Great School ratings

[Anonymous]

I have been reading this forum and found that quite a few people were praising schools with "great school ratings" of 6, as an example (Lemon Elementary, Freedom Elementary). I am new to this whole system and somehow assumed that a trully good school would be 9 or 10. I guess I am wrong? The house we bought is assigned to elementary with 6. The condo we have and are renting out is assigned to school with 8. My son is too young now (2.3 yo), but I am already checking out schools and reading forums.
The other question is how can we trasnfer to the school that is assigned to our condo? My mom's house is also assigned to the same school with 8 rating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been reading this forum and found that quite a few people were praising schools with "great school ratings" of 6, as an example (Lemon Elementary, Freedom Elementary). I am new to this whole system and somehow assumed that a trully good school would be 9 or 10. I guess I am wrong? The house we bought is assigned to elementary with 6. The condo we have and are renting out is assigned to school with 8. My son is too young now (2.3 yo), but I am already checking out schools and reading forums.
The other question is how can we trasnfer to the school that is assigned to our condo? My mom's house is also assigned to the same school with 8 rating.

Great School ratings are based on standardized test scores, so the schools with fewer lower-income students or students for whom English is not a native language generally tend to have slightly lower ratings. Both Lemon Road and Freedom Hill fall in that category. But many parents whose children attend those schools and have first-hand experience with them are happy with them and aren't worried that their own children are being "dragged down" by other kids who may start out with fewer advantages.

I don't know if it matters to you or not, but I think all the junior high and high schools that receive students from Lemon Road (Kilmer, Longfellow, Marshall, McLean) or Freedom Hill (Kilmer, Thoreau, Marshall, Madison) currently have Great School ratings of 8 or higher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been reading this forum and found that quite a few people were praising schools with "great school ratings" of 6, as an example (Lemon Elementary, Freedom Elementary). I am new to this whole system and somehow assumed that a trully good school would be 9 or 10. I guess I am wrong? The house we bought is assigned to elementary with 6. The condo we have and are renting out is assigned to school with 8. My son is too young now (2.3 yo), but I am already checking out schools and reading forums.
The other question is how can we trasnfer to the school that is assigned to our condo? My mom's house is also assigned to the same school with 8 rating.

Corrected post:

Great School ratings are based on standardized test scores, so the schools with MORE lower-income students or students for whom English is not a native language generally tend to have slightly lower ratings than those with fewer such students. Both Lemon Road and Freedom Hill fall in that category. But many parents whose children attend those schools and have first-hand experience with them are happy with them and aren't worried that their own children are being "dragged down" by other kids who may start out with fewer advantages.

I don't know if it matters to you or not, but I think all the junior high and high schools that receive students from Lemon Road (Kilmer, Longfellow, Marshall, McLean) or Freedom Hill (Kilmer, Thoreau, Marshall, Madison) currently have Great School ratings of 8 or higher.

[Anonymous]

I'd like to know what people think of this rating too. I've been using it myself to assess schools in this area, as I am not that familiar with No. VA schools. I did take a look at the Great Schools ratings for my home area, and they were consistent with "conventional wisdom" about what school was excellent versus bad versus mediocre.