Thoughts and ideas on this schooling question..

[mami2camjax]

I am marrying the man of my dreams this summer and the plan had been we (my 2 kids and I) would move to his house. The school district we are moving to currently has 4 elementary schools and are building an intermediate school to hold grades 3-5, which I thought would be great for my daughter and she seemed excited to attend this new school. I loved the house, because my son's school would be walking distance and was a great community school. The school board just announced they are closing 2 of the elementary schools, including the one within walking distance. They are splitting the district now where kids east of the main road will go to an elementary school and kids west will go to the other remaining school. I am not happy with the school my son will be placed at, it’s farther from our home (15 minute drive, compared to 5 minute drive to the other school), farther from my job, has little playground equipment, looks physically dated and looking at greatschools.com, there is a big difference in the reading and math scores (compared to the other elementary school) and a higher percentage of students receiving free/reduced lunches, so I have some concerns with him going to this school. I do plan on going to meet with the Principal and tour the school. I sent an e-mail to the school, asking about what options were available and was told there were no options and no exceptions were being made. It then dawned on me, that the child care provider I was going to be using was on the west side, so I contacted them again to find out what difference that made, in that he’d be on that side and was told I have 3 options – 1)have the sitter take him to school. 2) have the sitter take him to a bus stop on the east side, so he can be bused to the school or 3) find a new sitter. The sitter will not be able to drive him to school and it’s ridiculous, that she’d have to drive him to somewhere else, just for him to get on the bus and I’m not really interested in finding a new sitter. So, what would you do in this situation? Thoughts? Ideas?

 

[Christine]

The first thing I would do is take it up the chain a notch higher. Usually, at the elementary level, the ONLY exception to changing from your base school is day care arrangements. I would confirm with whoever runs that particular school (county, town, city) and the next higher level if there are truly no exceptions being made for day care arrangements.

If there are no exceptions, then you don't have a choice.

Now, onto the school. In my experience, most schools within a school system offer the same education/curriculum, all have decent teachers, all have their share of bad teachers, all are run about the same. That's a generality. Of course, you often run into *that* school where the principal is phenomenal, or there is some exceptional magic with the staff. Overall, though, most schools are the same--it's the student body that differs. You will also note when checking out schools on websites that test scores always suffer when reduced/free lunch is increased. This is not a reflection on the school but a reflection on the disadvantage students that attend their and their struggles with performance.

Then that comes down to: do I want my kid attending school with disadvantaged kids with learning issues or do I only want them attending with kids who don't have these kinds of challenges?

 

[golfgal]

When schools do this usually they do NOT make exceptions because then EVERYONE would want an exception. As far as test scores go, expect to see them increase dramatically next year with the influx of kids from the "good" school. A dated looking school does not give you a better or worse education. Also keep in mind that the kids from the neighborhood will be going to this school and if he goes to another school he won't be making friends with kids from the neighborhood as easily. My guess is that they will move the playground equipment from the closed school to the new school to handle the increased number of kids but that might be something you will want to suggest to the principal. Kids will find things to do at recess even if there isn't any playground equipment. The school I went to K-4th grade had NO playground equipment and we kept plenty busy playing kickball, jump rope, hopscotch, dodge ball, etc.

 

[Ceila]

I am marrying the man of my dreams this summer and the plan had been we (my 2 kids and I) would move to his house. The school district we are moving to currently has 4 elementary schools and are building an intermediate school to hold grades 3-5, which I thought would be great for my daughter and she seemed excited to attend this new school. I loved the house, because my son's school would be walking distance and was a great community school. The school board just announced they are closing 2 of the elementary schools, including the one within walking distance. They are splitting the district now where kids east of the main road will go to an elementary school and kids west will go to the other remaining school. I am not happy with the school my son will be placed at, it’s farther from our home (15 minute drive, compared to 5 minute drive to the other school), farther from my job, has little playground equipment, looks physically dated and looking at greatschools.com, there is a big difference in the reading and math scores (compared to the other elementary school) and a higher percentage of students receiving free/reduced lunches, so I have some concerns with him going to this school. I do plan on going to meet with the Principal and tour the school. I sent an e-mail to the school, asking about what options were available and was told there were no options and no exceptions were being made. It then dawned on me, that the child care provider I was going to be using was on the west side, so I contacted them again to find out what difference that made, in that he’d be on that side and was told I have 3 options – 1)have the sitter take him to school. 2) have the sitter take him to a bus stop on the east side, so he can be bused to the school or 3) find a new sitter. The sitter will not be able to drive him to school and it’s ridiculous, that she’d have to drive him to somewhere else, just for him to get on the bus and I’m not really interested in finding a new sitter. So, what would you do in this situation? Thoughts? Ideas?

In our area I don't believe there are exceptions for day care. Students attend the school in which their residence is slated for, and parents are responsible for making day care arrangements that accommodate this.

Since it sounds like there are areas where there is some leeway, I would contact the district office to find out the official policy. While principals and office staff are knowledgeable, the district office would have the most accurate information.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

If they are closing schools, I would bet that they are shuffling staff around anyway. Which (if any) end up being the "better" school is a bit of a crap shoot.

I guess I don't see what free school lunches has to do with it. That's a reflection on the economy, not how smart (or not) the kids are.

 

[golfgal]

If they are closing schools, I would bet that they are shuffling staff around anyway. Which (if any) end up being the "better" school is a bit of a crap shoot.

I guess I don't see what free school lunches has to do with it. That's a reflection on the economy, not how smart (or not) the kids are.

Typically schools that have a high number of kids that qualify for free lunches are low income areas and students from low income areas do not do as well in school for many reasons. It isn't a reflection on the school as much as it is a reflection of their upbringing.

I have also seen in situations like this where they will NOT make exceptions for day care arrangements because people will set up false day care situations so they can go to the other school.

 

[powellrj]

You don't by any chance live in Indiana do you? If so, they changed the law a few years ago that you can attend any school that will accept you. Your state funding follows you, so whatever school you attend, gets you funding. You have to attend the school in your district that you live in, you can't jump around different schools in the same district, but if another district will accept you, you can provide your own transportation and attend the different district.

Our wise school board decided in December to close our high school which was 5 minutes to send the kids to another school 25 minutes from our home. Our home school was a wonderful school, new school, not so much, so we are sending our DD to another school in another county 8 minutes from our home. They are thrilled to have our kids! At last count 138 other kids from her school will be attending this school, so she will have lots of company!

 

[mami2camjax]

Nope, not in Indiana! I'm in Pennsylvania and am not finding anything to back me up to give me choice in what elementary school I send my child to..

I realize that this school might be fantastic and maybe I'm letting my thoughts/worries get the best of me, but my son is already struggling a bit with reading and while I do the best I can at home to work with him, I want to know he has good supportive teachers who will work with him as well. So, when I saw their low reading test scores, I got a little concerned.

 

[agnes!]

Typically schools that have a high number of kids that qualify for free lunches are low income areas and students from low income areas do not do as well in school for many reasons. It isn't a reflection on the school as much as it is a reflection of their upbringing.

I have also seen in situations like this where they will NOT make exceptions for day care arrangements because people will set up false day care situations so they can go to the other school.

Umm...I hope you meant to say it is a reflection of their environment?

Back to the OP...Congratulations on your upcoming wedding/marriage!

I think you should check to see what your kids' friends are doing *and* which teachers are being shuffled into new slots at which schools. The way I see it, every year, the classroom becomes its own entity. Who the students are can make or break a year as much as who the teacher is. Is the kid who bullies other kids relentlessly or is your son's best friend going to one school in particular? I remember parents freaking out one year because my DD's class was going to be in a trailer (oh, the horror!). I had gotten a look at the kids in that class and was VERY pleased with her classroom. The other class?...yech, not so much. And that year turned out to be one of the best for DD.

This is my experience with school boundaries. I admit I'm kind of jaundiced about the matter. (And after writing the whole thing out, I realized it might sound judgmental in some way of the OP which is *not* my intent at all. She sounds like she just wants to do the best thing and the allowed thing for her kids. And I just wanted to relate my personal experiences.)

Our local elementary school that we qualified for because of where we live was the one school everybody wanted to get their kids into. People would even boast at the community pool that they actually lied about their child-care in its area, they TOLD me "Oh, I had a friend sign up as my child-care" and so on. It was even rumored that one particular child-care/pre-school that was within the boundaries and therefore qualified to send the kids to the school had parents sign up and PAY and never actually use it just so they could get their kids into our area elementary school. There was one mom who had to drive by at least two or three other grade-schools to get to our local one...but she gave a lot of money to the PTA and worked the system. I see her around occasionally - she really has no idea who I am - and it always kind of turns my stomache. I think of all the schools that our school siphoned off the most-"committed" parents from and how much better these other schools would have been if these parents had worked to make their local schools better. I mean, I get wanting the best for your kids, I really do, but I have a problem with liars/cheats in general and I knew people (not friends of mine) who lied their way into our school...and who ended up making it over-crowded! I found the whole situation rather sad. I knew of many families who *chose* to live in an area with true mansions that had supposedly 'bad' schools who then lied to get into ours.

 

[taylor3297]

Since your current school is being closed, that means those kids will have to be moved also. So even though the school your child will now go to has lower test scores, that will change due to the new influx of students.

Also, just because the school has lower test scores does not mean that the teachers aren't any good. I taught at a school that was 70% free and reduced lunch, and overall our scores were not the best due to many children being a product of their environment (no help at home). There were still students who scored extremely well. So the teachers would differentiate the curiculum in order to meet the needs of the students.

So, I would give it a chance and see what happens.

My dd is in an excellent school, but we still work with her at home to support what she is learning at school.

 

[golfgal]

You don't by any chance live in Indiana do you? If so, they changed the law a few years ago that you can attend any school that will accept you. Your state funding follows you, so whatever school you attend, gets you funding. You have to attend the school in your district that you live in, you can't jump around different schools in the same district, but if another district will accept you, you can provide your own transportation and attend the different district.

Our wise school board decided in December to close our high school which was 5 minutes to send the kids to another school 25 minutes from our home. Our home school was a wonderful school, new school, not so much, so we are sending our DD to another school in another county 8 minutes from our home. They are thrilled to have our kids! At last count 138 other kids from her school will be attending this school, so she will have lots of company!

Minnesota has had statewide open enrollment for almost 20 years and not all schools participate. It is also very common for school districts to not allow transfers from one school to another in situations like this. In the past few years 3 new high schools have opened up near us. They have all done the same thing, if you are in the boundaries for the old school you go to the old school, if you are in the boundaries for the new school you go to the new school-NO EXCEPTIONS. One district found that people were selling their houses and moving to get into what ever school they wanted. Some districts are redrawing attendance lines, mostly because of school closings and none of them are allowing open enrollment.