do you think a school with a greatschools.org rating of 6 is good enough?

what is the lowest rating in a school would you find acceptable?

There is a highschool with a greatschool.org rating of 6. The elementary school/middle school are both 7.


Clearly, 8/9/10 is great but i feel like 6 and 7 ( more so the 6)are a little too low of a rating.

any thoughts?
thanks!

Re: do you think a school with a greatschools.org rating of 6 is good enough?

are you doing research because you want to move to a certain area and are checking out the schools? if so, i would also check out city data such as crime reports etc.

i would also be sure to read the community ratings on the site - some of them have a low rating because of things like the parents arent very involved, or the principal isnt too accessible. check out those comments before making a decision solely on the number they are rated

i went to a high school that is now rated a 5 (i have no idea what it was rated when i went but it was not good when i went)...so based on my experience, i wouldnt want to go to school with a 6.

Re: do you think a school with a greatschools.org rating of 6 is good enough?

i'm trying to stay 7 and above... can I ask what district? i may have some feedback

Re: do you think a school with a greatschools.org rating of 6 is good enough?

no, i bought my house 2 years ago.
As a first time home buyer, i was researching everything- how to buy a home, where to buy a home. We needed something that was a decent commute into the city as well as close to my mother in law who watches the kids 1-2 days a week.

i didnt know how to find out in depth about good school districts. when i was looking, i didnt know that certain schools are zoned for certain areas.

we are happy with everything so far, the house, the community but as i am trying to uncover more info on schools , i feel a little

my dd will be in Kindergarten come sept, and we are wondering if we should go the private route or enroll in public. we already spend so much money on daycare/prek, i rather not have to spend more money come sept.

kind of wondering if we should think about selling and looking into the next town over which as ratings of 8's for all their schools.

Re: do you think a school with a greatschools.org rating of 6 is good enough?

Re: do you think a school with a greatschools.org rating of 6 is good enough?

In your case I would give the public kindergarten a chance. Then decide if it's worth moving over. Some things need to be experienced before you can really judge and you may wind up being happy with the school after all. I think kindergarten is a perfect time to give it a try.
The 6 for high school is more of an issue IMO and I would probably try to move before then. You have a few years to worry about that though.

do you think a school with a greatschools.org rating of 6 is good enough?

I dunno, most of those ratings are based on standardized test scores, which really mean nothing, especially since common core. I would probably seek out opinions of parents that actually live in the district.

Re: do you think a school with a greatschools.org rating of 6 is good enough?

I personally would not focus too much on the ratings.

I checked my old high school in philly and it is rated a 10. It was a magnet school so every kid was top 5% of their junior high schools. The school was totally overcrowded and had major drug problems. Many teachers were awful. The overachievers with the million AP classes and perfect SAT scores brought the school to a rating of 10.

My high school in LI is now rated an 8. 20 yrs ago, I know it was deemed great.

We live in VA now and we have a top rated magnet high school down the road and then an average high school also down the road. The magnet school is rated a 10 and the average high school is rated a 6 on greatschools. I would prefer my children to attend the average high school vs the ranked 10 magnet high school. We love our neighborhood. The only reason the average high school is rated a 6 is because most of the top students go to the magnet school down the road. I would do my research and find a neighborhood you love and not focus too much on the ratings.

Message edited 1/27/2014 3:17:02 PM.

Re: do you think a school with a greatschools.org rating of 6 is good enough?

I agree, the rating number doesn't tell a whole story. You should look at crime, demographics, etc... to find the right fit for your family. That said I just purchased a home and the neighborhoods I looked at happened to have no less then a 7 rating, I ended up purchasing a house with a school district rating of 10. It happened to be a great fit for my family!

Message edited 1/27/2014 3:32:25 PM.

Re: do you think a school with a greatschools.org rating of 6 is good enough?

i wouldn't want to go below a 7 personally. I'm hoping for 8-10 when the time comes.

do you think a school with a greatschools.org rating of 6 is good enough?

You should really talk to people around the area. My school district has mostly 8s and 9s for it's schools but my elementary is like a 5 I think. And the only reason that is, is because that school houses all the self contained special ed classes. It has nothing to do with the academics the Gen Ed kids are learning as they do the same as the other schools and actually get a little more due to the specialties they bring in for the special needs children.

Re: do you think a school with a greatschools.org rating of 6 is good enough?

No.. 6 is low to me.

Her elementary is a 9 and the current middle school is 10 (but she won't go to that school since they just finished building a new one) and I pay for it in taxes. I believe my HS is an 8 right now. But to be fair. She's 5, who knows what the HS will be in 10yrs. But starting at a 6 would be at a disadvantage already in my mind.

HS is tough since we have enough magnet and private schools in the area that who knows she may note even GO to that school and if she doesn't - her other school may be nested in a less than favorable school.

Very specifically if she wants to (and qualifies) she can start the magnet program in Middle School. (god forbid)


So it all boiled down to the elementary and for that I went with 9s and 10s

I qualified and as accepted to a pre-med HS with college credits. I passed on it. I wanted a rounded education instead of topic focused LOL (oh to be young and dumb). If AJ goes that path instead where I live means little to nothing.