For an above average student, how much does a “good” elementary school matter?

[Anonymous]

My kid is slightly above average academically, but not by leaps and bounds. We have resources to supplement/engage in enrichment activities. She’s in a dcps school that we really like, even though the test scores are pretty bad overall. There aren’t huge behavior problems or anything like that. She has a peer group of other relatively high performing kids.

Many have asked us why we don’t move to the suburbs for “better” schools, and I’m just unclear about what’s better besides the test scores. Is the teaching/education actually significantly better?

[Anonymous]

I dunno for you. But we are at a decent school and I'm just now in 3rd noticing how much less my kid is doing than she could be. She's better than average but not better than she could be. Motivation is lacking, teachers have 25 kids out of which barely 1/2 care.

[Anonymous]

IMO it matters. They need an academic peer group. We moved in part because DC had no academic peer group at the previous school. That made DC bored and chatty, and came home with a lot of pink slips for talking too much due to boredom.

[Anonymous]

I would’ve done well wherever I was but my son gave the bare minimum in ES. He was rewarded with As even though what he handed it wasn’t A work IMO. I switched him to a Catholic MS and the As disappeared for a few years while he learned how much he had to do to earn them.

So….. if your kid is like me as me self motivated and has a similar peer group, I wouldn’t switch until MS.

[Anonymous]

tbh NBD
Parents are still the main influence in ES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:tbh NBD
Parents are still the main influence in ES.

I agree with this, unless there are tons of disruptive kids, which it doesn’t sound like there are.

[Anonymous]

Safety issues and focus on non academics is the result of an underperforming elementary school

[Anonymous]

Didn't you already ask that on the schools board?

[Anonymous]

Parents are the strongest influence on behavior at this age, so you should be fine.

As for the "above average" bit, later elementary (3-5) class placement will decide what academic track your kid is on when they hit middle school, which plays directly into their HS classes. My kid almost missed the advanced math track because, while he was the smarty in his ES math, they didn't bump him up to the next level because there weren't enough kids to justify the class/split class. We were able to get it corrected in middle (he skipped a math level and we got a tutor to fill in any gaps), but that's not always possible.

So you may want to consider what advanced placement options your student will have toward the end of ES, if you think they're above-average enough that it might make a difference in course placement and eventual academic trajectory.

[Anonymous]

As long as the middle school offers all the options for acceleration/honors and there is at least a decent cohort of kids on that path, then I don’t think it matters.

I speak from experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents are the strongest influence on behavior at this age, so you should be fine.

As for the "above average" bit, later elementary (3-5) class placement will decide what academic track your kid is on when they hit middle school, which plays directly into their HS classes. My kid almost missed the advanced math track because, while he was the smarty in his ES math, they didn't bump him up to the next level because there weren't enough kids to justify the class/split class. We were able to get it corrected in middle (he skipped a math level and we got a tutor to fill in any gaps), but that's not always possible.

So you may want to consider what advanced placement options your student will have toward the end of ES, if you think they're above-average enough that it might make a difference in course placement and eventual academic trajectory.

Outside of FCPS, lots of schools don’t track kids in ES. Ours did not. First acceleration was what math do you take in 6th. There was still a path to Calc in 10th or 11th if you wanted it.

[Anonymous]

It all comes down to discipline.

Good schools have strict discipline and retain the good students and remove the bad ones.
Bad schools let the kids run wild and never punish or remove the bad kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents are the strongest influence on behavior at this age, so you should be fine.

As for the "above average" bit, later elementary (3-5) class placement will decide what academic track your kid is on when they hit middle school, which plays directly into their HS classes. My kid almost missed the advanced math track because, while he was the smarty in his ES math, they didn't bump him up to the next level because there weren't enough kids to justify the class/split class. We were able to get it corrected in middle (he skipped a math level and we got a tutor to fill in any gaps), but that's not always possible.

So you may want to consider what advanced placement options your student will have toward the end of ES, if you think they're above-average enough that it might make a difference in course placement and eventual academic trajectory.

That’s not the way many school departments work. They don’t have any advanced classes until middle school that would probably involve 15-20% of the grade. This is the way the top school systems do it. The elementary schools are able to teach all students what they need to know together. The stand outs don’t get bored or fidgety and they are prepared for advanced math.

[Anonymous]

Zero

[Anonymous]

Cream rises to the top.