Magnet or IB schools? (Tampa, University: rental, credit, house)

[momof2boys710]

Hi,
I'm going to be new to the tampa area because of a relocation. I have to say these boards are so helpful. Can someone explain to me what a Magnet school or IB school is? I'm looking at school systems in Lutz, Land O Lakes and maybe Valrico, I'm not completely set on an area yet. They all seem to have good school systems, I will have a boy in 5th and one in 2nd. For some reason I've heard people talk bad about the middle schools. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[EngGirl]

google about magnet schools or IB schools in general and do research on each one you will be considering.

[DUNNDFRNT]

Originally Posted by momof2boys710

Hi,
I'm going to be new to the tampa area because of a relocation. I have to say these boards are so helpful. Can someone explain to me what a Magnet school or IB school is? I'm looking at school systems in Lutz, Land O Lakes and maybe Valrico, I'm not completely set on an area yet. They all seem to have good school systems, I will have a boy in 5th and one in 2nd. For some reason I've heard people talk bad about the middle schools. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

It's about the size of schools, a middle school will have several elementary schools feeding to them, and a high school a couple of middle schools into them, that's why you see lots of areas that have highly ranked elementary schools but not middle schools, and even less areas have all three.

[jaybird45]

Originally Posted by DUNNDFRNT

It's about the size of schools, a middle school will have several elementary schools feeding to them, and a high school a couple of middle schools into them, that's why you see lots of areas that have highly ranked elementary schools but not middle schools, and even less areas have all three.

This is what we found when looking in the Tampa area. There are many good elementary and middle schools but less highly ranked high schools. I would suggest finding the best high school district that meets you general location and financial constraints. From what I saw when we did our house hunting if the high school was highly ranked, the feeder middle and elementary schools were probably high ranked also.

[momof2boys710]

Thank you for your responses. I will google those schools.

Jaybird45 - thank you, I will look at the HS first.

[lavender]

magnet and IB and any other program offered are usually on a lottery system. Grades do count for some of the magnets. Some magnets *(like fundamentals) are stricter codes for students which some parents like and frankly if you are in a challenging program like IB discipline is essential to get through it.
I am not familiar with the areas you speak of, as I am in Pinellas, where there are some excellent public schools and also a huge variety of magnets. I do feel that middle school is important as this is the place where your children will base their studies before moving on to the magnets if they choose to do that and if its not a good middle school they can fall behind and then places may not be open to them down the line.
Good luck with your move.

[LakelandFLNative]

Magnet schools typically have a focus such as arts, science, computers or something like that. You get your child into these schools through a lottery type system and each district has different rules. Some magnet are very rigorous and require uniforms and certain grades to stay in the school.

IB is a college prep school that is 100% focused on getting the students as ready for college as possible. They have very rigorous curriculum. Students are required to have a certain GPA to even be considered for an IB school. Some are by invitation only.

There are also charter and choice schools. Charter schools are privately held and funded in part by the county. They are usually focused on a particular type of student, learning disability, etc. For example, there are charter schools that specialize on students with autism or ADD/ADHD. Choice schools are similar to magnet schools but students within their zone are automatically enrolled. THen those outside the zone have a "choice" to attend there.

Middle school is just a challenging time in a kids life. It's when they start trying to discover their independence and who they are. Middle schoolers can be just plain mean to each other. Because of this middle schools are just hard.

Florida also has an excellent virtual school program.

I think we are fortunate to have so many options for education.

This link might help.

Office of Magnet, Choice & Charter Schools | District Information | Polk County Public Schools

[bentlebee]

IB is only good for students who are very serious about getting good grates otherwise they are better off at a regular HS and take AP courses, dual enrollment and honor classes since you have to check out Universities/Colleges and how they value that program and the better school only value IB if the end grade is at a minimum a 4 or better a 5 or higher.

I attended an IB meeting from a good IB school but their info was not checking out with the better universities are having as a requirement. In that meeting they stated a 3 was sufficient but none of the universities we looked at were taking IB with a 3.

Keep in mind that many schools get paid for the amount if students and they don't just see a student but they also see money which is fine if you understand that part and like else where in life, due diligence is the most important word.

My son was accepted in IB but he already had so many credits and with IB you can't freely choose all courses and in his case it meant he had to retake certain courses to be in compliance with IB and that would gave wasted his hard work aside from the early hours to get to the IB school.
Going to a regular HS (public) turned out to be very good since my son got a full ride to university and was accepted in a special 3 yr business program and is now a Junior in University with a 4.0 gpa and got another scholarship this yr and only started there last yr and is still 18 and absolutely not a nerd...he is part of a fraternity and do do a lot of things after school and is still 18 yrs old.

It all depends on the child and their motivation, parents and teachers are very important since my son had his share of really great teachers but also the worst of the worst who had tenure.

I can truly say that one teacher at WCHS made a huge difference in his life and her name is/was Mrs. Abercrombie but I'm not sure she is still teaching under that name since she got remarried , but even though she is not the nicest towards parents she is by far the best teacher I have ever seen and made a huge impact in my sons and other kids life that I will never forget her and always be grateful for her. She is part of the advanced gifted program at WCHS and if your kid can deal with her and understands that her life goal is to make your child a better student than take advantage of was is presented since she is great!

I have no experience with Magnet schools so I won't comment on that but both my kids were also in private schools and to be honest I prefer public schools due to the testing standards public schools dealt with and private schools were exempt from.

My son was so far behind when he moved from a private school to a public school so he had to deal with that in elementary school but still ended up very well....so even that hurdle was overcome.

[momof2boys710]

Thanks everyone. Wow thats a lot to consider. Well, for now I will look at towns that my kids can get the best education from and go from there. My husbands relocation is going to go quickly so we wont have too much time. Fingers crossed we pick a good area!

[bentlebee]

Also check the website for the zoning for the school since we have seen changes for school zones every Summer.

Not every website may be accurate so check the government website or call them to verify.

Some schools may already have closed their time frame for acceptance since my friend was told she needed to present a HUD statement or rental agreement by a certain date otherwise it was too late to be accepted even if she would move in the school zone....

The class sizes are regulated and that was the reason for that statement per that school and that is a very desirable school where every agent will put the name of the school in their listing.