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I work downtown and am looking to move as close to downtown as I can. My situation is common. I have small children, currently elementary school age, and am concerned with their safety first. Private school is not an option at this time ($$). I have done enough research to find that Squirrel Hill is the safest area within city limits with what appears to be the best public schools (this is by no means a cut on any other parts of the city--there are many beautiful places all over the city).
The internet has plenty of crime stats, demographic stats, etc. on Squirrel Hill but I cannot find much on the schools themselves. I talked to one of the schools directors and of course they tell you nothing negative. I understand Allderdice is ranked high academically but am I sending my children into trouble? Let's face it, academics isn't the only part of the high school experience. Is anyone out there familiar with CURRENT social life of students at Allderdice and Colfax? I am also very interested in anything on Colfax (as this will be the school they will attend first). Its not that I am looking to hear only the bad things but I hate to be naive.
If it matters, and I hope it doesn't, we are a white, non-Jewish, middle-class family.
We spend most of our family-time/spare time doing things in the city and would love to live closer. Lets face it, if you live in Allegheny County (or probably any city in the country for that matter) you don't have to be a genius to see the days of living in the suburbs are over! With that said, I'm not interested in hearing from the Cranberry/Wexford lovers who want to justify their move out of the county and thus rip apart the city.
I work downtown and am looking to move as close to downtown as I can. My situation is common. I have small children, currently elementary school age, and am concerned with their safety first. Private school is not an option at this time ($$). I have done enough research to find that Squirrel Hill is the safest area within city limits with what appears to be the best public schools (this is by no means a cut on any other parts of the city--there are many beautiful places all over the city).
The internet has plenty of crime stats, demographic stats, etc. on Squirrel Hill but I cannot find much on the schools themselves. I talked to one of the schools directors and of course they tell you nothing negative. I understand Allderdice is ranked high academically but am I sending my children into trouble? Let's face it, academics isn't the only part of the high school experience. Is anyone out there familiar with CURRENT social life of students at Allderdice and Colfax? I am also very interested in anything on Colfax (as this will be the school they will attend first). Its not that I am looking to hear only the bad things but I hate to be naive.
If it matters, and I hope it doesn't, we are a white, non-Jewish, middle-class family.
We spend most of our family-time/spare time doing things in the city and would love to live closer. Lets face it, if you live in Allegheny County (or probably any city in the country for that matter) you don't have to be a genius to see the days of living in the suburbs are over! With that said, I'm not interested in hearing from the Cranberry/Wexford lovers who want to justify their move out of the county and thus rip apart the city.
I don't have current into as it has been awhile since I attended Allderdice but if you want to live in the city, I think this area and Allderdice is your best bet for schools. If I were going to move back to the city, it would be my choice. I love the city and understand not wanting to hear from another person who loves Cranberry, etc but I think it is possible to still live close enough to downtown and live outside Pgh Public school limits. If you are not interested in that, than Sq Hill is a great area.
Is anyone out there familiar with CURRENT social life of students at Allderdice and Colfax? I am also very interested in anything on Colfax (as this will be the school they will attend first). Its not that I am looking to hear only the bad things but I hate to be naive.
I have one kid at Colfax. You might want to review the newsletters on the PTO website to learn a bit more about the school:
I would also recommend meeting the principal (David May-Stein) as he has played a key role in many of the recent improvements at Colfax.
My take on Colfax: the student population is very diverse (in terms of "readyness to learn") and this makes it a challenge to teach there. Historically, Pittsburgh Public Schools have been opposed to "tracking" students (separating children into different classes according to their academic ability) so you end up with each teacher on a grade-level trying to handle a wide range of students in their classrooms. For example, first grade reading skills in a classroom can range from being able to read Harry Potter books to struggling with basic "Dick and Jane" type books. The challenge for the teacher is to make sure struggling students who need help get it, while ensuring that students who are "beyond grade level" are appropriately challenged (so they don't get bored).
The Colfax staff has been working on ways to address this within the constraints of the Pittsburgh Public Schools District. Recently the district has shown some flexibility, and they are going to try some new flexible grouping schemes in the next school year to try and address this.
As a parent, this means that you've got to keep on top of what your kids are doing and be willing to raise issues with the school when you have them. You cannot sit back and expect the school staff to do it for you. Since we are willing to be active parents (i.e. complain if need), we are sticking with Colfax. I don't think switching to private school would be worth the additional expense.
I would also recommend meeting the principal (David May-Stein) as he has played a key role in many of the recent improvements at Colfax.
My take on Colfax: the student population is very diverse (in terms of "readyness to learn") and this makes it a challenge to teach there. Historically, Pittsburgh Public Schools have been opposed to "tracking" students (separating children into different classes according to their academic ability) so you end up with each teacher on a grade-level trying to handle a wide range of students in their classrooms. For example, first grade reading skills in a classroom can range from being able to read Harry Potter books to struggling with basic "Dick and Jane" type books. The challenge for the teacher is to make sure struggling students who need help get it, while ensuring that students who are "beyond grade level" are appropriately challenged (so they don't get bored).
The Colfax staff has been working on ways to address this within the constraints of the Pittsburgh Public Schools District. Recently the district has shown some flexibility, and they are going to try some new flexible grouping schemes in the next school year to try and address this.
As a parent, this means that you've got to keep on top of what your kids are doing and be willing to raise issues with the school when you have them. You cannot sit back and expect the school staff to do it for you. Since we are willing to be active parents (i.e. complain if need), we are sticking with Colfax. I don't think switching to private school would be worth the additional expense.
Thanks scrapp! This is very helpful. I read the latest Colfax newsletter (April 2008). It has quite a bit on info on behavioral problems. Is this an issue at the school?
Also, the school seems to constantly talk about diversity. Granted, having a diverse school is great in all, but aren't our children in school to learn? Do you feel (or anyone else reading this who has a child in the school) feel the school is overlooking or harming its academic program in favor of making the school as diverse as possible?
I think scrapp has it right. I have a child at Minadeo, the other elementary school in Squirrel Hill, and I know a lot of people with kids at Colfax. Both schools have a lot to offer but sometimes parents have to push the teachers to meet the needs of all the students. As far as I understand, students from families where parents emphasize education do fine as long as the school offers good opportunities. If you are a family that will push and a family that emphasizes education, your kids will do fine at Colfax/Minadeo-Sterret/Allderdice and at several other schools in the Pittsburgh district (mainly the magnet schools). Colfax wasn't pushing this year and there was a mini-rebellion among the parents, a lot of meetings, and a push and the pay-off is that Colfax is going to be a pilot school for a new program that scrapp described.
(But even without such a formal program, a lot of the teachers are quite good at balancing the needs of different kinds of students and do some "ability grouping" informally within their own classrooms. I can speak to that from personal experience at Minadeo.)
Regarding behavior and discipline, there have been issues at Colfax in the middle school years (5-8) and there have been issues at Minadeo in the 5th grade. Colfax expanded from a K-5 to a K-8 school in the last few years. At the same time, Colfax and Minadeo also absorbed kids from some schools that were closed. This has meant a lot of new kids in the schools the last 2 years. At Colfax, there have been some middle-school kids who have come from a middle school that closed that had a lot of discipline issues (Reizenstein) and who hadn't come through Colfax. Three things to keep in mind: 1) at both schools, it does not seem that the behavior and discipline problems from some kids have dragged down the whole school or destroyed the learning environment. 2) by and large the discipline problems have been with the older kids. I haven't heard about any kinds of problems in the K-1-2-3 years at either school. The hope is that students who have come through these schools from a young age will feel more a part of community and will absorb a different ethos/attitude about school which will lead to fewer problems as they get older. 3) I don't think personal safety is a problem--or at least I haven't heard about any problems. Kids are acting out and that's distracting the teachers and taking time away from teaching--and that is a problem!--but I don't think you need to be concerned for your child's safety.
My bottom line: I haven't seen anything at Minadeo or heard anything about Colfax that would stop me from sending an elementary school age kid to either school (or that has me wanting to take my kid out of Minadeo). I suppose I would have some hesitation about moving a 7th or 8th grader to Colfax right now, but I don't think I would make a decision before meeting with Daniel May-Stein and also talking directly with 7th/8th grade parents.
Regarding your demographic niche, I haven't seen any anti-Gentile prejudice in Squirrel Hill.
Thanks scrapp! This is very helpful. I read the latest Colfax newsletter (April 2008). It has quite a bit on info on behavioral problems. Is this an issue at the school?
No, but behavior management is one of those topics that gets discussed from time to time. (The March newsletter had coverage on the Gifted Program, another topic that comes up often). Colfax has two parent groups: PTO and PSCC. PTO is focused on fund raising, social events, the newsletter, etc. The PSCC group focuses on school academic/policy issues like the curriculum, behavior management, sex education, test scores/NCLB, etc. The April article in the newsletter was an update on PSCC/Staff discussions on behavior management (PSCC generated a set of "moving ahead" proposals, including one on this topic).
More generally, I agree with likepgh's take on this issue, so no need to repeat what likepgh has already typed. One additional thing I will say regarding Colfax is that when Colfax was converted from K-5 to K-8 they had to add a new wing to the school building to fit all the kids in. Prior to that, space was very tight, so the staff had to be pretty rigid with behavior rules to avoid problems and stay safe (i.e. avoiding construction areas). Major construction completed in Jan 2008, and the staff had to figure out how to adjust to this. One issue is how to handle behavior management and rules for the middle school aged kids vs. the younger kids. I think there are still kinks to work out here, but I have a younger kid so I have not followed this topic too closely.
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Also, the school seems to constantly talk about diversity. Granted, having a diverse school is great in all, but aren't our children in school to learn? Do you feel (or anyone else reading this who has a child in the school) feel the school is overlooking or harming its academic program in favor of making the school as diverse as possible?
This is a District issue rather than a School issue. The District sets the feeder patterns that determine school assignment/demographics. The School has to take the students assigned to it and make the best of it with the resources the District provides it ("Excellence for all" is one of the buzz phrases that gets applied here).
The diversity issue that concerns me isn't a demographic one, but one of "readyness to learn." This has to be addressed with some form of "tracking" (but don't call it that because it is a Bad Word in the District, instead call it "flexible ready to learn grouping with class-sized groups" or something like that). Or there needs to be more than one teacher in a classroom (no budget for that).
I have a daughter at Allderdice right now. It's a big school with a diverse population racially, ethnically and economically. If you child is in one of the college preparatory tracts I think they will feel safe enough. There have been problems with fights breaking out between kids from a couple of rough neighborhoods who get bussed in. A turf war kind of thing. It is a cause for concern. It has been fist fights but you hope a weapon doesnt get involved at some point. There are metal detectors as everyone enters and security guards, but heck you find that at suburban schools these days and a bunch of gilrs got raped last year at one of the better suburban HS last year.
Anyway, my daughter swears she never feels threatened because she isn't in on of the groups fighting. Occasionally a fight will break out in the hall or cafeteria and it becomes a big spectator sport but it never spills over to bystanders.
I would talk to the principal at Allderdice about it. They are actively working on engaging the groups who are at odds with each other and trying to get them to co-exist. I heard the principal talk on this several months ago and it would be interesting to hear how it is going.
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