Difference between GreatSchools 5 and 8 high schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The 5 will have URMs and the 8 won't.

That certainly isn’t true of Walter Johnson HS.

[Anonymous]

I think it just depends on if you want your kids to go to school with poor kids or not.

[Anonymous]

For 6th grade l went to school in a poorer part of the city. About 1/3 of the parents didn’t speak or read English and bilingual homework was sent home. I was the best at every subject in my class, and at all the sports. It was weird and nobody liked me.

For 7th grade we moved to a middle class area, l was still smart but not the best at everything, and l was good in a few sports. It felt way more normal. I fit in.

So my personal preference was the 2nd school, which probably correlates to the higher rated schools on GS. Not a scientific analysis by any means, but it’s the main reason l live in an expensive shoebox house near highly rated schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 5 will have URMs and the 8 won't.

This. Its all SES based.

Exactly. We are at a school like this (35% FRM and GS4.) There is still a huge selection of AP classes, DE classes, and Honors classes, and a large chunk of motivated students taking them. College placement among the top half of the class is excellent. But yes there are a lot poor kids at our school, mostly Hispanic. Its not Yale or Jail exactly - more like UVA or Nova.

[Anonymous]

A GS 5 to an 8 is within the margin of error for GS. I would stay put.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kids go to high school rated a 3. Our whole pyramid is low rated so after all these years I will say that yes, the score corelates with the quality of the education received. Those who say it don't lie to themselves or they pay for outside tutoring. Some of our neighbors have paid the equivalent in tutoring costs to what it would have cost for private school. The biggest cheerleaders of low rated schools are K or 1st grade moms. They just don't know any better yet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For 6th grade l went to school in a poorer part of the city. About 1/3 of the parents didn’t speak or read English and bilingual homework was sent home. I was the best at every subject in my class, and at all the sports. It was weird and nobody liked me.

For 7th grade we moved to a middle class area, l was still smart but not the best at everything, and l was good in a few sports. It felt way more normal. I fit in.

So my personal preference was the 2nd school, which probably correlates to the higher rated schools on GS. Not a scientific analysis by any means, but it’s the main reason l live in an expensive shoebox house near highly rated schools.

Yeah, this is me too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 5 will have URMs and the 8 won't.

This. Its all SES based.

Exactly. We are at a school like this (35% FRM and GS4.) There is still a huge selection of AP classes, DE classes, and Honors classes, and a large chunk of motivated students taking them. College placement among the top half of the class is excellent. But yes there are a lot poor kids at our school, mostly Hispanic. Its not Yale or Jail exactly - more like UVA or Nova.

Same at a GS5. No issues with the school, my kids have been happy there and the kids who take the advanced classes do well in college admissions. I went to a uniformly affluent high school (which is what it takes to get an 8 ) and wouldn't want that for my kids. It was not a good culture.

[Anonymous]

You need to look more closely at the specific schools. An 8 is generally going to be all affluent kids (or a magnet school) and we'll resourced. I think there's a lot more variability in the middle.

My kids go to W-L, which gets a 5. It has about a third low-income kids. It also offers a ton of advanced classes, both AP and IB, many student activities, lots of kids take the advanced classes and do well in college admissions.

In contrast, a friend who lives in another part of VA has kids at a GS4 HS. They have a small program for advanced kids but there is no expectation that all kids will go to college. Limited activities (recently cut the theater program). It's also only about 1k students so the peer group of ambitious college track students is small. For one of her kids, very self motivated, that worked out fine. She was a big fish in a small pond and did extremely well in college admissions. But her other child is coasting and now saying maybe she just won't go to college.

[Anonymous]

It depends the kind of accelerated program the high school has in place. Our high school is a 3- however, they have an amazing program for accelerated students. They are literally bussed away for half the day to special math and science center (they apply for test into) at no cost. And your child gets to be with like-minded peers for most of the day too which is important. I would not send my child to an underperforming elementary school. But middle and high schools it can sometimes work if 1) your child is advanced 2) they have special programs that would meet those needs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For 6th grade l went to school in a poorer part of the city. About 1/3 of the parents didn’t speak or read English and bilingual homework was sent home. I was the best at every subject in my class, and at all the sports. It was weird and nobody liked me.

For 7th grade we moved to a middle class area, l was still smart but not the best at everything, and l was good in a few sports. It felt way more normal. I fit in.

So my personal preference was the 2nd school, which probably correlates to the higher rated schools on GS. Not a scientific analysis by any means, but it’s the main reason l live in an expensive shoebox house near highly rated schools.

Yeah, this is me too.

But this is high school. What you are describing is more like a middle school rated 2 versus a middle school rated 6. You experienced a middle class school. High schools rated 8 in this area are nearly all white and upper class and high-pressure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For 6th grade l went to school in a poorer part of the city. About 1/3 of the parents didn’t speak or read English and bilingual homework was sent home. I was the best at every subject in my class, and at all the sports. It was weird and nobody liked me.

For 7th grade we moved to a middle class area, l was still smart but not the best at everything, and l was good in a few sports. It felt way more normal. I fit in.

So my personal preference was the 2nd school, which probably correlates to the higher rated schools on GS. Not a scientific analysis by any means, but it’s the main reason l live in an expensive shoebox house near highly rated schools.

Yeah, this is me too.

But this is high school. What you are describing is more like a middle school rated 2 versus a middle school rated 6. You experienced a middle class school. High schools rated 8 in this area are nearly all white and upper class and high-pressure.

Yes my anecdote isn’t a 1:1 comparison. I guess what I’m trying to say is l preferred being middle of the road to top 10%, not sticking out as the best if everything with higher expectations for myself than most kids surrounding me. If you think your kids will be comfortable and fit in and enjoy the 6 vs the 8, that’s important and your parents are being too simplistic

[Anonymous]

Great Schools was started by realtors to better market their listings. A lot of people fall for the numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends the kind of accelerated program the high school has in place. Our high school is a 3- however, they have an amazing program for accelerated students. They are literally bussed away for half the day to special math and science center (they apply for test into) at no cost. And your child gets to be with like-minded peers for most of the day too which is important. I would not send my child to an underperforming elementary school. But middle and high schools it can sometimes work if 1) your child is advanced 2) they have special programs that would meet those needs

OP again. My local elementary school is a GS 4. Would you say that's good enough, or is that the point where you'd consider private school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends the kind of accelerated program the high school has in place. Our high school is a 3- however, they have an amazing program for accelerated students. They are literally bussed away for half the day to special math and science center (they apply for test into) at no cost. And your child gets to be with like-minded peers for most of the day too which is important. I would not send my child to an underperforming elementary school. But middle and high schools it can sometimes work if 1) your child is advanced 2) they have special programs that would meet those needs

OP again. My local elementary school is a GS 4. Would you say that's good enough, or is that the point where you'd consider private school?

What the population like? It’s it a few UMC neighborhoods mixed with some apartments or condos?

That’s how our school is - there is no middle class, the students all live in 600k-$1.2M townhomes or homes or they receive free lunch. There is no in between. In our experience it’s been fine as there are more than enough students similar to our kids for them to find a good peer group.