Lake Oswego, Beaverton Elementary Schools and Commute to Portland Downtown

[go4sam]

All,

Thanks for your responses, sorry for my delay in response.

figmalt - I agree some of the things you said like Parents have greater role to play in shaping the kids, but I think schools, teachers play greater role in providing right environment.

I will give you good example, i changed my perspective on LO schools after talking to my schools teachers on having Combo/Blend classes for 1-2 and 3-4 and 5-6 grade classes together which is the case in LO. Interesting comment made is that usually higher grade kids in that class will get so bored and also could have issue where teachers have seen that higher grade kids acting like lower grade kids.

So mostly I will be planning for one of these Beaverton schools (Findley, Bethany, Springville, Bonny Slope)

BirdInHand - Why do you think my assessment is way off, I got the info from Web, visits to schools, ofcourse i have not visted all the schools, but of the schools I visited I liked Findley, Bethany.

If you have different perspective please share.

[OntheMoveAGAIN]

go4sam -Have you had any luck in rental homes near those schools? We will be in the same situation later this Summer and want to feed (preferably) into one of those schools too.
Thanks for any advice

[go4sam]

Originally Posted by OntheMoveAGAIN

go4sam -Have you had any luck in rental homes near those schools? We will be in the same situation later this Summer and want to feed (preferably) into one of those schools too.
Thanks for any advice

Not yet, I have not seriously started yet, but will be starting soon. will let you know once I get details.

[BirdInHand]

I'm glad to hear you visited the schools you are interested in. I was just trying to prevent your from crossing Beaverton off your list unncessarily.

I was commenting on your impression that there are only a few decent schools in Beaverton. Its a growing, thriving city, so if that were true, no one would be moving there. There are lots of great schools in Beaverton.

I find too many people discounting schools based on websites that only monitor the one-size-fits-all standardized testing. If you truly want a diverse atmosphere for your children I think that is great. The problem is these diverse schools, of course, dont typically do as well on testing as the English majority, upper & middle class populated schools. Does that mean they are not good schools? Of course not.

2 students can get completely different educations out of the same school. ESL students spend much of their time in a different classroom but yet they must take the same tests as the fluent English speakers. Child #1 may be learning Computer Lab, while Child #2 is in the ESL into their second hour of Reading. Child #1 is going to score in the Meets or Exceeds category while Child #2 will show in Below standards. Their scores get combined leading to an average rating for the school but they are both getting a great education.

Also, you cant assume a highly ranked school is providing ideal curriculum. I know someone who works for a highly rated school but they dont offer as much Art, Music & Social Studies as the others because they are pushing reading & math all day to up their numbers. In some ways, standardized testing has done more harm than good.

It sounds like you are putting alot of work into your childrens education, if only all parents could be this way. Good luck to you.