Is Renton School District Really That Bad? (Newcastle) (Seattle, Sammamish: homes, buying)

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by Ira500

"On the other hand, just because you put a dumb kid next to a smart kid doesn't mean it will rub off on him/her."
That's a great line. It doesn't mean that it'll rub off, but if you put 25 dumb kids next to the one smart kid, most of the teaching and energy will be devoted to the dumb kids.
But a lot of parents think that their child should only be surrounded by other smart kids(even if their kid isn't particularly smart).
I guess the question is: If you have a smart kid, is going to a 7 rated school going to mean that your kid will have a bad learning experience, or not be able to take advantage of higher learning opportunities, because it's not a 9 or 10 rated school?

What good does it do if students score high in tests but are highly cliquish status-obsessed snobs? Schools aren't just for learning, but for socialization as well. You have to look at the whole picture (including the surrounding community), not just the number.

[margaretBartle]

Originally Posted by DevanXL

If you are in active parent whom stays on top of your kids and is involved in there academic success then you should be fine wherever you send them.

Not true. If your child is in a school with a lot of disadvantaged kids, most if not all of the resources of the school will be aimed at bringing the bottom up to mediocrity, not bringing out the best in all the kids.

I moved out of the Seattle school district after my child's first grade experience, where for her reading class, she was put with two other children, alone, in a classroom where the teachers wrote the sentences on the board, because she and the other two students knew how to read, and the other students didn't even know the letters of the alphabet. I went to the school to verify that, I did not believe my daughter when she told me.

[loves2quilt]

Does anyone know or have opinions about the West Seattle schools-particularly the middle and high schools?

[notfromseattle]

Originally Posted by Ira500

It's actually Renton's schools on the west side that give Renton's schools a bad rap, like Bryn Mawr, Campbell Hill, and Lakeridge. They're not in the city of Renton. Those are the schools the Skyway kids go to, and while they are improving, they do bring down the test scores for the whole district. Outside of those schools and a couple of others( Cascade Elementary, Highlands Elementary), Renton's schools are pretty good. Hazelwood Elementary, McKnight, and hazen are all good schools. It's simply that Issaquah's school district does not have any low rated schools and Renton's does. Some people only want to live in areas where every single school is top rated. Renton doesn't have that. It only has some schools that are highly rated. But Hazelwood, McKnight, and Hazen have been good for a long time, and will likely stay that way.

Thanks for that information. I get that some schools within the Renton district (sounds like the west side) that drags down the entire district as a whole. I also understand that placing too much value on tests scores can also be misleading.

It makes sense that cities with more money, higher property values, higher taxes -- have more funding to reduce class sizes and hire better teachers. More qualified teachers also flock to cities that have higher salaries.

You just can't help but compare. It's all relative, right? If Issaquah school districts are slightly better than Renton school districts, it's natural to wonder why?

[notfromseattle]

Originally Posted by mkarch

The ratings are against state test scores. Ira is correct that certain districts look 'bad' because they have a mix if high and low performing schools, and others look good because there are few poor kids with un-involved parents or non-english speakers.

People do put a lot of (somewhat unwarranted) stake in the rankings. The next closest elementary to ours is ranked better than 97% of the schools in the state, while ours is completely ghetto at 94% - and the parents at the better school like to point that out. Oh god, how could you condemn your children to a school that's only in the top 6%??? that's like forcing them into prostitution and drug dealing! I can't believe that under-performing school hasn't been shut down!

Totally hear your sarcasm through written text. Test scores are not always the best analytics to look at. Especially if teachers are graded or paid based on test scores, it's really hard not to have some teachers teach only accordingly to certain tests -- to try and boost their scores.

Also this begs another related question, is it better to put your children in a highly competitive environment like in the Bellevue school district? I've heard of bullying and cliques in a lot of high schools around there.

[notfromseattle]

Originally Posted by loves2quilt

Does anyone know or have opinions about the West Seattle schools-particularly the middle and high schools?

Might be easier to start a new thread rather than hi-jacking this one about Renton school districts.

[notfromseattle]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

What good does it do if students score high in tests but are highly cliquish status-obsessed snobs? Schools aren't just for learning, but for socialization as well. You have to look at the whole picture (including the surrounding community), not just the number.

That's a good point. I've heard of Newport High School (?) being exactly as you mentioned: clique-ish, snobbish, highly competitive, bullying, etc.

[NCDavid]

Originally Posted by notfromseattle

You just can't help but compare. It's all relative, right? If Issaquah school districts are slightly better than Renton school districts, it's natural to wonder why?

Not a big secret: Flight of upper middle class and above families to Issaquah and east Renton suburbs; infill of lower class and immigrant families to west parts of Renton. It's not a classist or racist issue; as noted in other posts, in general better-off families spend more money, time and effort on their kids' education.

[Pshkrpnt]

I do agree, if there is no parent engaged in a child’s education, that child will not do better so school will not do better. It is vital for parents or caregivers to own that responsibility of reading at least 30 mins a day, taking to a library, constantly interact with the child. Please we got a make a difference, neighboring School Bellevue is doing exceptionally well because the parents are devoted. This is my experience. Let’s build a strong parenthood.

[Neerwhal]

Renton has way more poor kids than Issaquah or Bellevue.

So their scores are lower. Parents have less time, there's less money for additional tutoring outside of school, etc.