Would YOU move to get your kids in Delaware Valley SD? (Scranton: renting, selling a house)

[Gettingouttahere]

We're in East Stroudsburg SD; see, hear and read nothing good. But we love our property (10 acres, wooded, on Bushkill Creek).

We're seriously considering renting a home in the Dingmans Ferry area as our primary residence, using this place as a weekend retreat, in order to place our kids in DelVal. It'd be a big financial commitment, but not as much as private school.

Comments? Input into the school district? I know only of test scores at this point, but it gets double the ratings on greatschools/schooldigger/schoolmatters ...

And what communities would be good places to check out?

[Lehigh Valley Native]

It's ranked 20th out of 501 school districts. Why wouldn't you want to move there?
Although I can't see how renting a house year round, plus all the utilities that go along with it would be cheaper than paying for tuition at a catholic school.

eta; although if you have an ideological mindset against catholiscm a catholic school would pose a problem and nonsectarian private schools are super expensive.

also, off topic. shout out to Dallas Area School District, ranked 19th in the state. Color me impressed, well done!!

[Gettingouttahere]

Well, we have visited Notre Dame and weren't impressed. It's very overcrowded - the kids play outside on a roped-off parking lot. Plus, my hubby, a product of Catholic school, is vehemently opposed. So it's not a good option for us, at least not for our marriage

No, I realize it's a good district, as far as rankings go.... It just seems like such an extreme solution that I wondered whether other parents would think we were nuts.

[DE_NePA]

Catholic schools used to be academically advanced compared to public schools, but no more. I went to Catholic school as a child, and when I transferred to public schools, much of the math at least was review, I had already learned the topics. I know folks now who tell the opposite tale about their kids. Transfering to public school, they're behind

[Mr Yuk]

Catholic schools are really only good these days if you're stuck in a bad school district. Living in Scranton, we've tossed around the idea of sending the kids to Catholic school more than once....to keep them from the high population of bad apples in the Scranton schools. But the tuition is so expensive, especially with more than 1 kid, that I think a better option is to try to get out of Scranton and move to a better district. With the money saved on not seding the kids to Catholic school, plus moving away from the 3.4% wage tax, we could put that towards a decent house outside the city....the problem is selling a house in Scranton. Scranton schools don't seem academically bad, but they're poorly run and with undesirable elements moving into town, means more troublemaker kids in the schools. I never thought in my lifetime I'd have to worry about street gangs in schools in Northeastern Pennsylvania....that sort of thing was usually reserved for big cities.

[JamMan]

Originally Posted by Gettingouttahere

Well, we have visited Notre Dame and weren't impressed. It's very overcrowded - the kids play outside on a roped-off parking lot. Plus, my hubby, a product of Catholic school, is vehemently opposed. So it's not a good option for us, at least not for our marriage

No, I realize it's a good district, as far as rankings go.... It just seems like such an extreme solution that I wondered whether other parents would think we were nuts.

Too bad your husband is opposed. He probably had a couple of bad experiences that he now "blames" on Catholic school. I'd strongly recommend you work on your husband and reconsider Notre Dame. Overcrowding and playing in a roped off parking lot has nothing to do with quality education and good character formation, and Notre Dame offers both to students (and families) that really want it.

I spent 27 years teaching in Catholic High Schools in Boston and NYC. Often the situation was overcrowded, under-funded, and lacked tangible resources, but the education and discipline were excellent. The last school I taught in was in the South Bronx, a block from Yankee Stadium. It had little money, 35-40 kids in a clss, and didn't even have a field, but for the past 15 years it has graduated 100% and had a 98% college acceptance....with some very prestigious colleges and universities in the mix.

Now, as a retired teacher, I drive a school bus, I actually drive a run of Notre Dame students (elementary and high school). All the rest of my runs are public school kids. The Notre Dame students are by far the most academically focused, polite and well-mannered kids I have ever transported to a school. They will succeed and go places because their parents and Notre Dame will instill in them what they need.

[Gettingouttahere]

Originally Posted by JamMan

Too bad your husband is opposed. He probably had a couple of bad experiences that he now "blames" on Catholic school. I'd strongly recommend you work on your husband and reconsider Notre Dame. Overcrowding and playing in a roped off parking lot has nothing to do with quality education and good character formation, and Notre Dame offers both to students (and families) that really want it.

I spent 27 years teaching in Catholic High Schools in Boston and NYC. Often the situation was overcrowded, under-funded, and lacked tangible resources, but the education and discipline were excellent. The last school I taught in was in the South Bronx, a block from Yankee Stadium. It had little money, 35-40 kids in a clss, and didn't even have a field, but for the past 15 years it has graduated 100% and had a 98% college acceptance....with some very prestigious colleges and universities in the mix.

Now, as a retired teacher, I drive a school bus, I actually drive a run of Notre Dame students (elementary and high school). All the rest of my runs are public school kids. The Notre Dame students are by far the most academically focused, polite and well-mannered kids I have ever transported to a school. They will succeed and go places because their parents and Notre Dame will instill in them what they need.

Thanks for your input -- I appreciate your perspective.

But I'm still looking for any personal experiences with DelVal....anyone?

[nepadaisy]

Well, I live in DV but I homeschool. I don't know too much about the district per se; I just feel like we can concentrate on what's best for our kids and our whole family this way. Our friends that go there seem to enjoy it. One friend is concerned that her daughters are not getting enough math and science and we discussed what homeschool curriculum and materials could help her round out stuff in those areas for them. I was concerned with what I read in the paper about how they tried to handle that molestation case a couple years ago. I think they made some bad decisions there. And in general, I would want to look into what aspects of the school they are considering when they do those rankings. Is it just about how well the kids take tests? Is that really a reflection on how good the school is? I would want to make sure they're taking a holistic approach.

[Gettingouttahere]

Thanks for your comments, nepadaisy ... we are cyberschooling our daughter this year, but it's just not for us. We are in an isolated area to start with; there are no neighborhood kids for her to play with, and she isn't in Girl Scouts or church activities or anything -- so it's been a real struggle to provide her with socialization. We need to get her back in a traditional school environment for next year but EASD is just not an option. (She was in a Montessori school up until this year).

I read about the molestation case, and while I agree they handled it very badly, I'm not so sure any district would have handled it much differently. Most districts are going to try to hide it, avoid publicity, etc. Not saying that's good, by any means...

I believe the rankings online are mostly PSSA-based. And while those aren't the sole factor anyone should look at, I think you can look at the other school districts in the top 20 and come to a general agreement that the names you see there are among the best in the state by any measure. Most are in the most affluent areas, if that tells you anything. DelVal just surprised me, coming in two spots above Parkland in the Lehigh Valley, for instance.

If you wouldn't mind, next time you talk to your friends, if you could see if they'd e-mail me off-forum, I'd really appreciate it. I'll PM you my e-mail address if you don't mind.

Again, thanks very much for your reply.

[sheena12]

I have heard mixed things about Del Val. I heard they have a huge teen pregnancy problem. I could be wrong but I heard it somewhere.

I live in the city of Wiles Barre, and after careful thought and a lot of research we chose Catholic School for our teens. Holy Redeemer. Wyoming Seminary was out of the question financially.
We are happy with Holy Redeemer in general. They do not hit kids or anything like that and there are quite a few non Catholics there.


I think Scranton High School is much better.