School and community question (Irvine, Tustin: low income, 2013, credit)

[vincent from norcal]

I wouldn't send kids to Irvine schools, the Asian parents are too much and the culture of schools becomes a pressure cooker. I graduated from El Toro and it was a good school with a mix of rich, middle class and downright poor and while it was a good school it was very relaxed. Any school in Saddleback Unified will be good.

[payutenyodagimas]

Originally Posted by RG1981

Graduating top 20% of your class in Irvine is equivalent to top 5% of the class anyplace else in the country. Your kids will be fine in the schools here.

Don't do them the disservice of lowering their education to a lower common denominator. Do you have any idea how many parents in this country (in this WORLD) would die to have the opportunity to put their kids into this school district? And you want out?

there is Chinese proverb: its better to be the head of a chicken than to be tail of a cow.

which is better? a top 20% in Irvine or top 5% anywhere in the country? a president of a small company will always have more prestige than a manager of a big bank no matter how much this manager gets

just a food for thought

[motobecaneti]

Originally Posted by RG1981

Graduating top 20% of your class in Irvine is equivalent to top 5% of the class anyplace else in the country. Your kids will be fine in the schools here.

Don't do them the disservice of lowering their education to a lower common denominator. Do you have any idea how many parents in this country (in this WORLD) would die to have the opportunity to put their kids into this school district? And you want out?

Last month, I met a Chinese guy who moved to Mission Viejo from Irvine so that his kids can get away from the pressure cooker environment in Irvine schools.

We go to the Ruby's restaurant in woodbridge often. There is a turtoring business right next door. You see through the glass window these kids age 8 and 9 doing math problems on a weekend morning while the parents are waiting outside swiping away on their cell phones. The scene is pretty sad really.
My wife and I purposely avoided Irvine when we were house hunting so that our kid doesn't go to a school in Irvine.

The new immigrants think Irvine is heaven on earth. After they have lived there for a few years, they wise up and move away.

[kat949]

Originally Posted by incognitoe

Problem is, they were hand fed their entire life and had it easy in the Private Schools where you basically pay for good grades. I know because I use to attend a Baptist Private school. It was so easy to get straight A's.

Transferred to a HS my Junior year and that was a wake up call. Took some time for me to adjust. Good thing I had friends that were already attending the same Public School and had a group friends to hang out with and no be a loaner. Because w/o them, I would have felt so alone. And you know how hard it is to make friends ur JR year..... Especially coming from a Private School where classes are small and you basically know everyone including the parents.

Exactly. I can see kids from private religious schools feeling out of place in Irvine school systems, because most kids already have their niches there. At the same time, there are a lot of Christian students in Irvine public school systems, and they can be warm and inviting. My only concern is the level of competitiveness. I have a family friend who's son is struggling due to the over-competitiveness of the environment. Can be very depressing on a developing teenager who needs to live their years out as teens. Dana Point has great school systems, but you won't run into Tiger moms who drop their kids off at tutoring, then music, then x,y,z.. literally, kids who graduate from Irvine public school systems go through constant pressure, and I'm not sure how healthy that can be. Although, education is important, and paying off your dues does count.

[OC Troll]

I'm sure they'll be fine, cause the real world really isn't all that competitive. People aren't shooting for the same job or trying to climb the corporate ladder. Companies in the same field don't really compete.

[RG1981]

Originally Posted by motobecaneti

Last month, I met a Chinese guy who moved to Mission Viejo from Irvine so that his kids can get away from the pressure cooker environment in Irvine schools.

We go to the Ruby's restaurant in woodbridge often. There is a turtoring business right next door. You see through the glass window these kids age 8 and 9 doing math problems on a weekend morning while the parents are waiting outside swiping away on their cell phones. The scene is pretty sad really.
My wife and I purposely avoided Irvine when we were house hunting so that our kid doesn't go to a school in Irvine.

The new immigrants think Irvine is heaven on earth. After they have lived there for a few years, they wise up and move away.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with that. At their age, school should be the #1 priority. I work as much overtime as I can and am in the market for a second job to bust my hump so my kids can live here and go to these schools and have opportunities that I couldn't even have DREAMED of.

It just gets me so mad to see this person with the 5k a month housing budget moaning about Irvine schools when some of us are barely scraping by and sacrificing everything to give our children a better shot than we had. So incredibly ungrateful for having such a good life it just rips me up to see people like that.

I guess it's just hitting me extra hard because I can't really afford to live here anymore and we'll be off to Huntington Beach (or someplace worse like Westminster or GG) pretty soon and my boys won't have the opportunity to go school in Irvine like I'd hoped. Then I come on here and see this woman who has what I'd do anything to be able to have, and I'm supposed to be smile and agree at watching her throwing it all down the tubes?

Count your blessings!!!!!!

[vincent from norcal]

Too much pressure isn't good, there are kids in high pressure school communties like Arcadia or Cupertino or Palo Alto killing themself over the "shame" of getting a B. Getting an education isn't mutually exclusive with having a fun childhood.

[RG1981]

Originally Posted by vincent from norcal

Too much pressure isn't good, there are kids in high pressure school communties like Arcadia or Cupertino or Palo Alto killing themself over the "shame" of getting a B. Getting an education isn't mutually exclusive with having a fun childhood.

Of course not, but that's no reason to intentionally give your kids anything less than the absolute best shot you possibly can give them. They think the Irvine schools are too hard? Tough. Work harder. That's what I'd tell mine, but I'd make sure they never even got that mentality because I'd make sure they understood how incredibly lucky they are to be where they're at and how many other kids in the world would give anything to have the opportunities they have.

Because guess what? They're going to finish college and get a job that pays them barely enough to get by. These self-entitled spoiled rich kids who grew up thinking that what they have here in SoCal is just "normal" are going to whine and moan about how they're entitled to the world on a string, meanwhile my kids will be working and saving and running around circles around the others because they appreciate what they have and understand the hard work required to have achieved it.

[motobecaneti]

Have you heard of the term "the point of diminishing return"? In Irvine schools, to get that A, your kid has to work his butt off and enrolls in weekend private tutoring. He expends all that energy and time just to get that 2-3 points needed to get to the top of his class. And all the tiger moms are pushing their kids to do that same... for those 2-3 points increase in test scores....you have reached a point of diminishing return.

While your kids are buried in books doing the same practice problems over and over again just to get that A, my kid who is also an A student in another south county school district is participating in extracuriculum activities, pursuing other interests, honing his social skills...becoming a more well rounded person. When comes time to apply for college, you think an A in a south county high school is worth any less than an A from Irvine?

[ledo1611]

Originally Posted by motobecaneti

Have you heard of the term "the point of diminishing return"? In Irvine schools, to get that A, your kid has to work his butt off and enrolls in weekend private tutoring. He expends all that energy and time just to get that 2-3 points needed to get to the top of his class. And all the tiger moms are pushing their kids to do that same... for those 2-3 points increase in test scores....you have reached a point of diminishing return.

While your kids are buried in books doing the same practice problems over and over again just to get that A, my kid who is also an A student in another south county school district is participating in extracuriculum activities, pursuing other interests, honing his social skills...becoming a more well rounded person. When comes time to apply for college, you think an A in a south county high school is worth any less than an A from Irvine?

Thank you. That's exactly what we are looking for. We understand there is a culture here in Irvine of pushing the kids hard for those test scores, we see it everyday around the city (tutoring places, etc.) so we are looking for places where our kids can actually enjoy their childhood while still getting an excellent education. I don't see why they would need to be in a cutthroat academic environment to achieve that. and we are not talking about letting them just be slackers either. from what I am able to gather from available information; there are many great schools all over OC with excellent academics, great API scores, etc, just not as intense as some of Irvine schools. which could be related to the demographics/culture here as many of you have pointed out already.

Do you guys have recommendations for other places outside of Irvine? We looked at Laguna Beach and the Newport area, but might be too expensive and not as diverse as we would like. We are not a Caucasian family so we are looking for a place with more diversity if possible. I think this will also help the kids grow, learn and have a better overall human experience.