Reply to S/O - Avoid Focus School

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=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.  [/quote]
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. [/quote]

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