OP thanks for all the replies. We are only four days into the school year but so far I’ve been really impressed with the teacher and administrators. We’ve met some other families at our sfterschool program. Too early to tell obviously but so far so good. Another update is we’re now a 2/10 on Great Schools. Baby steps I guess?

We started out at a title 1 school and I thought we were doing the right thing. Our daughter liked school, had friends and we thought was doing well based on her report cards.

Then she failed the reading SOL in 3rd grade and basically learned that since she was easy going and did ‘seem’ like she needed attention like most of the rest of the class- she was pushed through. But was dyslexic. And no one noticed.

We changed her to a different school and it had made a world of difference. My only advice is put your kids needs first. No one is going to give you an award for your good morals and values.

Anonymous wrote:My son is an incoming 3rd grader at a Title 1, rated 5 though. the only drawback I see is that there are not enough kids "like him" to choose from to be friends. But then, maybe it is more about my kid than others, he is introverted and doesn't make close friends easily. he does have a couple though.
They have less extracurricular stuff than other schools, but what they have is free or very low cost. He has free aftercare, had free coding classes, free STEM club, free swimming lessons with the city, and will have free drama and guitar next year. he also gets a free backpack and free summer camps (for about 4 weeks) just by virtue of attending this particular school. It comes in very handy as we are poor but we don't look poor and do not apply for any benefits.

I am this poster.
We ended up getting a spot at a lottery based school and we accepted.
I can see how my child is now conversing with kids he is interested in (wasn’t the case at the previous school).
Also, the discipline at old school was much harsher and more straightforward- like sending a kid to the office for giggling with another student in 1st grade.
Here they actually try to make sure the child is engaged and let small stuff go (at the other school they were dealing with bigger issues so they had to be strict with everyone i guess).

1. Good advice to volunteer early and often.

2. Become friendly with some teachers, by doing #1 over the year.

3. Tell your family you appreciate their concern, and maybe stop talking about it with them.

We recently moved house to go from a Title I school to a much higher rated school and I could not be happier. My kids are so much happier too and learning so much more. It was water torture at the first school, many many small problems adding up over the years. It's not a clear cut decision no matter what school you choose there are pros and cons as people said. However, the several years at the first school really opened my eyes to what I wanted for my children's education. I WOHM but volunteered a lot and over time, I saw the major issues at the school, and got to know a lot of teachers who all told us when asked privately that we should leave for the benefit of our children if we were able. Our issues were partly due to the huge poverty issues, behavioral issues, and partly the terrible admin at our particular school and huge turnover of teachers - which is all common in high poverty schools. I very very much appreciate our 8-10 school probably more than others at our current school because of our past experiences.

My friends who are still at the first school hardly ever volunteer and do not see what is going on day to day in the classes and the transitions playground lunch room music etc. They are blissfully ignorant, and that's fine.

Give it a chance.