<p>My wife and I are East Coast transplants in the Bay Area eager to move back to our roots (and/or closer to kin) after many years in grad school, etc. We are considering following places where we have roots and/or kin:</p>
<p>Seattle
Raleigh-Durham
Pioneer Valley (e.g., Northampton or Amherst, MA; )
Portland, Maine</p>
<p>Like every parent, we’re concerned about (elem/middle) schooling options in the places we’ll be living. While familiar with Seattle (elem: UCDS, Bush, Seattle Country Day; middle sch: Lakeside, Univ Prep, Holy Names) and RTP (Triangle Day, Duke School) options, we’re unsure of how Maine and Pioneer Valley stand… how are they comparable with respect to schools? </p>
<p>We checked the NAIS directory and Wikipedia but I still don’t have a good sense of the private/day schools there…</p>
<p>Holy Names isn’t a middle school–it’s a high school, and it’s girls only. I believe UCDS is elementary.</p>
<p>I don’t understand what your point is–pick the town you want to live in and then find the school that meets your child’s needs. </p>
<p>If you have the financial means to consider Lakeside and comparable schools I’d suggest you move to Bellevue or Mercer Island where the public schools are excellent. Bush is not even in the same league as Lakeside academically; Lakeside is extremely difficult to get into. What makes you think your child would even get into these schools?</p>
<p>I have had children in both public & private schools in Seattle, including schools you mention.
I agree with mombot- find where you want to live- then look at a school.</p>
<p>What sort of environment are you looking for?</p>
<p>Seattle is a beautiful place to live, but expensive and getting more so-
Bellevue also has a higher percentage of its population attending public schools & I probably would recommend a good Bellevue high school like Interlake, over Bush- ( We didn’t like Uprep too much either- but it just depends what you are looking for)</p>
<p>If I was considering a move to an area, I would consider the quality & participation in their public schools over what the private schools are like.</p>
<p>Living in a community where you have tracks of families seperating themselves by not participating in the common denominator of public K-12 schools is a disadvantage, that isn’t outweighed by the advantages of a “prep” school education, for some families, IMO.</p>
<p>"pick the town you want to live in and then find the school that meets your child’s needs. "</p>
<p>Mombot, I couldn’t agree with you more on this point. (And thank you for the correction on Holy Names and Lakeside, BTW.) </p>
<p>I might just be naive, but we’re trying to “slow down” our pace of life by moving to one of these places. We are older (mid-30s) professionals who have lived in the SF Bay Area as transplants for med school. Sadly, we’re getting little support from our CA-native friends and colleagues (academic medicine, IT consulting) who just don’t understand why we’d want to leave the “perfect weather” in SF or at least move to another “world-class” city. Well, we just don’t want to expose our girls to the pressure-cooker atmosphere of schools in NY, LA, SF, DC, etc. We already think that our girls are pretty “amazing” and just seek a challenging yet nurturing environment that would allow them to learn at their own pace, in their own direction.</p>
<p>Our girls are still in elementary school, so we just want to know there are elem & middle schools options for both academically “stellar” kids and “regular” kids. </p>
<p>As for Seattle, it’s my personal favorite but I don’t have much intimate knowledge of schools (parents moved there when I began undergrad in MA). My younger brother and cousins went to Bellevue and Mercer Island HS, respectively, but wife’s job would be situated closer to the U-District or Northgate area. (So I suspect a Seattle schools might be better logistically.)</p>
<p>Any other firsthand information on RTP, Pioneer Valley, Portland elem/middle schools would be particularly helpful, as I would help us narrow the field to two or three. </p>
<p>I have to profess that I have a small bias against “Eastside” because of the transformation there in the last twenty years or so. I mean, looking at the gentrification of the whole downtown area around Bellevue Sq. and Kirkland, I feel like it’s where all the big-money people are heading…it’s uncomfortably reminiscent of the new money scene here in the SF Penninsula (Los Altos Hills, Palo Alto, Woodside, etc.) that we want to avoid… I guess the rest of Seattle is no different? Do you suggest that we look at jobs/schools further afield in Edmonds-Woodway, Bellingham, etc.?</p>
<p>PackMom, can you recommend any Raleigh neighborhoods in particular? It would help us in planning our visit to the area. We were going to look at popular towns like Cary and Carrboro (were suggested by colleagues), but would like to add more towns/neighborhoods on the visit.</p>
<p>I live in a town outside Portland, Maine. Portland is a wonderful little city: people often refer to it as a “mini-Seattle.” Because it is the cultural center of the area, it has a bigger city feel–especially in terms of cultural institutions-- than its size would lead one to expect. The best public schools in the area–and pretty much in the state–are in (south to north) Cape Elizabeth, Falmouth, Cumberland/North Yarmouth (Greely High School in SAD #51), and Yarmouth. Greely is planning to start an IB program within the next couple of years. It will be the only one in a public school in Maine (or Massachusetts, for that matter). </p>
<p>Portland’s public schools are probably better than those of most “urban” environments, but I would not choose them for my child. I certainly know many middle-class, college-educated people who do, though. Portland has several high school options, including a new “experiential learning” program. If you are looking to use a public elementary school in Portland, the Longfellow School has by far the best reputation, so you would want to be in that district.</p>
<p>The local private schools (all coed) are Breakwater (only up to fifth grade) in Portland, Waynflete (pre-K through high school) in Portland, and North Yarmouth Academy in (confusingly <g>) Yarmouth. Waynflete is the comparatively “progressive” of the two private high schools.</g></p>
<p>There are also some Catholic schools. Generally speaking, the local Catholic schools have larger classes and more regimentation that the local non-sectarian private schools or the public schools cited above. The Catholic high schools are Catherine McCauley (girls, Portland) and Cheverus (recently coed, formerly boys, Portland). I don’t know much about the Catholic elementary and middle schools.</p>
<p>There are a few evangelical Christian schools in the area, but I don’t know too much about them either. There is a Waldorf school (Merriconeag School) in Freeport, and they are just starting a high school. There is also a small Conservative Jewish day school in Portland (Levey), and a new Friends school. And in Freeport there is a small private French immersion elementary school. There are also some Montessori schools scattered about (Pine Grove in Falmouth, for example), but I think they only go up to 1st grade at most.</p>
<p>“I don’t understand what your point is–pick the town you want to live in and then find the school that meets your child’s needs.”</p>
<p>That’s fine if you aren’t planning to use public schools at any point. Otherwise, the town determines the schools, and the vast majority of parents everywhere pick the town based in large part on the school district.</p>
<p>You might also want to think about where your kids have the best chance to “shine.” I think in a top school in the Seattle area - probably as in any large city - there will be many talented kids that would be competing with your kids for the same grades, honors, and colleges. I don’t see how it would be much different from staying in SF. I think ME is the only place you have listed where your kids might have some geographical advantage when applying to college and where you might really be able to “slow down.”</p>
<p>yohimbojoe
I know what you mean about the Eastside of Lake Washington
I spent age 4-26 on the Eastside in Kirkland-Woodinville & Bellevue
It is much more diverse than when I lived there though- racially/religion, though not necessarily economic.
For some that is an advantage-their schools dont struggle quite to the extent that much more urban districts do.
But it does feel like people have a lot of stuff- and driving is the main mode of transportation.</p>
<p>Microsoft is greatly expanding its space around Bsquare, but if you want to live in a really snazzy condo, those are popping up like daisies!</p>
<p>Neighborhoods I like in Seattle
Ballard <B
Magnolia is a little slow, but quiet
Madrona- is too far from the saltwater for me- but D has many friends who live there</p>
<p>I see your point about thinking about kids having a chance to “shine” in a smaller place, but I’m more mindful of the need for our kids to be around other nice kids who hopefull will be smart, talented too. (e.g., You can’t field a competitive tennis or math team with only a few kids.)</p>
<p>I guess our unspoken concern here is, as parents, we want to stay the hell away from the so-called “queen bee” moms and “kingpin” dads who were rather prominent when we ourselves grew up in NYC (me) and DC (wife) schools. We think of ourselves as low-key people who just want to enjoy time on the PTA, fund raisers, field trips, etc. without too much drama.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply regarding Portland area schools. I’m very happy to learn that there are so many school choices in Southern Maine, both public & private. We’ll definitely check them out before and during our scouting trip.</p>
<p>You’re right - it’s no fun being the only smart kid in the class or the only one interested in learning. However, it’s also no fun being in a super-competitive class. I didn’t really like school until college, and this still affects how I feel about schools. Just thinking about sending my kids to one of the “better” schools in my area, where kids do the IB program and take APs starting in 9th grade, creates strong feelings of revulsion for me. So we’re not going that route. I also get turned off by how large the schools are here - generally well over 1000 kids/high school.</p>
<p>Good point. I suspect that a school’s (and by extension, parents’) educational philosophy has something to do with this too. </p>
<p>Some schools (like the parochial school I was made to attend) are fixated on divvying up the class between “smart” and “dumb” students and focus on class standings and gpa. Others emphasize academic achievement and encourage its students to increase their abilities in all persuits (they may still have GPAs, rank, etc but not as an end onto itself). I obviously think the latter approach is more effective in getting kids to love learning for its own sake.</p>
<p>I was just reading last wk about a psych professor, Carol Dweck, who launched a new field of educational psychology called, “achievement goal theory”:</p>
<p>(I’m sorry if this is old hat to you, but I’d never heard of it until now.)</p>
<p>I submit that for kids, competition should stay on the athletic field and in other EC persuits (math olympics, forensics), where it can be used to foster sportmanship and other character traits. But hey, that’s just me – some would argue that is an “ivory tower” view of school and that middle/high school kids should be exposed to how things are in the “real world” – you know, so you can prepare your kids for their future jobs at Goldman, KPCB, WSGR, etc.</p>
<p>Massachusetts has the MCAS tests starting in third grade, so there is quite a bit of data on elementary and middle school performance.</p>
<p>Compare the Hill Towns against good Boston suburban school districts such as Lexington, Newton or Wellesley.</p>
<p>I know of a family that lived in a hill town; I think their children attended the public schools and then private high schools. Two private high schools of which I know are Stoneleigh-Burnham and Deerfield Academy.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is that living in this area and putting your kids in private schools would involve a great deal of driving, something I would not relish in icy winter conditions in the hills.</p>
<p>YojimboJoe, I don’t really have any info. on Raleigh neighborhoods. Cary is a Raleigh suburb that has grown dramatically over the last decade. As we pass through it traveling toward the beach, you can see lots of new neighborhoods/shopping centers popping up everywhere.<br>
Carrboro is a small town that runs right into Chapel Hill so I would imagine there would be a lot of UNC-CH influnces there including being home to professors,other employees and students of UNC-CH. Check out <a href=“http://www.carrboroweb.com%5B/url%5D”>www.carrboroweb.com</a>.<br>
S attends college in Raleigh and says he has been very impressed with students he has met there who attended Broughton High Sch. in Raleigh. I believe it’s a magnet school. I’m sure you could look up Wake County School system and get all kinds of stats and demographics (including attendence zones). Wake County school system has a pretty good reputation is the state. Note…Carrboro is in Orange County.</p>
<p>More later, as I am on the run, but a couple of things re Maine schools around Portland (I’ve only skimmed consolation’s posts; agree with much of what is there, although not all).</p>
<p>Some of Portland’s schools are quite good; others so so. If you are considering the towns around Portland, check out Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland, Yarmouth, Falmouth. Stellar schools all. Stellar. Also pretty decent (maybe that’s an understatement) are Scarborough and Gorham. You can PM me if you want. As a real estate broker, I follow these things carefully. Also chose this area for raising my own kid and have been thrilled with his public education in one of the towns I just mentioned.</p>
<p>Does YojimboJoe want his kids to be in a diverse school or a more homogeneous one? In a homogeneous school, chances are that most kids are from a middle class background where parents will be focused on getting their kids into “good” colleges (unless they are homogeneously inner-city, which, I presume is not what YojimboJoe is interested in). Down the line, that will produce a lot of anxiety and pressure to be competitive in and out of the classroom. Competition in sports or olympiads is one way to build impressive ECs, though of course many kids engage in these pursuits for the love of sports or learning.
More diverse schools will need to separate kids into different tracks to address their different needs. We’ve had experience with two years of heterogeneous classes and the results were not pretty for any of the kids, the high-achievers and the struggling ones.
The private schools I know of are not only expensive, they are also focused on getting kids into top schools. Read: mega-pressure and competitiveness.</p>