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Old 01-10-2017, 03:28 PM
 
Location: Suburbs of Philly
58 posts, read 79,459 times
Reputation: 18

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Let me please say I am not interested in starting a debate nor do I care to examine test scores/split hairs.
My goal is to hear what makes each district different from the other, the environment, the overall experience and school culture.

In a nutshell:

Great Valley, T/E, Radnor, LM- all great school districts academically but please tell me more about them. Looking for friendly, welcoming, kindness... trying at all costs to avoid bullying, snobs/ attitudes, cliques, high pressure/ stress etc.

***Also had some people recommend Rose Tree Media and Marple Newtown but felt the first 4 I listed were "better"? Thoughts?

More info:

We are moving this spring and are able to move to any suburb of Philly. We have two kids (1.5 and 3) and what we care about most is living in a place that will be best for them in every aspect of life, including of course a good school district. I am aware of the statistics/rankings of each school but what I feel is also very important to know is what the schools are like. I'm not interested in my children attending a school that is so high pressure and competitive that they are focused more on test scores than anything else. I want my children to enjoy school and have balance in their life (family, academics, sports/extracurriculars) and be happy, adjusted, well-rounded individuals.

My husband seemed to think ok this is a no brainer, just choose the top ranked (T/E) and we will be making the best decision for them.

Then I researched more and heard things about T/E such as- it was too high pressure of an environment causing their children to no longer enjoy school, that it's not a friendly/welcoming environment, reports of bullying etc. Obviously these are not things I want in a school... (and I understand it's not totally avoidable either but I am just trying to make the most informed decision I can in choosing a district for our kids).
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Old 01-10-2017, 03:43 PM
 
Location: Suburbs of Philly
58 posts, read 79,459 times
Reputation: 18
May I also add:

I am a stay at home mom: I care about quality family time, meeting other moms and their families, family oriented events/businesses, friendly people/sense of community, yoga/Pilates, volunteering and being active in the community.

My husband is home/off during the summer but travels from Sept-June and some months he's only home 6 nights per month so for those reasons I feel a good community is very very important to me and the kids as we will not know anyone in the area.
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Old 01-10-2017, 03:47 PM
 
Location: Dude...., I'm right here
1,763 posts, read 1,528,064 times
Reputation: 1987
Ma'am, you are over-complicating things. Not to worry you some more but have you thought about exposure to drugs?

The funny thing is that I wanted my kids to face some sort of hardship when we moved to Philly . I felt like the school district we were previously in was too perfect and they would grow up sheltered. It's OK to want the best, but sometimes you just have to let them figure out life for themselves.

NB. I went to an elite highly gifted boys only boarding school. It offered the best education one can learn inside a classroom but outside the classrooms it was brutal. This made me who I am today. The only thing I wish is if it were run like the military and focused on discipline too because I had to learn how to be disciplined on my own. For some, this lesson comes when it's already too late in life.

Good luck in finding the perfect school.
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Old 01-10-2017, 03:50 PM
 
Location: Suburbs of Philly
58 posts, read 79,459 times
Reputation: 18
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1ondoner View Post
Ma'am, you are over-complicating things. Not to worry you some more but have you thought about exposure to drugs?

The funny thing is that I wanted my kids to face some sort of hardship when we moved to Philly . I felt like the school district we were previously in was too perfect and they would grow up sheltered. It's OK to want the best, but sometimes you just have to let them figure out life for themselves.

NB. I went to an elite highly gifted boys only boarding school. It offered the best education one can learn inside a classroom but outside the classrooms it was brutal. This made me who I am today. The only thing I wish is if it were run like the military and focused on discipline too because I had to learn how to be disciplined on my own. For some, this lesson comes when it's already too late in life.

Good luck in finding the perfect school.
No I have not thought of exposure to drugs as they're so little I didn't think that far ahead but thanks to you, 7 am now! Care to offer tips/advice about the areas/districts I mentioned?
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Old 01-10-2017, 03:55 PM
 
Location: New York City
9,340 posts, read 9,200,501 times
Reputation: 6428
To start.. Rose Tree Media Schools I would rank on par with the list of districts you mentioned. Marple Newtown schools are very good, but maybe a notch down, but that really doesn't matter in the big picture.


Quick rundown


All 6 districts are excellent, great academic and social activities within each. They are all highly regarded so students I'm sure would have the typical pressures you would expect. T/E would probably be the highest pressure since its one of the best districts in the nation.


LM and Radnor are the snobbiest


T/E the most prestigious


Marple-Newtown is the most socioeconomically diverse (for a middle/upper class suburb)


Rose Tree Media is the smallest and probably most family oriented district, also has the most recreation in the area too.

Great Valley is a newer population, more transplant families so possibly more open to newcomers (I know sometimes people complain about people on the Main Line being closed off and socially cold to new families). Also housing is a little more affordable out toward Great Valley than the other areas.


In short, any district you pick is going to be a great option for your kids. I think specifics about the type of town, home, and amenities you want should be the deciding factor. And budget.
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Old 01-11-2017, 01:17 AM
 
Location: Germantown, Philadelphia
13,950 posts, read 8,808,399 times
Reputation: 10256
Caveat: I haven't lived in any of these districts, but I do know a music teacher in Lower Merion (at Harriton High, the second (and academically better rated now) of the LMSD's two high schools).

However: I think that Niche.com does a pretty good job of ranking schools on a number of factors. They pull their enrollment figures from the U.S. Department of Education's Common Core Data set, so I suspect that their rankings on diversity are probably fairly accurate.

If having a racially diverse student body in an academically challenging environment matters to you, my advice is: Find a home in a nice neighborhood in Philadelphia and do your damnedest to get your kids into Central High, the single most diverse high school in the Commonwealth and No. 10 on Niche's list of the best public high schools in Pennsylvania (within Philadelphia, it's second to No. 7 Julia Reynolds Masterman, another exam school; Masterman consistently ranks in the top 50 of U.S. News & World Report's rankings of the nation's best high schools - above any other high school in the state).

On the Main Line, the Lower Merion, Radnor and Tredyffrin-Easttown school districts all score higher on Niche's racial diversity index than Marple-Newtown does. IMO, this makes sense because all three communities have black settlements that stretch back decades, while I can think of no such enclave within the Marple-Newtown boundaries. Lower Merion's black community, in South Ardmore, is the Main Line's largest, so I'd consider it first. (Some of South Ardmore lies in Haverford Township, Delaware County, and children there attend Haverford Township schools, which are also quite good.)

None of the Main Line schools are as diverse as the two Philadelphia ones: Lower Merion High, with a Niche racial diversity index of 42%, is the best of the bunch. By comparison, the index for Masterman is 72%, and for Central, it's 75%.

The elementary schools might be a little more diverse because of their smaller populations, depending on the school. But you'd want to live in the catchment of one of the two grade schools that take in South Ardmore, Merion or Penn Valley.

When the magazine I work for did a cover feature on "Racial Profiling on the Main Line" the month after I joined the staff full-time, some of the worst tales of racial harrassment in that story came from Radnor, so I might be a little cautious about locating there over LM or T-E.
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Old 01-11-2017, 01:22 AM
 
Location: Germantown, Philadelphia
13,950 posts, read 8,808,399 times
Reputation: 10256
Besides the districts mentioned already, another outstanding suburban district in that general area is Wallingford-Swarthmore.
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Old 01-11-2017, 06:07 AM
 
Location: Germantown, Philadelphia
13,950 posts, read 8,808,399 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by TFZC1922 View Post
May I also add:

I am a stay at home mom: I care about quality family time, meeting other moms and their families, family oriented events/businesses, friendly people/sense of community, yoga/Pilates, volunteering and being active in the community.

My husband is home/off during the summer but travels from Sept-June and some months he's only home 6 nights per month so for those reasons I feel a good community is very very important to me and the kids as we will not know anyone in the area.
May I suggest Narberth Borough, then?

It's a small wedge-shaped municipality completely surrounded by Lower Merion Township. The borough is also part of the township's school district.

It's known for having a very family-friendly, small-town feel, and its town center is a gem. It also has just about all the attributes you list above.
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Old 01-17-2017, 09:32 AM
JEO
 
21 posts, read 64,001 times
Reputation: 21
I attended T/E from kindergarten through 12th grade and now have two children in Radnor. My suggestion would be Radnor or Great Valley. I don't know much about Lower Merion, but have only heard good things about their schools. Radnor is wonderful and is anchored around the town of Wayne (primarily). The schools are excellent. T/E is a very large school district - almost double the size of Radnor - and it's very hard to make sports teams. T/E has also had a lot of negative press lately with the middle school sexting and the much larger athletic hazing scandal. This district is all about rankings and often takes it's eye off the ball when it comes to students. I can speak from experience. I would avoid T/E and check out Radnor and Great Valley in more detail. You may want to join the Main Line Parent facebook group - there has historically been discussions about the school districts there. Good luck!
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Old 01-17-2017, 12:27 PM
JEO
 
21 posts, read 64,001 times
Reputation: 21
The above mentioned article, which I believe was published in Philadelphia Magazine - "Racial Profiling on the Main Line" had very little to do with Radnor. The African American boys discussed in detail in the magazine were former students at Tredyffrin/Easttown Middle School and the incident where they were video tapped and reported to the police took place in the Greens at Waynesborough in Berwyn (Easttown). The main focus of that portion of the article had to do with T/E and not Radnor....Just an FYI.
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