Anonymous wrote:Howard county is currently being redistricted and the latest proposal moves 200 kids from one of the best middle schools( the one we will go in a few years) to the one with the highest FARM rate. The present FARM rate of this school is 52% and the target after redistricting will probably be 40%. The PAARC scores for this school hover in the 20 and 30 percents.
Now the usual cries of not wanting our kids to go t those schools, crime, home values are doing the rounds and I'm not claiming to be above those. But in all honesty, I didn't go to school here and I'm trying to understand what our experience there might be like. We are currently in a < 5% FARMS rate elementary. middle and high school pyramid. I feel some of the hesitancy, including my own, might be people not really knowing what the new school is like.
I am truly trying to have an open mind and trying to understand what my kids would lose by going here. I don't believe 3 years of middle school make or break your life. Does this truly give my otherwise v protected kids a window into the world that's out there or is peer pressure and the price of poor choices too high in middle school. If your kids attended such a middle school coming from an elementary school like described, what was your experience and the pros and cons of this.
Ask for a tour and get a feel for the place. Attend a pta meeting and chat with the parents.