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Mago
LIF Infant
Member since 5/14 233 total posts
Name:
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School districts 101
What do you/did you look for in a school district when house hunting? What was most important to you and which districts did you feel met your criteria?
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Posted 10/8/17 8:54 PM  |
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LSP2005
Bunny kisses are so cute!
Member since 5/05 19458 total posts
Name:
L
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Re: School districts 101
I used the great schools website, and I made appointments and visited the elementary schools during the summer where we were thinking of moving. I looked into class size, student teacher ratios, amenities in the schools, taxes, and read newspaper articles about the different schools. I also looked for what programs the school offered. I wanted schools listed as nine or ten preferably but an eight was ok too.
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| Posted 10/8/17 10:38 PM |
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b2b777
LIF Adult
Member since 9/09 4474 total posts
Name:
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School districts 101
Unfortunately with everyone opting out of testing those scores no longer mean anything -- schools that were 8,9, and 10s last year are now in some cases 5,6's. It is hard to tell!
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| Posted 10/10/17 2:47 PM |
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Re: School districts 101
Posted by b2b777
Unfortunately with everyone opting out of testing those scores no longer mean anything -- schools that were 8,9, and 10s last year are now in some cases 5,6's. It is hard to tell!
This is true! I reached out to parents in the districts I was interested in as well as teachers. I learned a lot this way and ruled out a few highly regarded school districts based on the stories I heard from teachers.
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| Posted 10/10/17 5:32 PM |
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mommy2be716
LIF Adult
Member since 1/16 2921 total posts
Name:
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School districts 101
i can tell you that some of the weathiest areas of LI don't necessarily have the best schools. I worked at one of them, and it was eye opening. I thought about making a move to the area, but when I started working there I was appalled at how little they knew, and how poorly orchestrated their special education programs are. Worst part is that the parents have NO idea because many don't really see the ins and outs of a district the way teachers do.
ETA: I started in the DOE, left for this particular job on LI, and quickly realized how much further ahead the DOE was. It's a bit scary considering how much we pay in taxes here on LI
Message edited 10/10/2017 7:47:22 PM.
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| Posted 10/10/17 7:46 PM |
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LuckyStar
LIF Adult
Member since 7/14 7274 total posts
Name:
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Re: School districts 101
Posted by MerryChristmas
Posted by b2b777
Unfortunately with everyone opting out of testing those scores no longer mean anything -- schools that were 8,9, and 10s last year are now in some cases 5,6's. It is hard to tell!
This is true! I reached out to parents in the districts I was interested in as well as teachers. I learned a lot this way and ruled out a few highly regarded school districts based on the stories I heard from teachers.
Those Great Schools ratings mean nothing. Teachers and parents are the only way to really learn anything.
We're loosely house hunting right now and I stopped even paying attention to the ratings.
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| Posted 10/10/17 8:19 PM |
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LuckyStar
LIF Adult
Member since 7/14 7274 total posts
Name:
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Re: School districts 101
Posted by mommy2be716
i can tell you that some of the weathiest areas of LI don't necessarily have the best schools. I worked at one of them, and it was eye opening. I thought about making a move to the area, but when I started working there I was appalled at how little they knew, and how poorly orchestrated their special education programs are. Worst part is that the parents have NO idea because many don't really see the ins and outs of a district the way teachers do.
ETA: I started in the DOE, left for this particular job on LI, and quickly realized how much further ahead the DOE was. It's a bit scary considering how much we pay in taxes here on LI
This doesn't surprise me one bit.
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| Posted 10/10/17 8:20 PM |
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MissJones
I need a nap!
Member since 5/05 22136 total posts
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Re: School districts 101
Posted by LuckyStar
Posted by mommy2be716
i can tell you that some of the weathiest areas of LI don't necessarily have the best schools. I worked at one of them, and it was eye opening. I thought about making a move to the area, but when I started working there I was appalled at how little they knew, and how poorly orchestrated their special education programs are. Worst part is that the parents have NO idea because many don't really see the ins and outs of a district the way teachers do.
ETA: I started in the DOE, left for this particular job on LI, and quickly realized how much further ahead the DOE was. It's a bit scary considering how much we pay in taxes here on LI
This doesn't surprise me one bit.
Agreed.
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| Posted 10/11/17 5:40 AM |
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Aries14
Can't plan life...
Member since 8/08 2860 total posts
Name:
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School districts 101
When we bought our house we had an idea of which schools were considered "good". We both came from big districts and wanted a small district. At the time, that was our only real criteria. Good neighborhood, small district. Now that we have kids - I am never happy with our choice.
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| Posted 10/11/17 9:27 AM |
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lightblue
LIF Adult
Member since 1/17 2249 total posts
Name:
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Re: School districts 101
Posted by mommy2be716
i can tell you that some of the weathiest areas of LI don't necessarily have the best schools. I worked at one of them, and it was eye opening. I thought about making a move to the area, but when I started working there I was appalled at how little they knew, and how poorly orchestrated their special education programs are. Worst part is that the parents have NO idea because many don't really see the ins and outs of a district the way teachers do.
ETA: I started in the DOE, left for this particular job on LI, and quickly realized how much further ahead the DOE was. It's a bit scary considering how much we pay in taxes here on LI
Very sad. Can see that about the special education programs. We bought our house pre-kids, before we knew we needed a special education program. But now I feel stuck as I feel it would be hard for me to sell my house and move elsewhere.
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| Posted 10/11/17 3:22 PM |
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FirstMate
My lil cowboy
Member since 10/10 7790 total posts
Name:
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Re: School districts 101
I looked a lot on great schools.org as well and then quickly realized that the numbers weren't accurate. I looked for a smaller district and spoke to people who lived in the community to hear the pros and cons. That's really the only place you are going to hear accurate reports and perspectives. I found with the smaller districts, they may not offer as many programs, clubs, etc. as the bigger districts but with the larger districts I heard complaints about kids not making the sports teams due to large try out turn out. I had to figure out what was important to me and try to work it from there. If you can join the moms page of the district you are interested in, you can read a lot on those pages.
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| Posted 10/12/17 12:23 AM |
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CSK
LIF Adolescent
Member since 9/11 892 total posts
Name:
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Re: School districts 101
Posted by FirstMate
I looked a lot on great schools.org as well and then quickly realized that the numbers weren't accurate. I looked for a smaller district and spoke to people who lived in the community to hear the pros and cons. That's really the only place you are going to hear accurate reports and perspectives. I found with the smaller districts, they may not offer as many programs, clubs, etc. as the bigger districts but with the larger districts I heard complaints about kids not making the sports teams due to large try out turn out. I had to figure out what was important to me and try to work it from there. If you can join the moms page of the district you are interested in, you can read a lot on those pages.
I'm not sure the best way to get the "best" outcome.
The bestschools site has flaws. It has districts that are good districts not scoring the best, and mediocre districts scoring higher. The other alternative is word of mouth. I've lived on LI my whole life and know a thing or 3 about the various school districts reputations. On the other hand, half of what I "know" is pure BS based upon uninformed rumors, opinions, and prejudices. However that drives pricing of houses and "desirability." To some extent, it also creates a self fulfilling prophesy.
you take 2 decent districts, SD-A people say good things about, the other SD-B they deride as trashy or whatever people try to move to SD-A vs SD-B, prices go up in SD-A, more well off and education focused people move into SD-A district. Parents push their kids more, more tutors etc bc more money and more involvement, test scores go up.
meanwhile SD-B is fighting a stigma of sorts and prices aren't as strong as SD-A. You have less education focused people pushing to buy there, less moneyed people as well. Less tutors less involvement and eventually pushing quality and results down.
This is all academic clean examples, however I do feel some of this happens with LI school districts. Its a tough sell to go against the grain and even if you want to, by the time your kids are school age things change.
I generally don't subscribe to the groupthink that seems to be so prevalent in our world (and especially so when buying a house on LI )and try and evaluate things myself independently of other people opinions... however, resale value on homes for the most part is driven by this groupthink, so it does need to be taken into account.
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| Posted 10/12/17 10:42 AM |
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Sweetlax22
LIF Adult
Member since 5/10 1904 total posts
Name:
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Re: School districts 101
Posted by CSK
Posted by FirstMate
I looked a lot on great schools.org as well and then quickly realized that the numbers weren't accurate. I looked for a smaller district and spoke to people who lived in the community to hear the pros and cons. That's really the only place you are going to hear accurate reports and perspectives. I found with the smaller districts, they may not offer as many programs, clubs, etc. as the bigger districts but with the larger districts I heard complaints about kids not making the sports teams due to large try out turn out. I had to figure out what was important to me and try to work it from there. If you can join the moms page of the district you are interested in, you can read a lot on those pages.
I'm not sure the best way to get the "best" outcome.
The bestschools site has flaws. It has districts that are good districts not scoring the best, and mediocre districts scoring higher. The other alternative is word of mouth. I've lived on LI my whole life and know a thing or 3 about the various school districts reputations. On the other hand, half of what I "know" is pure BS based upon uninformed rumors, opinions, and prejudices. However that drives pricing of houses and "desirability." To some extent, it also creates a self fulfilling prophesy.
you take 2 decent districts, SD-A people say good things about, the other SD-B they deride as trashy or whatever people try to move to SD-A vs SD-B, prices go up in SD-A, more well off and education focused people move into SD-A district. Parents push their kids more, more tutors etc bc more money and more involvement, test scores go up.
meanwhile SD-B is fighting a stigma of sorts and prices aren't as strong as SD-A. You have less education focused people pushing to buy there, less moneyed people as well. Less tutors less involvement and eventually pushing quality and results down.
This is all academic clean examples, however I do feel some of this happens with LI school districts. Its a tough sell to go against the grain and even if you want to, by the time your kids are school age things change.
I generally don't subscribe to the groupthink that seems to be so prevalent in our world (and especially so when buying a house on LI )and try and evaluate things myself independently of other people opinions... however, resale value on homes for the most part is driven by this groupthink, so it does need to be taken into account.
Very well said .
"Great schools" stats and test scores don't tell the whole story at all. The best way is to talk to people (teachers, parents, school workers) with FIRST HAND knowledge of the school, not "my sisters's coworker's cousin" type of thing.
If you are looking for questions to ask about special education programs - especially if you don't have children and are planning to. In MOST school districts on LI your child will be fine if they don't have special needs, you will get out of it what you put into it. Things get hairy if your child needs special services - ask if special education is in assigned school, other in district school, out of district ? Will they give you a problem if you feel you child will be better off in a special setting and they don't (or you feel your child will do better in assigned school with services and they don't) , are there Integrated classes, self-contained classed , etc..
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| Posted 10/12/17 4:02 PM |
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PennyCat
Just call me mommy :)
Member since 7/08 19084 total posts
Name:
Jib
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Re: School districts 101
It was important to me to find a community that's diverse. I don't want my child going to school in a 98% white, all affluent area. That's not a true depiction of the world. We negated certain places for this reason alone. I get that not all people will agree, as I do know someone who specifically sought out towns that were ranked very poorly for school diversity. Ultimately, that will come down to preference.
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| Posted 10/12/17 5:23 PM |
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Mago
LIF Infant
Member since 5/14 233 total posts
Name:
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Re: School districts 101
Thanks for all the info! It's very fristrating that you can't rely on sites like greatschools.org to provide accurate information. Since we're not in the school system yet we don't know what we want exactly yet in terms of district size or specific programs or extracurriculars, etc. We just know we want a good district with a strong academic program but that also offers a strong special education program should that need ever arise in the future, and that has a high rate of students go on to a 4 year college. The problem is trying to find such a district.
Mommy2be716 - you are right it is eye-opening that a wealthy district wouldn't have the best schools as that is what most would assume go hand in hand, especially given the amount of taxes being paid!
I appreciate all info as we are very new to this process! Thanks!
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| Posted 10/12/17 10:49 PM |
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CSK
LIF Adolescent
Member since 9/11 892 total posts
Name:
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Re: School districts 101
Posted by Mago
Thanks for all the info! It's very fristrating that you can't rely on sites like greatschools.org to provide accurate information. Since we're not in the school system yet we don't know what we want exactly yet in terms of district size or specific programs or extracurriculars, etc. We just know we want a good district with a strong academic program but that also offers a strong special education program should that need ever arise in the future, and that has a high rate of students go on to a 4 year college. The problem is trying to find such a district.
Mommy2be716 - you are right it is eye-opening that a wealthy district wouldn't have the best schools as that is what most would assume go hand in hand, especially given the amount of taxes being paid!
I appreciate all info as we are very new to this process! Thanks!
I'm not saying that the greatschools has inaccurate info, ie, the rate of students going onto 4 year institutions or diversity statistics, or regents diploma statistics.
What i am saying is that the overall ratings are flawed. Similar to if you go to buy a car and go to Ronsumer Reports vs going to Car and Driver magazine. The weighting that each publication puts on certain aspects of a car are different. Car and Driver will rate a Volkswagen GTI as the best small sporty car, Consumer reports will rate it lower b/c even though its a great car to drive, it has terrible reliability history. Consumer Reports will recommend the Toyota Corolla which is boring, drive OK but is very reliable.
I'm a car guy, I'll read what consumer reports says about the cars and take into account the reliability data that they collect, however for an ultimate decision on a car, I won't be taking their overall recommendation.
I think there is a definite correlation between wealth and SD quality. However, it isn't a hard and fast rule. There are anomalies where you have pockets of wealth or even middle class when the SD is of lower quality.
At the very high end, the kids just don't all go to public school.
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| Posted 10/13/17 9:18 AM |
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Mago
LIF Infant
Member since 5/14 233 total posts
Name:
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Re: School districts 101
Posted by CSK
Posted by Mago
Thanks for all the info! It's very fristrating that you can't rely on sites like greatschools.org to provide accurate information. Since we're not in the school system yet we don't know what we want exactly yet in terms of district size or specific programs or extracurriculars, etc. We just know we want a good district with a strong academic program but that also offers a strong special education program should that need ever arise in the future, and that has a high rate of students go on to a 4 year college. The problem is trying to find such a district.
Mommy2be716 - you are right it is eye-opening that a wealthy district wouldn't have the best schools as that is what most would assume go hand in hand, especially given the amount of taxes being paid!
I appreciate all info as we are very new to this process! Thanks!
I'm not saying that the greatschools has inaccurate info, ie, the rate of students going onto 4 year institutions or diversity statistics, or regents diploma statistics.
What i am saying is that the overall ratings are flawed. Similar to if you go to buy a car and go to Ronsumer Reports vs going to Car and Driver magazine. The weighting that each publication puts on certain aspects of a car are different. Car and Driver will rate a Volkswagen GTI as the best small sporty car, Consumer reports will rate it lower b/c even though its a great car to drive, it has terrible reliability history. Consumer Reports will recommend the Toyota Corolla which is boring, drive OK but is very reliable.
I'm a car guy, I'll read what consumer reports says about the cars and take into account the reliability data that they collect, however for an ultimate decision on a car, I won't be taking their overall recommendation.
I think there is a definite correlation between wealth and SD quality. However, it isn't a hard and fast rule. There are anomalies where you have pockets of wealth or even middle class when the SD is of lower quality.
At the very high end, the kids just don't all go to public school.
Thanks for this perspctive! There's definitely a lot to consider.
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| Posted 10/13/17 9:55 AM |
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