Anyone else feeling depressed about VA public elementary schools? (Vent)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Agreed to a point. I think standardized test scores in high school are far more significant than anything in elementary school, where kids are just beginning to learn how to learn. I want something different for a 5 year old than I do for a 15 year old.

But would you/did you buy a home in an area slated for an elementary school with "poor" or "average" test scores, just because it would eventually feed into a "high test score" high school? Or would the "poor" test scores have made you reconsider even an elementary school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Agreed to a point. I think standardized test scores in high school are far more significant than anything in elementary school, where kids are just beginning to learn how to learn. I want something different for a 5 year old than I do for a 15 year old.

But would you/did you buy a home in an area slated for an elementary school with "poor" or "average" test scores, just because it would eventually feed into a "high test score" high school? Or would the "poor" test scores have made you reconsider even an elementary school?

All the elementary schools in MoCo have good test scores, so that can't be a determining factor in my personal situation. (But to answer your question, I live in an excellent elementary/middle/high school district in MoCo, yet I will be sending my son to private for at least K-5, if not K-8.)

I went to public schools with less-than-stellar test scores my entire life. Back then it was the Iowa tests, then the California achievement tests. It only seemed hurt me going into middle school in English classes, where I was a year behind those coming from a better elementary school. But I skipped a level by 8th grade and went into high school "even" with other college-prep kids. I also went to a "low-rent" high school in Howard County that was looked down on by the biggies like Centennial. Kind of like BCC looking down on Gaithersburg High. But I made my way through college and law school just fine. So no, tests scores in themselves don't matter much to me.

An overall culture of learning "does" matter. And test scores are a poor indicator of that in elementary school, IMO. This is the time to get kids interested in learning, to give them the life-long gift of enjoying education. Parents need to look at individual schools, public or private, to see what's the best fit for their child. I wish it were public school for us, but it's not.

[Anonymous]

Another happy (like, blissed-out) Taylor parent here. I don't see much value in the SOLs, but evidently the kids like taking them, and Taylor doesn't teach to the test.

I realize that in many ways (class size, student demographics) Taylor may be more like private school than a public school. Arlington schools are very responsive to parental concerns and students' individual needs, and because the teachers are better trained than typical private school teachers, they're better able to respond to those needs. Much as I like the democratic aspect of public schools, in practice, some schools are more equal than others.