your experience with an "up-and-coming" school or school in transition?

[Anonymous]

hi folks:

i am wondering if any of you have a child in a school that would be considered "up-and-coming" or "in transition" or even "gentrifying" and what your experiences have been. i am personally interested in the early grades, but would like to hear experiences of all ages.

we'd like to put our ds into such a school, but have reservations. i imagine a school with a population that draws from families with mixed, varying degrees of income, education as well as varying cultures, languages can present challenges.

thanks!

[Anonymous]

Why do you have reservations?

Do you feel as though it's really an "all talk and no action" situation? that on paper things look good?

What challenges do you see in having your child surrounded by children who may come from poverty or different cultures where English may not be the first language?

Most schools on the "urban fringe" can be described like this.

[Anonymous]

To me, the single most important factor in any school (especially elementary) is the principal.

If you have a responsive, competent, effective principal who is interested in being held accountable for results, and who cares about children's emotional and academic needs, then chances are you and your child will have a great elementary school experience.

If you do not have such a principal, then you may be in for a rough haul, especially if any problems do develop with individual teachers or between children.

[Anonymous]

what schools are you specifically looking into?

[Anonymous]

Sounds like the elementary school my DD will attend next year.

Five years ago I don't know that I would have wanted to send her there - when you looked at test scores, they were low, lots of kids getting free lunch, etc. But at some point I got over all that and here's why.

First, the school has an excellent principal. Second, excellent teachers. Third, lots of (and growing) community support. Now almost all my neighbors are sending their kids to the neighborhood school instead of searching for other options. Finally, I came to understand that the low test scores are because over half of the school population speaks English as a second language. There is no way those kids can be expected to do as well on standardized tests as kids whose first language is English.

I truly believe the instruction at the school is just as good as at any of the other public schools in our area and for this reason I am glad to send my child there. I also believe there are benefits in the long run to early exposure to diversity (racial, economic, etc.)