Reply to Tell me how your bright, middle-class child did/is doing at a low socio-economic school

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Reply to "Tell me how your bright, middle-class child did/is doing at a low socio-economic school"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We are in NOVA and have chosen our neighborhood school.  It is 70%(+) FARMS and 50% spanish-speaking.  Test scores are not great.  Our experience is similar to other pp's - DS is doing fine academically and seems challenged.  Is learning things that his peers (at other schools) are learning.  The school understands its population and knows how to challenge the kids who are better prepared and more engaged, and how to help those who are not.

The challenge for us also is on the social side of things.  Very hard to arrange playdates, do birthday parties, etc.  Beyond the 50% spanish speaking, there also are many immigrant families speaking a variety of languages.

One thing that I've noticed, which PP's haven't mentioned, is that the general social environment/culture at the school seems...lacking.  [b]That is, the school is not a hub for everyone, the way that my school was when I was growing up.  When they hold social functions, parties, etc., there are a LOT of people who do not come.  (The same people tend to be there every time.)  Another example - for back-to-school night, very few people come.  Also things like classroom parties don't happen, unless one of the American parents steps forward to organize it[/b] (and since there are few of us, and many of us WOH, it's particularly hard).  I think the families who have non-American cultural backgrounds maybe just don't expect that school is something they would participate in beyond simply sending their child there each day to learn.
[/quote]

I posted earlier about my kids' school in Silver Spring, and this is not the case for our school.  I find that the school very much IS a hub for the kids, playing there after school, staying after for clubs, etc.  My kids have also come home from classroom parties for Halloween and Valentine's Day with goodie bags that so-and-so's mom (not one of the "white kids") made for the entire class.  I don't volunteer or plan the parties, but it seems like these parents who don't go in contribute in other ways.  Back to School Night seems well-represented, and we have learning nights every few months that seem to also be well-attended when we go.  I don't go to every single one of these special events either, so I can't expect that other parents would, no matter what their SES is.  I think it's going to vary by school--I don't doubt your experience and I agree that culture can play a role in it, but I don't think it's necessarily a quality of Title I/lower SES schools.[/quote]

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