natured by the adults. It happens in all the affluent towns, it's not just a Westfield thing.
This is where I got the bit about Jefferson's scores...but it's just a question, not necessarily a judgment. Maybe they're not teaching to the test and the kids' learning levels are doing better in a way that isn't measured. Who knows.....but take a look.
Hmm no comments about the cacciola kids...i thought i'd get opinions on both sides, but perhaps it's negligible as I speculated and the kids fall in line w/ the majority of the students (which could go good or bad) and what the teacher expects of everyone.
Hah I just got outbid on a house in the mckinley school district so i guess my search is both late and moot but if you folks are interested, here goes:
Franklin #39
Tamaques #75
Wilson #96
Jefferson #274
mckinley # 310
To the initial poster: does it matter that much? Are the teachers that different or maybe just the students? And even the ranking of mckinley is still a lot better than where I am now so we should probably just all relax. With that said when I start finding other houses i like, i will be inclined to lean toward one of the districts with the higher rankings, though I don't know if i'll be able to afford a house i like in the franklin or wilson districts.
My 2 cents- If test score is the absolute reflection of the area, why isn't eveyone flocking to rank #1 and 2, Newark and Elizabth?! My daugther is a student at McKinley and we couldn't be happier.
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jefferson school
