Anonymous wrote:Most publics do not differentiate either and will have the same issues.

This high performing district that is 30 min away does differentiate and also offers accelerated classes starting in 6th grade. I know most public schools do not differentiate so that is why we are hesitant about enrolling in our local public school district. They do not have differentiated learning and their test scores are low with half the kids not reaching reading proficiency and two thirds not proficient in math.

Most publics do not differentiate either and will have the same issues.

Anonymous wrote:If the older child is going into 6th, how will the intra-district transfer play out for middle and high school? I

I assume you are not in the DMV area?

The older child will be in the same district until high school so until 9th grade. I contacted the high school and they said they always have space as long as I request it early when the registration window first opens. We are not in DMV. I am rather shocked that there is space in the highest performing school district in our region.

Anonymous wrote:

RAMom wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can you go to the public that is thirty minutes away? Aren’t you zoned for the local public? Would you to move to be in the boundary for the public that’s thirty minutes away?

You can go to a different public school through an inter district transfer.

Did you already get in? Otherwise you missed the window here locally.

Yes we have been told we can get in and there is space. Now we are waiting for the district letter confirming it.

If the older child is going into 6th, how will the intra-district transfer play out for middle and high school? I

I assume you are not in the DMV area?

RAMom wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can you go to the public that is thirty minutes away? Aren’t you zoned for the local public? Would you to move to be in the boundary for the public that’s thirty minutes away?

You can go to a different public school through an inter district transfer.

Did you already get in? Otherwise you missed the window here locally.

RAMom wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can you go to the public that is thirty minutes away? Aren’t you zoned for the local public? Would you to move to be in the boundary for the public that’s thirty minutes away?

You can go to a different public school through an inter district transfer.

I would do that.

Anonymous wrote:How can you go to the public that is thirty minutes away? Aren’t you zoned for the local public? Would you to move to be in the boundary for the public that’s thirty minutes away?

You can go to a different public school through an inter district transfer.

You can go to a different public school through an inter district transfer.

How can you go to the public that is thirty minutes away? Aren’t you zoned for the local public? Would you to move to be in the boundary for the public that’s thirty minutes away?

I would try the local public and see how it goes. If your kids don't do well there, then move to go to the new school district that doubles your commute time but seemingly does things better.

I would drive 30 minutes each way for a better school if it is possible for you to do so

None of this surprises me with a Parochial school. The teachers are paid very little and are overworked.

If it’s a parochial school, forget it.

This is a long post describing the problem and asking for some feedback. In a nutshell, I am wondering if folks would be willing to drive 30 minutes each way for a higher performing school with more resources and a more responsive school administration.

My kids have attended a Catholic school for the past 3 years. My youngest started in TK and the older one started in 3rd grade. I chose this school because the local public schools near our home do not have strong test scores and the Catholic school was open during Covid plus we are Catholic. They will be going into 2nd and 6th grade this Fall.

I am running into some challenges with the Catholic school. I think these challenges might be common to Catholic schools. The problems I have are:
1) No differentiated learning for advanced students or extra help for struggling students. One of my daughters scores in 99th percentile in reading and but the class is still reading simple books. She reads 3rd-5th grade books at home and can even read the New York Times! She is not challenged and the school will not do anything extra for her. My older daughter struggles and she is up and down. The school has grade inflation and gives her good grades so they do not think she has any problems.
2) There are no extracurriculars or enrichment opportunities. They do not have Spanish anymore because they lost their Spanish teacher and can’t find a new one. They were supposed to have a coding class and a chess club but both were canceled due to lack of interest.
3) The parents are very social and spend their time planning events and fundraisers. I am not sure what they use the funds for but it is definitely not to enhance academics, enrichment or extracurriculars. I am fine with the school being so social but it bugs me that the parents are not more academically focused.
4) Unresponsive Principal. I have tried to talk to her in person and I have emailed her. She rarely replies to emails. When I do get a response, she says she will look into it and does not follow up. On the topic of my daughter needing more challenge, I asked her 3 times and she never followed up. There was also a sexual incident in the classroom this year and the school never communicated to us what happened. I have just given up.

Option: High performing, resource-rich public school that is 30 minutes away (through an inter district transfer).
This will double our commute from 15 min each way to 30 min each way. The new school district offers everything that I feel is missing right now, like differentiated learning, accelerated classes, support for struggling students, staff for special services, art, choir, band, theater, STEM, languages, strong academic focus by teachers and parents, feeds into one of the top public high schools in our state, and more. The Principal at the new school was very welcoming and gave us an extensive, one hour tour of the school and let us observe all the 6th grade classes while they were in session. She has been very responsive by email. The office staff has proactively emailed and called me about registration issues. This is a public school and not a private school, believe it or not. I know the downside is being further away from where their friends would live and making it harder to do play dates and after school activities. There are some possible solutions like we could end up deciding to move but we do not want to move until we know it is a good fit. Plus we love our home and where we live.

Our other local options are:
-Local Waldorf school. I am fine with it being non-religious but worry that their non-traditional approach to reading might be a detriment. However, I have also read that Waldorf students become independent, creative thinkers and by middle school, they are performing at higher levels than some other types of schools.
-Local Public School. I like our local high school but I am unsure about our local elementary and middle schools. The reasons I am hesitant are that they have extremely local standardized test scores. I worry that perhaps they are not teaching at a high enough level since the students test low. I also worry it could be demotivating for my kids to be around other kids who are poor at reading and math.

Here are my questions:
-Would you do the drive to a higher performing school with many resources (30 min drive)?
-Would you keep them local (15 min drive)? (Note, we live in a semi-rural area so everything ”local” is at least 15 minutes away.)
-If we keep them local, would you keep them at the Catholic school or move them to either the local public school or the Waldorf school?