Does Wilmington Island have its own high school?

[ellie]

Originally Posted by coffewithwhiskey

What the heck is up with the blatant marketing and boosterism? It's so in-your-face that it's absurd. Nobody is going to take their kid out of private school to put them into the worst school district in the state.

Upper and middle class familes don't have the disposable income they used to have. I imagine there are a lot of parents who are salivating over the idea of free schooling.

The more kids from stable families you get in a school, the better the school becomes. Good schools will keep the better teachers: less attrition. Then more middle class families will opt for public education.

That's the reverse of how public schools started spiraling down 20-25 years ago.

[nmd0414]

Originally Posted by coffewithwhiskey

What the heck is up with the blatant marketing and boosterism? It's so in-your-face that it's absurd. Nobody is going to take their kid out of private school to put them into the worst school district in the state.

About 110 students enrolled at Islands High went to private schools last year. This is a little less than 20% of the student body. The vast majority of the students attended the elementary schools on the islands, May Howard and Marsh Point. These are unquestionably the two best elementary schools in the Chatham County system. Both consistently score significantly higher than the national averages on standardized testing. Thus, Islands High School has a different demographic than the rest of the county and has the potential to be a superior school.

[deadsavannahian]

I think Wilmington Island should be its own town

[Sunny_Isles]

Originally Posted by julierob29

I can't believe how "down" some posters are about public schools in GA. My daughter has attended school in Iowa (some of best public schools in nation) and then we moved to Phoenix, and we were told that those schools are horrible and she'd fall behind and she was challenged by those schools. Its the teachers that make the difference. If you have a teacher that doesn't want to be there, then you're going to have students that perform poorly. Also, as parents we have to work with out children to make sure that we are helping and working together with the teachers and supplementing their education. You just can't expect the teacher to do all the work...as a parent you have to help just as much. You make sure they read more than what's on YouTube and make sure that they take educational field trips on summer vacation other than just to the water park. If you're excited about learning - then they will be too. We turned a trip to the aquarium into "what I want to be when I grow up". Now she wants to be a marine biologist. Talk about an excellent vacation. Also, there is a summer reading list for all students with projects due right after school starts. Iowa doesnt' have that. Arizona doesn't have that. Georgia does. I am excited my child's brain won't "rot" during the summer.

I have to agree with the others. And what ellie says is true. Chatham County has about a 30% poverty rate for children under 18. If you then take out all of the children who go to the many private schools in Savannah the poverty rate in the public schools is very high, and that does make a huge difference in the makeup of the classes and what can be expected of the students.

[keepforgettingusername]

My daughter just finished her freshman year at Islands High School. It is a little different because the class schedule is 4 classes per semester which gives the kids time to work on (what would traditionally be take-home) homework during classtime together as a group and with teacher support. This is an excellent idea in my opinion! It does stick as far as the arts go - band would only be half the year but you can knock out 2 years worth of spanish in one year in theory. My daughter also took part in the new biological/environmental science research program and next year she will study oceanograpy as part of that program. How exciting is that?!!!

My daughter scored on the end of the semester tests consistently in the 90's for every class. Not too shabby!

The school is small with only about 400 kids enrolled...in total. 400 kids...not 400 per grade...400 total. Wow! The school is clean, there's adequate computers, the teachers learned my daughter's name within the first few weeks of school.... There were the usual idiots that got caught drinking or causing problems as there would be at any school but overall I feel pretty confident that this is a safe school. In fact those idiots were expelled and now the girls go to St. Vincent's (per court order) and the boys are going to another private school....ummm...really? Hoodlums are in private schools too.

There are few scheduling glitches that I hope will be worked out for next year. I also hope the band program will be expanded - that would be the only reason I would consider moving her to another school such as Savannah Arts. I feel that she is getting a good education at IHS. I feel she is in a safe environment and I don't worry about her during the day when I'm at work.

I did look at private schools but I don't feel spending $500 per month on private school (not including books) will get her such a better education to make that expense (and thus hardship) worth it. She will have no trouble getting into the college she wants to study marine biology.

Education is what effort the student and parents put into it. The teachers see the effort the parents and children make and if your student needs more attention, they get it....if they need more of a challenge they'll get it. I had no fear of going to school and meeting with the teachers and guidance counselor in order to make sure my daughter was where she needed to be. I don't stand on the sidelines and complain. I act.

stepping off my soapbox now.

[bubblewrap1]

Originally Posted by keepforgettingusername

There were the usual idiots that got caught drinking or causing problems as there would be at any school but overall I feel pretty confident that this is a safe school. In fact those idiots were expelled and now the girls go to St. Vincent's (per court order) and the boys are going to another private school....ummm...really? Hoodlums are in private schools too.

I did look at private schools but I don't feel spending $500 per month on private school (not including books) will get her such a better education to make that expense (and thus hardship) worth it. She will have no trouble getting into the college she wants to study marine biology.
)

Ummm....really? The hoodlums came from a PUBLIC school. Imagine THAT. There are, by far, more involved parents in private schools that don't tolerate that BS. I am glad that BC has THE (if ONLY) reputation for mandatory drug testing and not caring about the precious 'privacy' of students.

The problem with a lot of parents is they want to spend their $s on something else rather than their kids. I spend my money on their education now, they will get the scholarships for college. I would rather buy a car when they go off to college, instead of having the newest one now. Don't downgrade the private school sector......it's the public schools that are always trying, in vain, to keep up with them. Give Island High a few years and the dregs of society will have it destroyed and broke in no time flat. Happens all the time to brand-spankin-new housing projects, too. Sad, really....