Doable work commutes into Factoria

[Bolo99]

Renton

[vivalamojo]

Bolo99, I know there are some areas of Renton that are a part of the Issaquah and Tahoma school districts but I'm hesitant on the Renton and Kent school districts which make up most of Renton. Does anyone have opinions on this? For example, Kentridge High School in the Fairwood area is rated on a "3" on greatschools.org which is pretty bad. But then on School Digger and Niche the school is rated positively. Student and parent reviews are mixed with lots of mention of drugs, alcohol, and over crowding of the school. There's more homes to choose from in the Renton/Fairwood area in our price range but I am a bit concerned about the high school. Sounds like the elementary and middle school are good. Anyone else have experience with Kentridge High school?
Thanks for your time,
Samantha

[CrazyDonkey]

You have to be careful in using GreatSchools rankings - they are 100% based on test scores, which are highly correlated with family income. I say "rankings" because they are not "ratings", like Niche, SchoolDigger, etc. Reviews can be misleading, because satisfied/happy parents and students are less likely to post.

The Seattle/Bellevue area has also been ground-zero for the Opt-Out Movement, with large numbers of parents opting their children out of taking state-mandated and other tests. In some schools, over half the students are being opted out. When students are opted out of a test, it is scored as a zero by GreatSchools.

Interlake Senior High School in the Bellevue School District (#1 SD in the state), for instance, is ranked as a "3" at GreatSchools, despite 81% of 12th-graders taking at least one AP exam (76% passing) and 36% taking at least one IB exam (99% passing) - from US News school ratings. What it does have is a larger number of ESL students from China and India whose parent is in the US to work at Microsoft or other tech companies.

Personally, I'd be looking at STEM, AP, and IB participation/passing rates as more indicative than GreatSchools' rankings. Also, arts, crafts, music, and drama courses as indicative of the depth and breadth of the curriculum.

[mrsengle]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

I literally just sold a Maple Valley home (we actually close tomorrow) to some clients who will be doing the identical. Price to value, it is probably the best choice you can make.

This was our hope when we bought out here - good to hear it from a Realtor

[vivalamojo]

Good things to think about when considering schools! To find this information out I'd likely need to contact the school. AP, IB, high test scores etc are all good indicators and of course that they offer variety of classes for a well rounded education. I'm also concerned about the social/emotional health of the peer groups in the high school, parent involvement, and quality of teachers. Unfortunately, these factors are usually tied to socioeconomic status but not always. It's true that more unhappy customers are likely to give feedback but also a lack of feedback about a particular school is indicative of problems too. I'd love to hear from parents/students/educators at Kentridge but realize my research will probably go furthest by talking with the school. Thanks for the input and giving me more information to consider when talking with the schools!

[vivalamojo]

Not to ignore the the topic of the Opt-Out Movement but I'm just not familiar with what's so wrong with standardized testing? My child is not yet in grade school so this really hasn't been on my radar yet. As a parent I see great merit to testing to ensure students are proficient in the subjects they've been learning about and are ready to move on to the next grade level. What's so wrong with that?

[modc]

What's wrong is that
-teachers spend all year teaching to the test because those test scores are all that matter.
-One to 2 weeks before testing kids learn how to take the test on the computer and practice that.
- the weeks that they take the test they spend hours on it
- also the weeks that they take the test, the kids are tired and the administrators don't want them to get too exhausted because there is more testing to go so they don't spend time learning - they go very light on academics during testing weeks.


When are they learning? are they learning anything beyond how to take a test? I'd rather they spend time learning how to write an essay, editing it with their teacher, learning new math concepts and doing science experiments.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by vivalamojo

Good things to think about when considering schools! To find this information out I'd likely need to contact the school. AP, IB, high test scores etc are all good indicators and of course that they offer variety of classes for a well rounded education. I'm also concerned about the social/emotional health of the peer groups in the high school, parent involvement, and quality of teachers. Unfortunately, these factors are usually tied to socioeconomic status but not always. It's true that more unhappy customers are likely to give feedback but also a lack of feedback about a particular school is indicative of problems too. I'd love to hear from parents/students/educators at Kentridge but realize my research will probably go furthest by talking with the school. Thanks for the input and giving me more information to consider when talking with the schools!

Kentridge HS from Niche:

A- rating, 88% grad. rate, 90%89% reading/math proficiency, 24%/56% AP pass/enrollment

However, based on your statement, "My child is not yet in grade school," I'd be looking at pre-schools and elementary schools, not high schools. There are large demographic shifts happening, so trying to look ten years down the road is highly premature.

Also, traffic/congestion can interfere with time for involvement/participation in your child's education/school, as well as for supporting their extra-curricular activities. The closer you can live to work the better. I'd be looking at elementary schools in East Bellevue, Newcastle, Eastgate, and Issaquah.

[vivalamojo]

modc- It sounds like there are problems then if the main focus is on testing and not learning. Hopefully this will be figure out in the coming years with a better approach. It's nice to be able to see how much kids comprehend what they've been taught but at the same time it shouldn't be to the detriment in the quality of education.


CrazyDonkey- That is a very valid point! The reason I've been looking so far a head into high schools is that when we buy our next home, we'd like to stay put for good. That's an ideal world though and yes high schools can definitely change in 10 years. Jobs locations can change too over time forcing another move. We'll just have to pick a place that's relatively close to work with good schools now and hope for the best!