<p>[qoute]For the life of me I can’t figure out how to get quotes to show up in the little box like everyone else. Where can I find instructions for this?[/qoute] … however spell quote correctly</p>
<p>“I definitely agree with the above statement. In our district you got the attention of you were very smart or on the other end of the spectrum. Good students got lost. I think that the district felt that a good or real good student would do fine on their own rather than making them better.”</p>
<p>Same where I am and my kid, a classic under achiever, got lost in the shuffle. We finally pulled him out after 5 weeks his freshman year, and put him in a private school. So I am paying $6K/yr in school tax (and I am in a 3 bedroom 1950’s ranch) and $13K a year in private school tuition. </p>
<p>The good news is that, my house has held it’s value because of where we live; and because my son did so well once we moved him, he was offered a scholarship from a top 25 LAC tat for just one year almost equals to the amount we paid in tuition for all four years of high school. Excellent ROI. :)</p>
<p>When our kids were small, we moved to what is known as the best school district in our state. Anyway, H and I had both gone to highschool there in the early 80’s and we’d learned a lot and had a lot of fun and done a lot of things. It was a generally all-around great experience back then.</p>
<p>But, back then, you could be in the highest level classes and take a few AP’s and do a few extra-curriculars in addition to a sport or two and still go out on Friday and saturday night. Now, the place is nutty with insecurity, competitiveness and parental involvement to the point where it’s not healthy even for the parents. (Back when we were in school, the only time your parents went to the high school was if you were in trouble, or if you had a “game.”)… Nobody knew who was in an AP class, and if you were in an AP, it was because they put you there, not because of advocation of parental involvement. Nobody asked for those kinds of things. People took the SAT’s one time. No tutors. We all went to college. The person I knew who applied to the most colleges applied to 4, and since one was Harvard, where she ended up going, and two were Yale and Princeton, it was really like she’d applied to two…those and the state school.</p>
<p>Now, you can’t talk to the parents who live there without them bringing out their kids’ resumes and lists and accomplishments. If you ask, “How’s ___________ doing?” They tell you waaaaay more than you ever wanted to know about her grades and test scores and EC’s…and it feels like you are in the middle of an insane assylum.</p>
<p>After a year or two, I looked at my husband after some event or other, and I said, “Is it me?” “Noooo,” he said. “Tough to breathe around here these days.”</p>
<p>We sent our kids to private schools and moved to a town where when you say “How is _________ doing?” You get some funny story or other, a few rolled eyes. “Teenagers,” we all say. “Hide the keys.” Also, here, btw, all the kids go to college. Go figure. And the suicide rate is way lower.</p>
<p>So, you may want to move to the “best” school district, but just keep in mind that it might be the most insane place you could choose to try to live.</p>
<p>YMMV</p>
<p>poetgrl, your post touches on what I was gonna post earlier but didn’t. Honestly, over the years with reading CC or simply knowing people who live in very competitive school communities, I am grateful that my kids didn’t attend such high schools. That atmosphere doesn’t exist where I live (rural area) at all. My kids only “competed” against themselves. One’s test scores, class rank, college lists, etc. were not topics of conversations with others. Kids were actively involved in activities (not with college admissions in mind) and these activities were their social time too. I could be on the sidelines of my kid’s soccer game with parents whose kids were not even going to college or else simply staying in state. It didn’t matter. These were not big topics of conversation. The kids were not applying to the same colleges as their pals. There was no pressure cooker between peers. My kids set high goals for themselves and it had nothing to do with anyone else. Parents were involved in the sense that they came to the kids’ activities and events (plus here you have to drive a lot, particularly to non-school based EC’s). </p>
<p>I’m not saying my kids had the ideal HS experience, because they didn’t. But I’m glad they were not in the kind of competitive atmosphere where kids try to keep up with others and all that. They just kept up with their own inner drive and motivation and it had nothing to do with their peers. I’m speaking very generally, but I have read much anecdotal stuff about competitive school communities and simply thank my lucky stars my kids didn’t grow up in that atmosphere. So, while I know many on CC would not dream of sending their kids to our rural schools, we are happy with the kind of childhood our kids could have here that was minus lots of the angst that I read about on CC in other communities.</p>
<p>And none of this had any bearing on what colleges they could get into. They got into their favored schools and these were very competitive ones. I believe they would have had a similar college result had they gone to a “better” high school, but simply had a different HS experience.</p>
<p>Replace “rural” schools, with “outer urban low-to-middle class” schools, and I could echo everything that soozie says.</p>
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<p>It’s funny how the article mentions Homestead as the place where some Fremont district students escape the academic pressure. I went there for a year in 1971. I think Steve Jobs was a year ahead of me, and Wozniak was a little ahead of him.</p>
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<p>Also, did the school only have a few “high value” APs like English and Calculus, as opposed to a dozen APs with many of them being “low value” ones like Statistics, Physics B, and Environmental Science?</p>
<p>I remember in high school that there were only about six AP courses. Something like:</p>
<p>English Literature (really just honors senior English)
Calculus BC
Chemistry
US History
French (really just fourth year)
Spanish (really just fourth year)</p>
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This ended up being our choice too. Our school is pretty good, but regularly appears in the bottom third of schools in the county. The average numbers hide the fact that in our very large diverse school district there are still hundreds of student doing very, very well. The school offers 24 AP classes and a number of dual education classes. It has a top notch arts program that is particularly strong in music. Our Science Olympiad team has topped the county in the last five years and it’s funded on shoestring. I’d put most of my kids teachers up against the teachers I had at my fancy dancy prep school and my husband would say the same. (He graduated from the school Obama’s kids are attending.) My kids ended up with a diverse group of friends of every race AND economic class. My impression is that some of the neighboring wealthier district have bigger drug and alcohol problems that we do.</p>
<p>I would say our school was more competitive than what Soozie describes, but nothing like as crazy as some schools described here on CC. My kids got 8 hours of sleep a night while achieving well academically (both by school standards and external ones such as SAT or AP scores), with time for their ECs, but also plenty of time to smell the daisies.</p>
<p>Yep, UCB, exactly. </p>
<p>I dont even think they called our English class AP, but we did take the Ap test. There was physics, too, because I remember H was in that and there were only like 7 people in that class. US History was called AP, just because you’d already taken US HIstory so it would look pretty strange to have it twice.</p>
<p>But, yeah, I don’t think anyone who wasn’t in those classes even knew they existed and none of us even really knew what it meant. It was just on the schedule you got in the mail in late July. </p>
<p>Different times. I think probably more sane.</p>
<p>Thanks for your comments. Couple of responses.</p>
<p>First, I don’t think anybody should think I am planning, expecting, or hoping my kids will get into Ivy league schools. I’m not going to fool myself to think that the type of college my kids get accepted into should define my success as a parent. Rather, I’ll be proud of whatever career path they choose, as long as it is legal, moral, and they are self-sufficient.</p>
<p>Second, we have college saved up already for our only kid so far, and should be able to do the same for future kids. So, saving for college won’t be affected based on the cost of housing.</p>
<p>Yes, we are paying for top-notch daycare, ours is one of the most expensive - and best in my opinion - daycares around. They are supposedly teaching math and science to our little 6 month old right now. I’m not exactly convinced that our little one is picking up on the math and science, but it goes to show that our center has a strong educational component and the education is a big deal.</p>
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<p>It’s good that your daycare has a strong educational component…I hope there is sufficient time to PLAY and learn social skills there too…and good communication skills. IMHO it’s nice to weave “science and math” into everyday activities for babies…but to TEACH this at 6 months is…well…not necessary.</p>
<p>Now back to the question of the thread…“great school district” means different things to different people. Our kids graduated from a semi-rural, no name high school in our state (which is filled with name brand high schools both public and private). BUT our High School has one of the most highly regarded music programs in the region…not just the state…and with two talented musicians as kids, we felt it was important to send our kids to schools that supported the arts…and had the programs to show it. SO when we were looking for places to “plant our house”, we CHOSE this town.</p>
<p>My background is in child development, but I am really not sure how you teach math and science to a six month old! I agree with thumper that learning through play and also socialization will be important in a day care for infants. </p>
<p>Babyontheway, I don’t think that all parents who have kids who attend elite colleges feel that that fact defines their “success as a parent.” I really didn’t care which colleges my kids attended. The fact that one of my kids landed at an Ivy meant to me that my kid found a school that challenged her in the way she wanted to be and that she found a school she really loved. I would feel like a successful parent if she had chosen UVM too. </p>
<p>thumper, while we didn’t choose our school district specifically as we didn’t even have kids yet, our rural no name high school is considered to have an excellent music program and it has garnered a national award in music even. Also, a lot of students from our music program fare well in state awards, etc. in music. As both my kids were very involved in music, this was a positive thing.</p>
<p>When my kids attended the HS, the top classes were Honors. Only one or two classes (Calculus and Physics) had the AP designation. Since my kids graduated, I think a few more classes have switched to AP. The Honors classes were demanding, however.</p>
<p>Babyontheway - I think it’s great you are thinking about this stuff. It’s important and too many people don’t a put a lot of thought into it. However…</p>
<p>Personally, I would be very leery of any daycare program claiming to teach math and science to six month olds. At six months, a baby should be learning to roll over, pass objects from one hand to another, play peek-a-boo, etc. Claiming to expose or teach infants math or science is simply a marketing gimmick, not unlike the Baby Einstein series. If I was choosing a daycare for an infant, I would look for programs that allowed a lot of floor time, a sufficient number of workers that your child’s needs are met quickly (diapers changed, being held when needing comforting, playing with them) vs. one of that is ‘teaching’ them math and science.</p>
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<p>If you talk to your kids a lot and expose them to * age-appropriate * levels of stimulating material, they will do fine. No need to have them in an academic program at 6 months. At around the age of 3, you need to look for a preschool that is a little more academically oriented than your average daycare. And when I say ‘a little’ that’s what I mean, it doesn’t need to be hard hitting. Just my opinion.</p>
<p>Cross posted with the above, but agree completely (my college degree is in Child Study).</p>
<p>For me, my parents decision to move to a better school district was in a rush, and kind of hurt r financial situation a little, but it was definitely worth it. They knew it was in my best interest.
I have a stronger classload (2 junior courses as a freshman), better teachers, and many many more opportunities in general ( especially ECs). Plus being surrounded by children who are more driven also is a boost of moral.</p>
<p>We chose a town with good school system (not the best) and we have always voted for more spend for school (even though we didn’t use it) because it helped with our property value. Money talks. The fact people would pay premium for a house at a better school district is a very good indicator to me.</p>
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<p>Momlive, and everyone else who keeps offering comments on daycare. Please, I’ve done fine in picking out the right daycare for my little one. There’s no worries about too heavy in math and science or not enough tummy time or not enough diaper changes or anything like that. She’s in a nationally run learning center, and it’s a top notch program. They are not full of gimmicks and the kids are given the right attention at the right age level. What they called math and science was the day the babies played with green jello, and I’m pretty sure nobody who saw them playing with green jello would have thought they were learning science…but it was science because they were learning the texture, the feel, the older kids learned the taste, etc, etc, and that is exactly science. But from the babies perspective, they were just playing with jello.</p>
<p>Anyways, let’s get back to the regularly scheduled thread about actual school, rather than daycare.</p>
<p>Things in big urban/suburban school districts can change quickly. Our school district has twenty high schools. We moved to our district when S1 was two years old and S2 was born a year later. At the time, our up and coming suburb was small, 3500 citizens. We had one elem., one high sch. and one mid. school…all good schools We thought it would be perfect.
Then our town starts growing quickly with the influx of out of staters and new subdivisions popping up everywhere. By the time S1 entered kindergarten, our neighborhood no longer attended the local elem. but was bused to a (not so good) school further away.
By the time he reached mid. school, a new mid. school was built and he was sent there (it was fine). Then when he reached high sch., our town had exploded with growth and a new high school was built and we were rezoned for that school. It was an OK school (with a much higher %free/reduced lunch students) but everyone in town was still loyal to the h.s. that had been here for 50 years so there was some discord. </p>
<p>Since S1 graduated in 2005, three new elem. schools, another mid. sch. and yet another high school have opened. The new high school took in kids from the “best” areas who formerly attended the other two high schools leaving those two (including the one both my kids attended) with a much higher poverty/lower grad. rate while the new high school is full of high achievers at a new “country club” high school. Our neighborhood was not sent to the new school. There has been much discord over this too. Now we seem to have a town of “haves and have-nots”.</p>
<p>Since our kids have graduated and moved on, our big concern is that we want to sell our house and downsize/retire soon but are afraid the school district we are zoned for will hurt us now even though it was one of the best in the county when we moved here in 1988 w/ a two year old. What looks great now can really change over ten years or so.</p>
<p>We live in a top school district and my kids have been miserable. The competition is fierce, leaving them feel totally inadequate. It really became obvious after my son filled out an incoming student survey for his university. His advisor said she was really worried about him, as he rated himself very low in most areas. It’s now three years later and he may be the top student in his program. So was the 12 years of pain worth it? We’ve decided to put let our youngest go to a private school next year, so now we’ll have high taxes and more tuition payments. My son is a top athlete at his school, and even in our conference, but is willing to give up sports for a year in order to escape. I feel awful.</p>
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<p>We lived in a neighborhood for five years with the top rated elementary, MS and HS. In those five years the MS and HS was rezoned twice because growth on that side of town exploded. Parents were livid. I was so glad son was in a private school and we didn’t have to worry about it. A lot depends on the growth in your area - our county has experienced tremendous growth in the last decade and rezoning occurs every year. I’ve had friends who bought and sold houses often over the years to keep their kids in particular school zones. Of course, with today’s real estate market, that might no longer be feasible.</p>