Reply to FYI for all the people who say "go visit a school to see what it's really like"

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Reply to "FYI for all the people who say "go visit a school to see what it's really like""

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I agree with the PP who said to go to a PTA meeting.  Actually, I would suggest going to an event that isn't necessarily a PTA MEETING -- but rather a school event, like an ice cream social or the fall festival or the spring open house event (our school used to have "authors and artists" day).  Go to anything that puts you in the vicinity of other parents... and then ask questions of parents/teachers/principal.  Even go to the playgrounds after school hours and chat up the parents there.  Public schools aren't looking to get your business.  They don't have marketing teams like private schools do.

They don't care if you take them or leave them.  (well, maybe the lower tiered schools are more receptive to middle and upper middle income parents and they have some minimal incentive to encourage those families to send their kids there).

Another PP is right -- GS and the school profile tell you about the demographics of a school.  That basically (in a crude sort of way) tells you what your child's experience is going to be like.  Every school has good teachers and mediocre teachers.  I've never seen a completely terrible teacher.  So, your child will learn something wherever you go.

Stats that are standardized across the county/state/nation are useful in understanding the overall achievement in a particular school.  But, the high end kids do well anywhere.  It's the ones who aren't super high achievers who benefit from being around high achieving peers.

In a nutshell, there isn't much you will get out of going on a tour or sitting in a particular class for 10 min.   Look at the SES, look at the standardized tests (be that SOL or SATs), and talk to parents who have kids at that school.

If you have formed a particular vision of what a class should look like, then you are likely to be disappointed in public school, b/c it won't look like your ideal.  Public schools (especially in elementary level) just won't "impress" you.  In HS -- they might -- if you kid is taking honors and AP classes.  And even in regular classes, kids are learning a lot in HS these days.  But, in elementary school, the bells and whistles (and the personal attention) are at the private schools, not the public schools.[/quote]

We toured three public primary schools (K-2) and three public elementary schools (3-5). I got a really good sense of the culture of the schools. They opened the door of every classroom, we walked through the media center, we saw the playground and the cafeteria. I met the principals and talked to the office staff. Made it really easy to rank our neighborhoods, know we'd be fine with any of them.[/quote]

1.  where was this?  It is not common to speak of "public primary schools (K-2) and three public elementary schools (3-5)" in Virginia.

2.  did your conclusions mirror the test data on the schools?  (i.e. did you end up liking the school that had the highest test scores)[/quote]

Not Virginia. North Carolina.[b] Not sure why that matters; the point is that non-crowded public schools are more likely to do this.[/b]

My husband liked the ones with the highest test scores. I liked a different set with substantially lower scores. Neither was a bad choice, and we felt like we'd be happy with any of them.

We have too many children to afford private school even here; we were looking at $38K this year for the sole non-Christian private school (we are Jewish and these schools are very Christian). I'm in education and know all the issues with GS scores and FARMS rates and diversity, etc., etc.. The schools we ended up with are Title I schools, though their percentage of FARMS students is lower than the districts we did not end up in (40% vs. 50% and 60%). I fully admit that my neighborhood of choice for finding a house was higher-income and walking distance to the synagogue, so when we found a house that met our criteria there, we took it.[/quote]

DP  It matters because if the op is looking for info on DC/MD/VA schools than your information about how North Carolina's schools doesn't really apply and can't help.    That is why it matters.[/quote]

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