Boca schools? (Boca Raton, Palm Beach: attorneys, middle school, live)

[wavves71]

We are moving to Boca Raton in two months. I am curious about the elementary schools in Boca. The school ratings are high for many of the schools and the standards seem good, however many of the school buildings seem dated and in poor condition. I also see modular classrooms at some of the schools. From an appearance standpoint it would seem that there isn’t an emphasis on education. I know it doesn't have to look pretty on the outside for good things to happen on the inside, but it does look like education is not at the top of the list for the community. For those of you that have young children what schools do you recommend and what has your recent overall experience been with the school system?

Another concern we had was the sexual assault of a second grade child by two second grade classmates at the Addison Mizner Elementary School in June of 2016. The incident was reported in June of 2016, but no further information seems to be available. Does anyone know if the students accused of assaults were removed from the school? Did the school show transparency and work to correct the problems? We hear many good things about this school and we know incidents like this can happen anywhere, but we are curious about how parents feel about the school and if things are now moving in the right direction.

[Delraymefa]

Mizner is considered good. So is whispering pines, sunrise park, and a few others. Also they charter schools like Morakami. Just moved here three months ago so not an expert but here you go.
Cons-

whenever you live there are lots of kids who go to different schools so it can be hard for your kid to make friends.

Because all the kids at the school are from different areas, if your kid makes friends be prepared for a lot of driving for play dates

you can be zoned for a good elementary but a sub par middle or highschool or visa versa

No buses

No guaranteed special ed at school you are zoned for

But

You can choose different schools if there is space

There are "scholarships" to other schools for any special needs or IEP

Basically, the only people who I've met who are really happy with public schools are in West Boca. We are zoned for a good highschool but not middle school.

Sexual assault thing is horrible but Mizner is a good school.

Don't go by scores online. It's all so dodgy and so far I hate it. But if you have the money for private that can be great, offer a real sense of community and offer everything you need. My kid isn't a student and has ADHD so we went Montessori. But after a few years at Montessori not sure how we would transition to a huge highschool. I miss our little suburban community when everything was in place. Good luck to you.

[john-staten island]

Boca Raton Schools are overall very good. If you're coming from the NE there will different type buildings, policies, etc. Delraymefa was very helpful. Good luck, you can't go wrong in Boca.

[CJD1812]

Addition Mizner, Del Prado, JC Mitchell, and Verde are good schools. You also have Choice Schools such as Morikami which is a lottery system and it is a county school not a charter school. Additionally, there are some Charter schools that you can apply for such as Somerset Elementary. I'm personally not a fan of charters. If you have any questions feel free to DM me.

[City Guy997S]

Sexual assault case settled for 185K
Boy said to be forced into sex acts at Boca school may receive $185K

BOCA RATON
A 7-year-old autistic boy who attorneys say was coerced into performing sex acts on classmates on an elementary school playground will receive $185,000 from the Palm Beach County School Board under a proposed settlement.

[HonestIntellectual]

It's hard to tell which schools are truly the best if you haven't seen them and their student body in person. Online ratings are not a bad way to start having an idea, but they don't give the full picture. As a rule of thumb, if online ratings are numerous and really bad it's practically guaranteed that the school is bad, but, I was able to see that even 7/10 ratings do not mean that the school is a good school. I know this firsthand because I once worked at a high school that had good average ratings from people in various websites and I thought that the school was a bad school. And obviously, my experience was more relevant than the ratings because I worked there as a teacher and I saw how it truly was on a daily basis. I also saw that the school's newsletters to parents made it look much better than what it really was.
A school, and even the district itself, are never going to tell you that a school is bad, even if it is.
Ultimately, there are only two ways to tell what it's really like and both are about assessing the school's student body directly, or during a normal day there and at a moment when the students are not inside a class. Way 1 is being a worker there. You will know very quickly what's it like because you see it daily. Way 2 is visiting the school and being able to walk on the grounds there when there are students present and when the students are visible and outside of classrooms (such as during lunch time, when half of the entire school is in recess outside or in the cafeteria).
The second option is limited but it is the best choice for possible new staff (such as new teachers), new students, or parents of possible students.
Usually, what you see on a normal day there is what you typically have at that school. So, let's say you go to one school and have a chance to see what the school and what most of its students are like during lunch and at recess time when everyone is outside. If just from that single day you notice that most of the students look nice and educated, you probably landed on one of the few good schools. Likewise, if just from that single day you got the impression that the overall student body looks quite unfriendly, mean, and simply put, like "bad news" all over the place. Then, guess what? It's not a good school and that's how it is going to be like during other "normal days" there.
That is the best way to tell if ANY school or place is good or bad. Forget about what the buildings look like (it does count, but not nearly as much as you think) and look at the people there and how they behave. The people are the true determinant of whether it is a nice or a bad location, or school, or even a workplace.
Since we are talking about schools, there is another piece of information that does help (more than ratings I believe). That is the grade that the school has in the district. That grade says something about the student body at the school. Usually, the good schools are the ones with an "A" for the school, year after year; and not surprisingly, students do perform better academically at those schools, but that is just a side-effect of having a much better student body. The bad schools are the ones that can't ever get anything above a B no matter what they do. Most of those are stuck at a C, or they go from B to C often.
So basically, I recommend going to the school in person and seeing what the population looks like. And I also recommend checking what grades it got each year at the district. I believe those are the best ways to "rate" the school as close as possible to the reality there.