magnet schools (San Diego, Vista: neighborhood, college, live)

[pinal]

Hi,

I went to the Magnet Schools Fair held at the Recital Hall in Balboa Park this Sat. and I thought it was very useful.

Wanted to get opinions on certain schhols

1. Roosevelt middle school with the International Baccalaureate Middle years program
vs the

2.Milleneium Tech middle school
vs the

3. Muirland middle school in la jolla (regular public school)

My 10 yr old is in the seminar program and we are looking at these 3 options.

Also, can someone comment on elementary schools - is there a traditional year magnet school for language/IB.We are looking for my 6yr old who will be starting 1st grade.

The Language academy and Longfellow which have spanish immersion are both year round, and I personally feel it would be disastrous to have one child in the tradtional schedule and the other in a year round schedule.

Our other options are La jolla elementary, Torrey pines elementary or Bird rock elementary.

There is also a new IB program at Birney elementary. Has anyone heard good/bad reports about this program



For other parents out there, there is a second All Schools Fair which will be held the following Saturday on January 31st at the same location. This fair will include magnet schools, neighborhood schools and other enrollment options.

Thanks and looking forward to getting your expert opinions

pinal

[NYSD1995]

It is all a question of what you want. Can't speak specifically about the IB programs as they are very new. They are typically good programs usually within very low-performing schools. Can't speak about Birney but my wife was a TA at Roosevelt for many years and it had largely been abandoned by the middle class families at that time. These IB programs are often geared towards attracting the urban gentrifiers who have returned to the cities, i.e. IB at San Diego High. Sorry but no way in the world my kid is going to San Diego high.

Not sure what Millenium Tech is but if you are talking about High Tech Middle it is a popular and unique program. The big question with these is if your child has the self-motivation and direction to take advantage of the program. In many ways the traditional middle is better for kids who lack the focus to thrive in the more collegial atmosphere of the IB / High Tech atmosphere. I don't think you can go wrong with a traditional elementary in a place like La Jolla, even their high school is still good.

Language Academy and Longfellow are good programs for language immersion. The concern I have with these programs is they are geared as much towards ESL as they are native-english speakers, as much as 50%+ of the kids are ESL in those schools. My niece is at Longfellow and although she can speak spanish well I am not convinced that the other academics are up to par. I live near Language Academy and have friends who send their kids there, and love it. I am not sure I would send my kid there. I would look at Albert Einstein Academy as well, they are offering Spanish instruction now but seem to have a stronger academic focus.

After 10 years of my wife in SDUSD I am not sure I would send a kid to school in that district anymore. If I did I would focus on schools with a well-established parent organization that can weather the endless budget cuts and fight the endless program re-orgs and nonsense. We would want to do Hearst (or similar) / HTM / HTH. Otherwise we will probably go private instead. Not sure what your goals are but we are very focused on academics / discipline and SDUSD seems to be continuously moving away from that more towards social / emotional and the like.

Good luck!

[esmith143]

Can't speak about Birney but my wife was a TA at Roosevelt for many years and it had largely been abandoned by the middle class families at that time.

Hm. Not to disagree with you, but I looked up demographics at Roosevelt Middle and I see that the share of students with one or more parents with a bachelor's degree is consistently around 40% as far as 2001. It's not La Jolla (Muirlands Middle - 63%), but not abandoned by the middle class, either.

We're talking about Roosevelt Middle that's all the way near 76 and College in Vista, right?

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by esmith143

We're talking about Roosevelt Middle that's all the way near 76 and College in Vista, right?

No, Roosevelt Middle on Park Boulevard in Hillcrest