S/O - Avoid Focus School

[Anonymous]

I asked a friend what a focus school was and she said it was similar to Title I schools and to avoid them. Our home school is a focus school. Was thinking of sending out rising kindergartner there, but seriously having second thoughts now.

[Anonymous]

We're at a Focus school and love it. It's different than title 1 in that the poverty level isn't as high. It's socioeconomically and racially diverse and very friendly. Plenty of upper middle class families and plenty who are not. We've enjoyed having smaller class sizes. But that's just our experience with our local focus school. What school is it you aren't sure whether to send your kid to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're at a Focus school and love it. It's different than title 1 in that the poverty level isn't as high. It's socioeconomically and racially diverse and very friendly. Plenty of upper middle class families and plenty who are not. We've enjoyed having smaller class sizes. But that's just our experience with our local focus school. What school is it you aren't sure whether to send your kid to?

Same for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're at a Focus school and love it. It's different than title 1 in that the poverty level isn't as high. It's socioeconomically and racially diverse and very friendly. Plenty of upper middle class families and plenty who are not. We've enjoyed having smaller class sizes. But that's just our experience with our local focus school. What school is it you aren't sure whether to send your kid to?

Ditto. Focus School here with true diversity, both socioeconomic and racial. Small class sizes, plenty of other high achieving academic peers (both middle class and not) and some kids who are learning English or just struggling a bit. Still, it has been a great experience socially and academically.

[Anonymous]

Also, unless your "friend" has first-hand experience with a Title I or Focus School, you can probably blow off their opinion as uninformed at best and racist/classist at worst.

[Anonymous]

Important thought about at least elementary focus schools. Focus Schools = low student to teacher ratios at lower grades especially. In our case, we're happy with the school no questions. We do supplement at home, but I suspect we'd do that regardless of school. Middle School and High School is a different discussion.

[Anonymous]

Your friend must love having 28 kids in a kindergarten class. Do your own research, plenty of Focus schools are highly regarded around here.

[Anonymous]

Focus schools have smaller classs sizes and other perks. Many of us are at focus schools.

[Anonymous]

Which Focus School is it? Maybe that makes a difference.

I'll go against all the other posters and say that we don't love our Focus School.

Before I get flamed completely, I feel like I need to say that we are a minority/mixed-race family so people don't automatically come on here and tell that I am racist.

There have been several things that we have not liked, especially when we compare our experience with that of friends/families at non-FOCUS elementary schools in MoCo.

First off, the wealthier schools seem to have a MUCH better sense of community. The kids play together on a soccer team / parents all know each other / do piano recitals together. Our school offers piano lessons but there is not enough demand for it (expensive) so they will probably axe the program next year.

Which leads me to the second issue. Lack of before/after school enrichments. My nephews school offers anything and everything under the son - Scouts, dance, language, drama, science, you name it. Our school has maybe half (if that) the offerings that they do.

Part of the reason there seems to be less of a sense of community is the language. My DD's best friend in 1st grade was a little girl whose parents did not speak English. That is completely fine (I am a kid of immigrants) but it was really tough to forge a relationship with the family. It is much easier to forge relationships with people when you speak the same language. The family is very friendly with other families who speak their language (rightfully so) but there seems to be a decent amount of self-segregation. You see it especially at the school events, like International Night (ironically enough).

Communication is the other big difference we have noticed. Wealthier schools seem to use apps like Class Dojo to let parents know what is going on. We have never had a teacher use that. There are no 'room moms' or weekly emails from teachers. Not sure if the teachers are just more overwhelmed or if it is school specific or what.

There is more, and I'm sure people are going to tear up my post but I wanted to put another POV out there. We can't afford to move so we're here for the long term. If we were able to afford a non-Focus school, I would move in a heartbeat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're at a Focus school and love it. It's different than title 1 in that the poverty level isn't as high. It's socioeconomically and racially diverse and very friendly. Plenty of upper middle class families and plenty who are not. We've enjoyed having smaller class sizes. But that's just our experience with our local focus school. What school is it you aren't sure whether to send your kid to?

What is the name of your Focus school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're at a Focus school and love it. It's different than title 1 in that the poverty level isn't as high. It's socioeconomically and racially diverse and very friendly. Plenty of upper middle class families and plenty who are not. We've enjoyed having smaller class sizes. But that's just our experience with our local focus school. What school is it you aren't sure whether to send your kid to?

What is the name of your Focus school?

Flora Singer

[Anonymous]

Did your friend say "why" to avoid it, or just "avoid it"?
Seems pretty silly to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which Focus School is it? Maybe that makes a difference.

I'll go against all the other posters and say that we don't love our Focus School.

Before I get flamed completely, I feel like I need to say that we are a minority/mixed-race family so people don't automatically come on here and tell that I am racist.

There have been several things that we have not liked, especially when we compare our experience with that of friends/families at non-FOCUS elementary schools in MoCo.

First off, the wealthier schools seem to have a MUCH better sense of community. The kids play together on a soccer team / parents all know each other / do piano recitals together. Our school offers piano lessons but there is not enough demand for it (expensive) so they will probably axe the program next year.

Which leads me to the second issue. Lack of before/after school enrichments. My nephews school offers anything and everything under the son - Scouts, dance, language, drama, science, you name it. Our school has maybe half (if that) the offerings that they do.

Part of the reason there seems to be less of a sense of community is the language. My DD's best friend in 1st grade was a little girl whose parents did not speak English. That is completely fine (I am a kid of immigrants) but it was really tough to forge a relationship with the family. It is much easier to forge relationships with people when you speak the same language. The family is very friendly with other families who speak their language (rightfully so) but there seems to be a decent amount of self-segregation. You see it especially at the school events, like International Night (ironically enough).

Communication is the other big difference we have noticed. Wealthier schools seem to use apps like Class Dojo to let parents know what is going on. We have never had a teacher use that. There are no 'room moms' or weekly emails from teachers. Not sure if the teachers are just more overwhelmed or if it is school specific or what.

There is more, and I'm sure people are going to tear up my post but I wanted to put another POV out there. We can't afford to move so we're here for the long term. If we were able to afford a non-Focus school, I would move in a heartbeat.

DD attended a focus school that had lots of after school enrichment and a strong sense of community. Lots of kids in scouts together, belong to the same pool, play on the neighborhood, etc.

[Anonymous]

My kids go to a focus school. I honestly think they're better off because of the smaller class sizes. At least at our school there doesn't seem to be any downside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which Focus School is it? Maybe that makes a difference.

I'll go against all the other posters and say that we don't love our Focus School.

Before I get flamed completely, I feel like I need to say that we are a minority/mixed-race family so people don't automatically come on here and tell that I am racist.

There have been several things that we have not liked, especially when we compare our experience with that of friends/families at non-FOCUS elementary schools in MoCo.

First off, the wealthier schools seem to have a MUCH better sense of community. The kids play together on a soccer team / parents all know each other / do piano recitals together. Our school offers piano lessons but there is not enough demand for it (expensive) so they will probably axe the program next year.

Which leads me to the second issue. Lack of before/after school enrichments. My nephews school offers anything and everything under the son - Scouts, dance, language, drama, science, you name it. Our school has maybe half (if that) the offerings that they do.

Part of the reason there seems to be less of a sense of community is the language. My DD's best friend in 1st grade was a little girl whose parents did not speak English. That is completely fine (I am a kid of immigrants) but it was really tough to forge a relationship with the family. It is much easier to forge relationships with people when you speak the same language. The family is very friendly with other families who speak their language (rightfully so) but there seems to be a decent amount of self-segregation. You see it especially at the school events, like International Night (ironically enough).

Communication is the other big difference we have noticed. Wealthier schools seem to use apps like Class Dojo to let parents know what is going on. We have never had a teacher use that. There are no 'room moms' or weekly emails from teachers. Not sure if the teachers are just more overwhelmed or if it is school specific or what.

There is more, and I'm sure people are going to tear up my post but I wanted to put another POV out there. We can't afford to move so we're here for the long term. If we were able to afford a non-Focus school, I would move in a heartbeat.

DD attended a focus school that had lots of after school enrichment and a strong sense of community. Lots of kids in scouts together, belong to the same pool, play on the neighborhood, etc.

I'm the PP and that's why I said it might depend on which Focus school. We are not at Flora Sunger so i can't speak to that one.

So far, we have had 3 kids at our Focus School and comparing experiences - ours has definitely been subpar compared to friends in wealthier clusters.

The one good thing I will say, is that you are less likely to come across wealthy kids! For the most part - no brand new iPhones for a 3rd grader. No extravagant cruise vacations. Etc. Which my kids certainly are not getting, so at least they don't feel left out! That is definitely a plus, IMO.