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schools for ds/dd
I know a lot of us are far away from thinking about schools, but where's your dream school to send dh/dd (I'm talking pre-kinder, kinder, elem here, not college 
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We're putting out house on the market in the spring, and schools is one of my big criteria. ?I mean, is Eanes really all that better? ?We're in LISD right now, and I can't decide if we should stay in the district, or move to RR or Austin district, or just nix the house decision on schools and look at private schools. ?Aargh....preschool has slipped up on us before I was ready!?
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Re: schools for ds/dd
I think I'm in the minority because I don't believe school districts are all that important. I think maybe 25% of a child's success can be attributed to the school. The other 75% is up to the student (and parents). Especially when considering elementary schools, I don't think they are all that different.
Jakob is a first grader in Round Rock schools. And by talking to friends who have their first graders at Austin ISD, Leander ISD...and my friends in Detroit schools and my aunt who teaches kinder in CA...they are all doing the same stuff and getting the same education.
That said - I do check school ratings when looking at houses. I do want my kids in decently rated schools, not complete dumps
As far as college goes...I think DS is going to go military. He already is sick of school, and we're just starting out here! Halfway through kindergarten he was trying to convince us that he knew enough and we should let him quit
Married October 28, 2006, TTC since March 2009 IUI #1-8 w/ clomid = BFN
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We are going to try to avoid private school if possible. My theory is that the $$ we can save by not paying private school tuition can pay for a lot of after-school enrichment like art or music classes, sports, foreign language, travel, etc.
Right now we are withing walking distance of one elementary school and another is being built on the other side of our neighborhood (also within walking distance). I don't know which one DD will attend, but as of right now, I'm fine with either one. We don't plan to move any time soon so we will try the public schools, and if it's not a good fit for her, we will either look into moving so she can attend a different school or look into private schools.
Preschool has sneaked up on us too. I've been in denial that she's going to be old enough to attend. ~sigh~ I plan to start looking at preschools very soon.
Meredith, 6-1-06 and Alex, 11-5-09
Funny. ?Reading my own post, you'd think I never even went to school :0 ?My grammar is so horrible! ?
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we are super happy with the schools in our area. (kiker elementary/new middle being built/bowie high) i went to mediocre elementary and middle schools and an exceptional high school and i feel like these schools are all awesome!
we will have dd in montessori preschool and dh is leaning towards private schooling after that as well, but i would like for them to go to public school.
I am a pretty big proponent of public schools, so unless I lived soemwhere that had really crappy schools I would not send my kids to private school.
I think most of the districts in the area are pretty good from what I have seen. But the individual schools do, IMO, matter and not only the district. We are in RRISD which IMO is pretty good, but I have been in some of the schools in this district that I absolutely WOULD NOT send my child to. Luckily not the one Abby will be attending.
Preschool and schooling in general kind of sncuk up on me as well. Although I actually have 3 more falls before Abby starts Kinder due to her birthdate. I am really torn on what to do about MDO and Preschool at this point. I know for sure we will send her to preschool at 4y.o. I just need to find one I am happy with which from the bit of internet searching I have done looks like it will be hard.
Thank you for reminding me to find a MDO program.
Like one of the pp, I have worked in different school districts as well as different schools within a district.
I agree w/ Abbysmom to look at the specific school and not just the district. One thing that drove me (and many parents) crazy when I was working in Chapel Hill, NC (a well known district in NC) was the competitiveness among the students (starting as early as 4th/5th grade) as well as among the parents! It was NOT ok to be average. Just passing was not acceptable. Well, for some kids, just passing is great and they work really hard to do it.
Private school- I attended a private school for high school. I loved the small size. I knew most everyone in my class. But, even though it was a great school, we missed out on a lot. The music program (well, all the FA programs really) were lacking compared to the public schools, the sports program was sub par and the electives we had to choose from were sparce. It was great to be surrounded by others that had the same goal (getting into college) and not having to worry about people wasting the time of teachers in class. BUT, this was in a district where the public schools were very well funded (Northern VA- 9 of the high schools regularly make Newsweeks top 100).
I have to agree with abbysmom. We are in RR (good district) but are zoned in the worst middle and high school in the district. DD will not be attending these schools, unless she is special needs or gifted in the arts, (but by the time she needs them we will probably be zoned into different ones due to the growth around our area so who knows). Right now the plan is for me to return to work when she hits school aged and my salary will pay for private schools.
We have looked into moving (pre market crash) but the size of our house is perfect for our planned family and we got an incredible 30 year fixed mortgage rate. Doing the numbers with our financial planner it is cheaper to stay in our home and pay for private school than move to a different area.
My dream school for DD (and for myself, lol) is Waldorf. I'm am pro private school all the way, and my main motivator with starting my business is to be able to pay for DD to go to private starting pre-K.
So public schools where we live are a non-issue for me (however, we do live in Leander ISD which I'm told is good so at least we have that to fall back on).
It's not that I don't have faith in the teachers (I do, wholeheartedly), it's that I don't have faith in the way teachers are forced to teach.
I'm biased because I'm a teacher too, but I definitely believe in public schooling. That being said, all of the districts you've mentioned are great as a district. Individual schools in them are not. When we move, we will be looking into the schools we're zoned for since I plan to become a SAHM with baby #2 and #3. I love Round Rock ISD and had a great experience as a student there and now as a teacher there. However, there are just some schools that I will not send my child to.
Definitely look at more than just TAKS scores. Those can tell a lot initially, but the climate of the school can tell you way more. Look at the SES of the population surrounding the school, % on free and reduced lunch, whether they're receiving government intervention/support.
And I have to add that if you're a GOOD teacher, then you don't teach to the test and you don't let the fact that students take a test each April change the way you teach. If you're a GOOD teacher, the only thing you are forced to teach are the TEKS (you can find those online) and those are things that IMHO, all kids need to know.
All of the districts you've mentioned are highly competitive, so they are seeking out the good teachers in our area. That doesn't mean there aren't still some "bad apples" out there - but they're being weeded out.
Tread carefully here, please.
I was a GOOD teacher. And I was forced to teach to the test or lose my job. In fact, I was required to give *only* multiple choice exams because that was the format of the statewide standardized test. And I was reprimanded because my required multiple choice test listed the choices in horizontal order (to save paper) instead of vertically as it would appear on the standardized test. Unfortunately, teachers are at the mercy of their administrations and not all administrations act ideally.
What I'm saying is that you can be creative with the way you choose to teach. Yes, you may have to give only a certain kind of assessment, but I don't know of any way, short of coming into your classroom and running it for you, that administration can dictate the way you teach the material. Maybe that's my somewhat limited experience coming to play here as I've only taught in Temple ISD, Round Rock ISD, and Killeen ISD. But from my experiences there, even if a certain type of test was mandated by the administration, the teachers were still able to choose how the material was taught and in what way it was initially presented to the students.
This is only hearsay, because I have never personally worked there, but have been told by teacher that I worked with that did work there. Some districts (or schools within the district) actually make teachers follow certain lesson plans as well. I know one teacher that worked in one of the SA area districts, i think Northeast, said this was the case when she was there. She was handed a gigantic binder at the beginning of the year with all the lesson plans for the year. Yes, I guess you could still put your own personal spin on things, but most everything was pretty much laid out for you.
So while yes I think what you are saying is still the truth in many districts/schools it is not the case everywhere. Again, back to my original statement it really depends on the school.
We are very much agreed on private school but just in case that does not work out---we made sure we moved to a good district. I think elementary school is super important since you learn how to learn.
We started Coverdell's for both our girls since we can use that money for elementary when the time comes. We also pick a great pre-school that we love and our dd is thriving in.
As for what school district is better, teachers etc----the key to ANY good school is parental involvement on a good level not the bad take over the school and do their kids work for them type of take over. If a child gets home and school is not enforced and shown any importance than even the best teacher in the world might not get that child learning. That said--look at district and neighborhood.
I've never, ever heard of this and I'm completely appalled that ANY administration would think that is acceptable. That's ridiculous and I would be out the door of my school in a split second if I was given something that told me how I had to teach. That's not teaching anymore.
And I completely agree with you, abbysmom. It totally depends on the school.