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[quote=Anonymous][quote]
I teach in a high FARMS elementary school (appr. 95% qualify for free lunch). I can't answer questions about college admissions but I would imagine the HS our school feeds into has fewer AP/IB classes. Many of our students read below grade level. They start out behind and all of their elementary school years is basically playing catch up. Our district has no GT or advanced program until MS and then it is only at a few schools (all of them are far away from my school). In fact, during our re-accreditation, we were marked down for not offering enough enrichment for high achievers. When more than half of the class is below grade level, nearly all of the energy goes toward bringing those students up to grade level. The few students who may be above grade level don't have a peer group. This year, we will have a plan for those students. I would not choose to send my child to a school like mine. The teachers are very strong and experienced but also exhausted by March/April. I think your child would do fine up until middle school when his/her peer group would begin to trump you as parents. None of my students have parents who graduated from a 4 year college. The only people they know who have graduated from college are their teachers. We can talk college up all we want but it's an uphill battle all of the way. Do you want your child to go to college? Do you want them socializing with kids who have no plans to go? [/quote]

Sad.  I taught in such a school.  I had one child whose parents graduated from college.  Her father was a newspaper reporter and her mom was a nurse.  They believed they were doing the right thing.  I taught first grade.  At the end of the year, they came and told me they were moving.  They admitted that they wanted to keep their child in the school(they were very liberal politically), but realized it just wouldn't work for her.  I told them that they were doing the right thing.
I would never have sent my child to that school.  It wasn't the school, it was the needs of the kids.  A teacher can provide a challenge for a child, but you cannot provide competition.  It was also a very rough school.  Behavior and social skills were terrible.  Kids were sweet, though.   
 
 
 
  
 
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