Anyone on who lives in Saint Pete or

[kiki02]

Tampa? Have public school question, thanks !!!

 

[flateacher]

Yes - maybe I can help... ask away!

 

[disneyfan'ole]

I live in Tampa. Ask away!

 

[reginaastralis]

Also in Tampa(ish)

 

[kiki02]

Also in Tampa(ish)

Thanks. - considering a move / job offer and 33704 33703 zip code for rental. Have one dc in middle, one going into high school.

Are schools there zoned by where your address is or ? Do kids from out of state test into any schools and basically what is the entrance process?

Thanks - need advice on good schools and if there are none, good catholics possibly. Have a great day all!

 

[fredflintstone]

Ooh I am going to follow along on this one! We will be moving in a year and can't decide between Tampa or moving to Georgia. We want to move to Florida, but I am unsure of the schools and areas to live!! Looking forward to hearing what the locals have to say!!

 

[flateacher]

Thanks. - considering a move / job offer and 33704 33703 zip code for rental. Have one dc in middle, one going into high school.

Are schools there zoned by where your address is or ? Do kids from out of state test into any schools and basically what is the entrance process?

Thanks - need advice on good schools and if there are none, good catholics possibly. Have a great day all!

The schools are run by County. So if you move to the 33703 or 33704 area you will be in Pinellas County School District. Goto their website and look around.

The exact school your children would attend would be based on your address.
They have a function on their site to see which schools you are zoned for (look under the "schools" tab). Entrance process for your local school is basically none - you register over the summer at the school using a utility bill and photo id.

I live in the Tampa area and do not want to poo-poo another school district - but I will warn you to look at magnet schools either the fundamental schools or IB because they tend to be the better schools over there (I know someone who worked in the system and this is a quote from them).

Entrance for these schools is a registration process and sometimes a lottery. You would need to look into this asap. Some of the dates have already passed.

As for catholic schools - Clearwater Central Catholic and St. Pete Catholic high both have good reps. A friend of mine (who lives in Tampa) considered St. Pete Cath. for her son! Not sure about the catholic middle schools...

I hope this helps! Good luck with the job offer and possible move. With the terrible winter everyone else had I sometimes felt guilty!! I am already getting veggies from my garden and just looked at some pics of us at the beach in January!

 

[kiki02]

The schools are run by County. So if you move to the 33703 or 33704 area you will be in Pinellas County School District. Goto their website and look around.

The exact school your children would attend would be based on your address.
They have a function on their site to see which schools you are zoned for (look under the "schools" tab). Entrance process for your local school is basically none - you register over the summer at the school using a utility bill and photo id.

I live in the Tampa area and do not want to poo-poo another school district - but I will warn you to look at magnet schools either the fundamental schools or IB because they tend to be the better schools over there (I know someone who worked in the system and this is a quote from them).

Entrance for these schools is a registration process and sometimes a lottery. You would need to look into this asap. Some of the dates have already passed.

As for catholic schools - Clearwater Central Catholic and St. Pete Catholic high both have good reps. A friend of mine (who lives in Tampa) considered St. Pete Cath. for her son! Not sure about the catholic middle schools...

I hope this helps! Good luck with the job offer and possible move. With the terrible winter everyone else had I sometimes felt guilty!! I am already getting veggies from my garden and just looked at some pics of us at the beach in January!

Thanks Flteacher - i'm just confused about the IB and magnets. So the entrance is an exam of just apply or ?

 

[flateacher]

Thanks Flteacher - i'm just confused about the IB and magnets. So the entrance is an exam of just apply or ?

sorry - not laughing at you - just snickering that our system isn't that advanced! Although I teach here I am very aware our state system is behind in MANY ways (from other states - at least that is what my NY friends tell me) .

Entrance for the IB and magnets for middle school (at least in my county) are by lottery - you put your name in and hope they "pull it out". For high school they at least look at grades and gpa and any possible standardized test scores you may have - the ones with the best GPA and scores are admitted. Sometimes there is also an essay component.

 

[kiki02]

sorry - not laughing at you - just snickering that our system isn't that advanced! Although I teach here I am very aware our state system is behind in MANY ways (from other states - at least that is what my NY friends tell me) .

Entrance for the IB and magnets for middle school (at least in my county) are by lottery - you put your name in and hope they "pull it out". For high school they at least look at grades and gpa and any possible standardized test scores you may have - the ones with the best GPA and scores are admitted. Sometimes there is also an essay component.

Thanks so much. I'm assuming if I'm moving in from out of town, I can still apply for any? via the internet with some grades and …. Gtting very nervous as I don't know where dcs will end up. (( How do people do this moving from out of state?????


:

 

[bearloch]

Sorry jumping in we moved from Mich here during the summer and I thought that too NO if you missed the application time for a magnet school you are stuck at the school your house would be zoned for!! EVEN if another school is closer. We learned the hard way my DD rode a bus for a hr to go 18 miles to school and passed another closer school but she was not allowed to go there because it was full from choice. BE VERY VERY carefull check the school out carefully before you rent.. your husband may have to drive a ways so your kids can get a good school... good luck

 

[fredflintstone]

Thanks so much. I'm assuming if I'm moving in from out of town, I can still apply for any? via the internet with some grades and …. Gtting very nervous as I don't know where dcs will end up. (( How do people do this moving from out of state?????


:

We are coming from out of the country and this is very stressful! I am planning on calling the schools and talking to them about applying, when I figure out which ones I want to send the kids to.


Flateacher, thanks for your insight. We are somewhat flexible in where we will live. We are looking between Tampa and Orlando. Do you have any input on good neighborhoods or areas, or even the schools in between? We keep finding some really nice houses, but then the schools get a rating of like 2-3 on great schools website, very frustrating! If we can't find a nice house with good schools we will have to move to GA, and I don't want to! haha

 

[kiki02]

We are coming from out of the country and this is very stressful! I am planning on calling the schools and talking to them about applying, when I figure out which ones I want to send the kids to.


Flateacher, thanks for your insight. We are somewhat flexible in where we will live. We are looking between Tampa and Orlando. Do you have any input on good neighborhoods or areas, or even the schools in between? We keep finding some really nice houses, but then the schools get a rating of like 2-3 on great schools website, very frustrating! If we can't find a nice house with good schools we will have to move to GA, and I don't want to! haha

Yep, ita. EITHER WAY we (you) are going to pay. If you want decent publics in this country and especially Floirda, then you'll pay more for rentals or a home in that zone. If not, you pay for private. So again, either way you pay.

 

[kiki02]

We are coming from out of the country and this is very stressful! I am planning on calling the schools and talking to them about applying, when I figure out which ones I want to send the kids to.


Flateacher, thanks for your insight. We are somewhat flexible in where we will live. We are looking between Tampa and Orlando. Do you have any input on good neighborhoods or areas, or even the schools in between? We keep finding some really nice houses, but then the schools get a rating of like 2-3 on great schools website, very frustrating! If we can't find a nice house with good schools we will have to move to GA, and I don't want to! haha

Yep, ita. EITHER WAY we (you) are going to pay. If you want decent publics in this country and especially Floirda, then you'll pay more for rentals or a home in that zone. If not, you pay for private. So again, either way you pay.

 

[flateacher]

We are coming from out of the country and this is very stressful! I am planning on calling the schools and talking to them about applying, when I figure out which ones I want to send the kids to.


Flateacher, thanks for your insight. We are somewhat flexible in where we will live. We are looking between Tampa and Orlando. Do you have any input on good neighborhoods or areas, or even the schools in between? We keep finding some really nice houses, but then the schools get a rating of like 2-3 on great schools website, very frustrating! If we can't find a nice house with good schools we will have to move to GA, and I don't want to! haha

I agree with what a pp said about some schools being full from choice and students having to go to other schools. It is such a weird system. So do be careful about where you rent. I think at least renting first (like you plan to) is a great idea! You can get to know the area and schools.

I am more familiar with Tampa schools - I can recommend South Tampa (a realtor will know what this is - south of Kennedy) - the schools here are consistently ranked high (Wilson middle and Plant High among others). But as a pp said - you will pay - houses are more expensive here.

Alot of people like an area called New Tampa. Schools here are also usually ranked high. I think the area is crowded and the traffic in and out is something I do not like and would not deal with.

Brandon/Valrico area (also Fish Hawk Ranch) are areas to the south of Tampa that are popular with families. Be careful in the Brandon area - some schools are not ranked that well - it can be hit or miss there.

Also check the Florida Department of Education's Website - and check the schools "state" grade. I would go with a school that has an A or B (nothing less). The state grades the schools based on test scores (a terrible system - but it does tell a lot about a school - UNLESS - it is a magnet school). Ex: King IB is a great magnet program in King High. The OVERALL school grade isn't so great - but the IB program is awesome!

 

[flateacher]

Thanks so much. I'm assuming if I'm moving in from out of town, I can still apply for any? via the internet with some grades and …. Gtting very nervous as I don't know where dcs will end up. (( How do people do this moving from out of state?????


:

I am not 100% on this - but I think if you are from out of state you need to submit a paper application. I remember my 1st daughter was considered "out of the system" because she was entering from a private school and I had to submit a paper form via regular mail (or fax)- even though I lived in the county! (again this is for the magnet and choice schools only). Your local school you register at in person over the summer.... (or the very first day of school like some locals do here...)

 

[disneyfan'ole]

My child goes to a private Catholic school. There are a lot of good Catholic schools in the area. I would check out the St. Petersburg Diocese website to see all of them.

If you want to PM me about them, I would be happy to answer about the one my daughter goes to in Tampa.

Westchase is another area where the public school is great but be careful and look for an A school. There are a lot of good magnet schools in the area. Usually they are not close to where you live and in not the best area of town. They do have buses that will go to those schools but it may be a long bus ride for your child.

 

[reginaastralis]

Sorry, I forgot to comeback to check on this thread.

I live in Brandon, which is a suburb of Tampa. Hillsborough County is one of the largest school districts in the nation, and honestly, at times can be a hot mess. I know more about elementary because my mom is an elementary teacher. But I also know that the middle schools in my area are not the best. DD will be in 4th grade next year, but the talk has already begun on where she's going to school for middle.

We currently have her in a "C" school, but it was an A school two years ago. Two years ago they did a massive overhaul on how the FCAT was graded, and the school's grade plummeted. The first year, it should have been a "C" but by law it wasn't allowed to fall more than two grades at a time. Now, I'm not saying that there aren't better schools out there, and her school is a little rough around the edges, but the teachers are really good. We have her there because my mom works at the school, the school we are zoned for is actually an "A" school (soooo, we're probably not the norm in the area). I'm probably one of the only people you'll meet who will tell you not to base your total decision based just on grades.

Here in Hillsborough County, the first application period for choice is before Christmas, there's one generally in the spring, and one over summer. There is an pre-IB program at William's Middle here in Tampa, but a lot of the spots do go during the first application period. Our magnet and IB programs are generally held at schools that are in the lower income areas ... and you should also factor in drive-time/bus time for the kids as well. My parents live in Plant City (which is about 15-20 minutes away from Brandon) and my sister was interested in going to Blake which is the performing arts high school, and her bus was supposed to pick her up at 5:30 in the morning. She chose to go to school closer to home, but still not her "home" school, because she didn't was a 3 hour bus ride to school and back each day. My daughter will be going to Progress Village, if we stay in the area, for middle school because she is interested in the performing arts program there as well. From what I understand, we can chose any middle school in the county that isn't capped, but we have to provide transportation to the schools outside of our region. The two middle schools closest to us are considered to be very rough, and the one next closest to us is known for it's issue with pills. Middle school, and they have issues with drugs, oy! And we live in the middle of the suburbs ... it's not what parents expect.

The Fishhawk area is the closest area to me that has consistently high scoring schools, throughout elementary, middle and high school. Like a PP poster said, there isn't an entrance exam to get into the IB program, you have to apply and hope to get in. I will say that Strawberry Crest is the newest IB program here in Hillsborough, it just opened up about 2-3 years ago. It's a lot closer to Fishhawk than King is, and is in a much better part of town.

I probably gave too much info without giving enough at the same time. If you have any specific questions, I wouldn't mind asking my mom if she can help. I know nothing of Pinellas county ... but this is their website. https://www.pcsb.org/

I also don't know much about Catholic High schools in the area. My friends attended Tampa Catholic http://www.tampacatholic.org/ back when we were in school and I had friends who attended Jesuit (the all boys school) http://www.jesuittampa.org/.
Nativity Catholic runs from elementary to middle http://nativitycatholicschool.org/ and I think St. Stephen's does as well http://www.ststephencatholic.org/school/. I'm sure there are more than that, but I only know of these by names.



http://www.sdhc.k12.fl.us/ - This is Hillsborough County's website.