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Old 03-12-2013, 05:45 AM
 
385 posts, read 1,170,739 times
Reputation: 150

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerseys Rants View Post
Since when ? I went to Maplewood Middle in the early 80s... Hixon place by the Old Blimpies behind Columbia is the line.. If you lived on Parker ave you went to Maplewood Middle, Hixon Place South Orange Middle.. Simple as that

With all due respect and don't take this the wrong way I understand you are attending Coulumbia right now but you are really seeing this through the eyes of a 15/16 year old as compared to me who is 41 and seen what has happened over the years there..

I was even there last September interviewing some of my old teachers, Columbia is not the school it used to be..

To tell the truth Our Lady Of Sorrows was the best I went to looking back, when I went to Jefferson I started slacking off the teachers did not push you.. Some of my Teachers in Maplewood Middle did, then for eighth grade I had to spend a year in Florida and I was doing the same work in eighth grade in Florida that I was doing in 6th grade..

When I went back to Jersey for 9th grade (At Columbia) I had to take a test to see if I had to re do the eight grade or go into 9th..

To tell the truth I had some good teachers in Columbia that helped me, then again I had some teachers that were also the coaches of some of the Students and let them slide so they can play the big game whereas me who was not a jock they didn't care when I asked for help after school they couldn't because they had to go coach..

The Maplewood School System didn't even pick up on my ADD, all the tests they gave me.. They said I was smart but I drift off into my own world.. lol

I didn't find out I had ADD till I was 27...But I'm kinda glad in a way, I still functioned well I just had to snap outta it an ask the question again till I got it..
What you say about the SO/M border being the dividing line between the two middle schools is no longer true. It is now decided by what elem. school you went to. All of South Mountain goes to SOMS (including those in Maplewood), all of Tuscan goes to MMS, all of Clinton goes to SOMS (even though most live in Maplewood), Jefferson students go to either depending on town, and Seth Boyden to MMS,

Yes, CHS probably has degraded over the years, but it still is a high ranked school.
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Old 03-12-2013, 06:21 PM
 
18 posts, read 68,070 times
Reputation: 14
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kthnry View Post
There are plenty of educated, affluent people who could easily afford Millburn or other towns west with "better" schools but choose to live in Maplewood/South Orange and send their kids to our public schools. It's a different environment with different values. I wouldn't live in Millburn or send my kids to Millburn schools.
Can you say specifically why? Snob culture?
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Old 03-12-2013, 06:31 PM
 
168 posts, read 416,480 times
Reputation: 61
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kthnry View Post
There are plenty of educated, affluent people who could easily afford Millburn or other towns west with "better" schools but choose to live in Maplewood/South Orange and send their kids to our public schools. It's a different environment with different values. I wouldn't live in Millburn or send my kids to Millburn schools.

This is not correct. At the affluent areas of Maplewood/South Orange an average 20% does not send their kids to public elementary. Compare that to the 3% of the South Mountain Millburn area.
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Old 03-12-2013, 07:19 PM
 
1,614 posts, read 3,745,404 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kthnry View Post
There are plenty of educated, affluent people who could easily afford Millburn or other towns west with "better" schools but choose to live in Maplewood/South Orange and send their kids to our public schools. It's a different environment with different values. I wouldn't live in Millburn or send my kids to Millburn schools.
And there are plenty of "educated" people that decide not to get their kids vaccinated too for "legitimate" reasons
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Old 03-12-2013, 07:24 PM
 
1,614 posts, read 3,745,404 times
Reputation: 1187
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeninvegas View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kthnry View Post
There are plenty of educated, affluent people who could easily afford Millburn or other towns west with "better" schools but choose to live in Maplewood/South Orange and send their kids to our public schools. It's a different environment with different values. I wouldn't live in Millburn or send my kids to Millburn schools.
Can you say specifically why? Snob culture?
Agreed, Kthnry does sound very snobish. For some reason he/she thinks he/she is better than someone living in Milburn
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Old 03-12-2013, 10:00 PM
 
Location: Planet Earth
3,921 posts, read 9,093,636 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jeninvegas View Post
NYCs system of applying for public school in your own neighborhood seems just plain crazy, so we can focused on suburban New Jersey.
Are you just referring to the fact that you have to apply, rather than automatically being sent to your neighborhood school? It's really not that hard. You list your choices, and if you want to go to your local school, you list that first. Most of the time, if it's a zoned school (because some parts of the city don't have zoned schools), they give priority to kids who live in the neighborhood.

They have programs within the schools for kids with different interests and academic abilities, but it's not really that complicated IMO.
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Old 03-12-2013, 11:15 PM
 
390 posts, read 1,362,647 times
Reputation: 450
Quote:
Originally Posted by fedus View Post
This is not correct. At the affluent areas of Maplewood/South Orange an average 20% does not send their kids to public elementary. Compare that to the 3% of the South Mountain Millburn area.
It can absolutely be the case. We could have gotten a house in either Glen Ridge or Montclair (we were looking in both). In the end, we specifically chose Montclair because we'd rather our children go to school with people from all walks of life. We were concerned they'd come out of Glen Ridge too sheltered - we experienced this with people we know who grew up in Glen Rock.

Many, many of our friends in Montclair, some much more affluent than us who could have easily afforded Millburn or Glen Ridge, chose Montclair exactly for the reason.

Each parent needs to decide what's best for their children. There's no black and white answers. To some, schools like Millburn and Glen Ridge are more appealing. Others may see schools like Columbia and Montclair more preferable for very different reasons.
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Old 03-13-2013, 01:46 AM
 
Location: Hollywood Fl, Maplewood Nj
79 posts, read 185,494 times
Reputation: 41
Quote:
Originally Posted by labcjo View Post
It can absolutely be the case. We could have gotten a house in either Glen Ridge or Montclair (we were looking in both). In the end, we specifically chose Montclair because we'd rather our children go to school with people from all walks of life. We were concerned they'd come out of Glen Ridge too sheltered - we experienced this with people we know who grew up in Glen Rock.

Many, many of our friends in Montclair, some much more affluent than us who could have easily afforded Millburn or Glen Ridge, chose Montclair exactly for the reason.

Each parent needs to decide what's best for their children. There's no black and white answers. To some, schools like Millburn and Glen Ridge are more appealing. Others may see schools like Columbia and Montclair more preferable for very different reasons.
^^^^ This...

To be Honest Going to school in Maplewood, we ALL got along... Yes there was a few small minded hiccups but in the end I'm glad to say I grew up with all kinds in the Maplewood/South Orange area

And staying in Newark an later Kearny with my dad on weekends, I was exposed to more and learned more..
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Old 03-13-2013, 09:43 AM
 
Location: West Orange, NJ
12,546 posts, read 21,337,238 times
Reputation: 3730
Quote:
Originally Posted by sonofagunk View Post
It is one of those schools where people that live there will defend it, and people that dont will attack it. Just more people that do not live there I guess.

And take the NJ monthly rankings for what they are. I stopped looking at them when they replaced "number of students that attend 4 year colleges" with "number of students that graduate in 4 years". So it is "better" to push someone through in 4 years no matter where they might end up.

Maplewood is trying to be a good school. You can see that their ranking has jumped (ok, I looked at the rankings today) because they now have smaller classes (but still 195th) and offer more AP classes (29th)

But they still have a long way to go on results (74th in math, 58th in lang, 89th in SAT, 60th in AP test passed)

and to show how silly the rankings are, to take the example from above where it is ranked above westfield

The only things that Maplewood is ranked above compared to westfield is that it averages 19.9 students/teacher vs 20.0, and it offers 24 AP classes vs 21 (unless they take the number of kids in the 12th grade too, and use the lower size graduating class as "better").
i'd just like to point out that being the 74th best school in math, in the 3rd best state in the country (we are still 3rd right? or we might have dropped to 5th not sure)....is pretty damn good. i don't think that means they have a "long way to go on results" personally.
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Old 03-13-2013, 10:17 AM
 
Location: West Orange, NJ
12,546 posts, read 21,337,238 times
Reputation: 3730
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeninvegas View Post
Thanks to everyone for their replies. I'm discovering that public school is a complex question. Currently, my kids attend public school in the Nevada which is ranked dead last in the entire nation for education. We live in a nice area, and our schools are okay...however my daughters fifth grade class has 38 students with one hard-working teacher. We believed that east coast schools would be a step up. Now, I see that we must be careful...NYCs system of applying for public school in your own neighborhood seems just plain crazy, so we can focused on suburban New Jersey. I have one child with an IEP. Teams in school, as the current student posted, seems as if that would not serve him very well.
Any options are appreciated. Thanks again.
if you're coming from a public school that's ranked dead last in the nation for education, you could likely attend one of the worst schools in NJ and still be coming out way far ahead. of course, there would be reasons to not want to attend the worst schools in NJ, if for no other reason than they probably aren't very desireable towns to live in anyways (i know it doesn't always work that way but generally speaking).

you should look at what districts fit the needs of your children better than another, and what towns you like. people here will argue all day over a school that's in the top third of our state, just because it's not millburn or something.

For what it's worth, New Providence snagged NJ Monthly's top spot for 2012 rankings.
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