Talk to me about Great Schools Rating

So as I mentioned in a previous post we are looking for a new home.. DS is 3 so we are factoring in the school district in our choices of homes...

we found 2 places however in 2 very different school districts. One has a rating of 7 and the other a 4.

4 rating school- services a much more divese socioeconomic population and the district does have a lot of resources.

7 rating school - is very rural smaller classes
Im so torn about this great school crap - I don't know how much stock to put in it...

Re: Talk to me about Great Schools Rating

I would see what you can afford, but I would not choose a school that is a level four unless I could not afford anything else, and even then I would rent to get a better district. Diversity happens in districts that are rated 10 too, so I would be incredibly wary of a district marked four because it is not marked four just because it is diverse.

Talk to me about Great Schools Rating

True - true points. Nope I don't think its a 4 b/c of the diversity - <insert sigh>
I guess my gut is telling me neither of these two homes are the one...I should have a feeling that this is the one - right???

Talk to me about Great Schools Rating

I just looked and there are schools in a nearby district that were rated a 4. That is definitely not accurate. It's considered a "good" district by most standards. I would have no problem sending my son to those elementary schools. I've also seen kids post ratings on Great Schools.

If it were me, I would join the Facebook groups of the two towns, post that you're planning on moving there, and you want the good, the bad, and the ugly about those schools. These are parents that have children in the schools, so at least you know it's fairly accurate.

Message edited 3/26/2016 9:04:32 AM.

Talk to me about Great Schools Rating

I don't think they're reliable at all. They are based on people's reviews. I'd look at the nys report card. I'd also drive around the neighborhoods you're interested in. Check out the library, stores, eyc.

Re: Talk to me about Great Schools Rating

I looked up my district and was surprised to see the HS only rated a 5. It very recently won a prestigious award from the state and has a 96% graduation rate. But I didn't see anything in the data that would have justified that rating. There are reviews from parents and students that are over 10 years old.

I don't think it's an accurate reflection. I agree with the suggestions of looking at FB groups- I know my town's is pretty active and education is a major topic. Good luck!

Talk to me about Great Schools Rating

The only true indication of any school's performance are their report cards. You can easily google this online and do a side by side comparison. I wouldnt pay too much mind to online ratings....

Talk to me about Great Schools Rating

Thanks ladies... I did the report card comparison and the one that scored low- In fact does score low based on the report card... I guess I'm trying to give this district the benefit of the doubt...part of me feels that it's not just the school or district that makes a student it's also what goes on at home- what we do as parents.
As I posted before I'm looking on Orange County at the moment and the districts in question are Middletown city and minisink valley. Thy are like polar opposite. Middletown does have a high grad rate but their test scores are below state in many instances... It's not supposed be this hard... I'm looking at other areas of course but we found 2 great opportunities - 1 in each of these districts and I am trying to really make an informed decision before I pass or commit on one

Re: Talk to me about Great Schools Rating

Ultimately, you have to be comfortable with the school, and you have to feel that the services, statistics, etc., match your needs. Reaching the statistics in terms of graduation rate, for example, will give you a more accurate academic picture than will Great Schools, in my opinion.

The information on Great Schools provides you with perspectives, and on Long Island, perspectives of school districts are often horribly skewed for the wrong reasons, and I imagine that trolls could produce such information on that website. On the other hand, you are potentially hearing voices of people with personal experience in the district--which is much different from asking people about districts they know literally nothing of.


ETA: AH, I see you aren't looking on Long Island. Is there any way you can actually visit the schools?

Message edited 3/26/2016 10:51:09 AM.

Re: Talk to me about Great Schools Rating

Just be careful upstate near monsey And kurias Joel, as these school districts have been decimated bu the Hasidic Jews who have diverted public school funding to religious schools.

Re: Talk to me about Great Schools Rating

Talk to me about Great Schools Rating

I'd take the ratings with a grain of salt. Drive around the area, talk to people that live there and send their kids to the schools for a more accurate review.

Talk to me about Great Schools Rating

Also there are things that can effect the ratings of a particular school. For instance in many Districts the special education classes are all in one building. Therefore that building may have a lower rating because of the testing results etc of the special education children.

Re: Talk to me about Great Schools Rating

Re: Talk to me about Great Schools Rating

Message edited 3/28/2016 3:37:13 PM.