Prob been asked, but about choosing schools..

Mary E. Hill wrote:

I'm actually familiar with quite a few on my list, so I do have a
feel for them. We are Catholic, but the eight on my list are all
Catholic I want to know if the students leaving these schools are
well-prepared for high school performance. I left a Catholic grade
school and was not at all prepared for high school. Needless to say,
that one is not on my list!

Thanks!

Perhaps you could start on the other end. Ask the local highschools if kids
from school x seem to be prepared.

--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)

"Nikki" wrote in message
...
Mary E. Hill wrote:

I'm actually familiar with quite a few on my list, so I do have a
feel for them. We are Catholic, but the eight on my list are all
Catholic I want to know if the students leaving these schools are
well-prepared for high school performance. I left a Catholic grade
school and was not at all prepared for high school. Needless to say,
that one is not on my list!

Thanks!

Perhaps you could start on the other end. Ask the local highschools if
kids
from school x seem to be prepared.

--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)


Sometimes the obvious is the hardest to see - GREAT idea!! Thanks

Mary

lizzard woman wrote:
"Hillary Israeli" wrote in message
...

In js97b.447$oa1.78@pd7tw2no,
lizzard woman wrote:


*You have *8* private grade schools near you??? Let me guess... you live

in

*either Florida, Mississippi, or Louisiana, si?

Why those states? I'm thinking of private K-12 schools near me...
off the top of my head, within a 20 mile radius...:

1. the one on Stenton Avenue I can't remember the name of right now
2. Germantown Friends
3. Germantown Academy
4. Penn Charter
5. Shipley
6. The Haverford School
7. Baldwin
8. Agnes Irwin
9. Episcopal Academy
10. Chestnut Hill Academy
11. Friends Select


Welll I'm not sure I'd classify a 20 mile radius as "near". I'd say a 20
minute (tops) drive is "near". Maybe that's the issue.


I'm sure there are more, though... and I do not live in Florida,
Mississippi, or Louisiana!! So I'm just wondering why you'd say that.


Based on Florida alone, I think there is a proliferation of private schools
in states which perennially "own" the basement in standardized test scores.
The thinking is that people will want an alternative to public school. Last
I checked (a few years ago at this point), only MI and LA were worse than
Florida. FLA has no state income tax so the test scores should come as no
surprise to anyone.

--
sharon, momma to savannah and willow (11/11/94)



You mean Georgia wasn't? I'm amazed. However, I live in Atlanta and
can think of only maybe 4 private schools that are nearby (intown
Atlanta traffic is such a PITA that a 20-minute drive means the school
could be, at most, 10 miles from my home.)

Clisby

x-no-archive:yes
"lizzard woman" wrote:

"Hillary Israeli" wrote in message
...
In js97b.447$oa1.78@pd7tw2no,
lizzard woman wrote:

*You have *8* private grade schools near you??? Let me guess... you live
in
*either Florida, Mississippi, or Louisiana, si?

Why those states? I'm thinking of private K-12 schools near me...
off the top of my head, within a 20 mile radius...:

1. the one on Stenton Avenue I can't remember the name of right now
2. Germantown Friends
3. Germantown Academy
4. Penn Charter
5. Shipley
6. The Haverford School
7. Baldwin
8. Agnes Irwin
9. Episcopal Academy
10. Chestnut Hill Academy
11. Friends Select

Philadelphia?

Welll I'm not sure I'd classify a 20 mile radius as "near". I'd say a 20
minute (tops) drive is "near". Maybe that's the issue.

I'm sure there are more, though... and I do not live in Florida,
Mississippi, or Louisiana!! So I'm just wondering why you'd say that.

In Maryland, the prevailing culture is that people go to private
school. I didn't because my dad was from Colorado and didn't believe
in it. I'm sure there are other places like that. But what *I* got
from 8 schools within 20 minutes was that she lived in an affluent
urban area, not in any particular section of the country.

Because when we live in the country, there just AREN'T private schools
or even public schools around. When we lived in RI, there was one
public elementary school and that was it. The middle school was more
than 20 minutes by car, and the only pre-school I could find was in
the next town and also more than 20 minutes away. Here in this county
there are only 3 public high schools, one parochial high school.
There weren't any pre-schools anywhere close to us here either.


Based on Florida alone, I think there is a proliferation of private schools
in states which perennially "own" the basement in standardized test scores.
The thinking is that people will want an alternative to public school. Last
I checked (a few years ago at this point), only MI and LA were worse than
Florida. FLA has no state income tax so the test scores should come as no
surprise to anyone.

grandma Rosalie

Rosalie B. wrote:



Because when we live in the country, there just AREN'T private schools
or even public schools around. When we lived in RI, there was one
public elementary school and that was it. The middle school was more
than 20 minutes by car, and the only pre-school I could find was in
the next town and also more than 20 minutes away. Here in this county
there are only 3 public high schools, one parochial high school.
There weren't any pre-schools anywhere close to us here either.



Excluding pre-schools- there is one Montessori school near me, Two
Catholic high schools, one Lutheran high school, one independent
Christian day school, two Lutheran elementary schools and about 6
Ctaholic elementary schools. If I wasn't happy with the public schools,
there are no non-religious high schools within reasonable driving
distance.

Marion Baumgarten

Have you tried talking to other parents? What going to the churches that the
private schools are part of? Perhaps you can talk to some of the parents
there.

I knew four kids from Toledo. They were all delightful kids who had very
good manners. They went to Catholic schools. However, I am sure the same is
true for those who go to Montessori schools or to Friends schools too.

I don't care if your kids get the best imaginable education at school X (and
test scores are not that good of an indicator). If your kids are not happy,
what's the point? While academic accomplishments are a very important part
of school, it is not the only thing that is important.

Jeff
"Mary E. Hill" wrote in message
...
Sometimes they may be alright, but not in Toledo, Ohio where we are


"Jeff" wrote in message
...
You could ask the schools. And search the web for the schools (e.g., try
google with the name of the school and the town in which you live).

Also, talk to family and friends about the schools. Have you considered
sending your son to public schools? Sometimes they are better than
private
schools.

Jeff

"Mary E" wrote in message
...
Where do I go for statistics about schools in my area? I've got 8
private
grade schools (son will be starting kindergarten next year) that would
work
for me as far as location and reputation (that I know of) is
concerned.
I
also know student to teacher ratio and enrollment figures.

What I need to know is how the students perform. How does the
teaching
stack up against other schools locally and nationally?

Is there any place I can get this information for private schools?

Thanks a bunch - this is SO important!

Mary

"lizzard woman" wrote in message news:js97b.447$oa1.78@pd7tw2no...
"Mary E" wrote in message
...
Where do I go for statistics about schools in my area? I've got 8 private
grade schools (son will be starting kindergarten next year) that would
work
for me as far as location and reputation (that I know of) is concerned. I
also know student to teacher ratio and enrollment figures.

You have *8* private grade schools near you??? Let me guess... you live in
either Florida, Mississippi, or Louisiana, si?


Why do you say that? I don't live within 2000 miles of any of those
states and have WAY more than 8 private schools in my immediate area.
In fact, I have 5 JEWISH day schools to choose from within 10 miles of
my home. I think most areas of the US have plenty of private schools
to choose from. I know when we were in Boston, I think there were more
private than public schools, or it sure seemed like that between the
parochial, prep, and regular private schools.

What I need to know is how the students perform. How does the teaching
stack up against other schools locally and nationally?

I have a small amount of experience with private school in Puerto Rico but
that is a different world is oh so many ways. That school published the
college acceptances but I have never seen them publish results form
standardized test scores.

I don't know about Puerto Rico, but every private school I'm familiar
with does publish it's yearly ERB scores, the standardized tests that
private schools generally use.

I would imagine that a provate school should be
very willing to show you the average, median, etc. test scores from their
students on standardzed tests which you can then compare to published scores
for your public school district, city, state, and country.

Is there any place I can get this information for private schools?

There are private/independant school associations that schools belong
to. Find out what private schools are in your area, then check out
their web sites and see with whom they're associated, and start your
comparison from there. I thought there was the equivalent of
greatschools.com for private schools, but I'm not sure what the link
is.

One thing I want to mention. Private OFTEN does not mean better. My
children have attended 3 different private schools are were poorly
served by them all. Private schools do get to cull from a homogeneus
crowd, and they often will not tolerate any learning differences. If
your child is exceptionally bright or has an LD, private may not be
the way to go.

Marjorie

Thanks a bunch - this is SO important!

Good luck.

(Hillary Israeli) wrote in message ...
In js97b.447$oa1.78@pd7tw2no,
lizzard woman wrote:

*"Mary E" wrote in message
...
* Where do I go for statistics about schools in my area? I've got 8 private
* grade schools (son will be starting kindergarten next year) that would
*work
* for me as far as location and reputation (that I know of) is concerned. I
* also know student to teacher ratio and enrollment figures.
*
*You have *8* private grade schools near you??? Let me guess... you live in
*either Florida, Mississippi, or Louisiana, si?

Why those states? I'm thinking of private K-12 schools near me...
off the top of my head, within a 20 mile radius...:

1. the one on Stenton Avenue I can't remember the name of right now
2. Germantown Friends
3. Germantown Academy
4. Penn Charter
5. Shipley
6. The Haverford School
7. Baldwin
8. Agnes Irwin
9. Episcopal Academy
10. Chestnut Hill Academy
11. Friends Select

Gosh, I know where you live! :-) My mother went to Germantown Friends
(she was born in Germantown), my college roomate went to Shipley, my
brother went to the the Haverford, and a friend of mine taught at
Friends Select. :-) Cheese steak, anyone? :-)

Marjorie

I'm sure there are more, though... and I do not live in Florida,
Mississippi, or Louisiana!! So I'm just wondering why you'd say that.

"chiam margalit" wrote in message
om...
(snip)
One thing I want to mention. Private OFTEN does not mean better. My
children have attended 3 different private schools are were poorly
served by them all. Private schools do get to cull from a homogeneus
crowd, and they often will not tolerate any learning differences. If
your child is exceptionally bright or has an LD, private may not be
the way to go.

Totally agree. Private isn't better even with "average" kids in Puerto Rico
at least. Their school confused "college prep" with "lots of homework".
They didn't seem to understand that these were different concepts.

--
sharon, momma to savannah and willow (11/11/94)

In mon7b.11888$J6.5431@pd7tw3no,
lizzard woman wrote:

*"Hillary Israeli" wrote in message
...
* In js97b.447$oa1.78@pd7tw2no,
* lizzard woman wrote:
*
* *You have *8* private grade schools near you??? Let me guess... you live
*in
* *either Florida, Mississippi, or Louisiana, si?
*
* Why those states? I'm thinking of private K-12 schools near me...
* off the top of my head, within a 20 mile radius...:
*
* 1. the one on Stenton Avenue I can't remember the name of right now

10 to 15 minutes away.

* 2. Germantown Friends

Not exactly sure of driving time.

* 3. Germantown Academy

10 to 15 minutes away.

* 4. Penn Charter

15 minutes away, 20 in bad traffic.

* 5. Shipley

15 minutes away, 20 in bad traffic.

* 6. The Haverford School

15 minutes away, 20 in bad traffic

* 7. Baldwin

15 minutes.

* 8. Agnes Irwin

15 minutes.

* 9. Episcopal Academy

20 minutes.

* 10. Chestnut Hill Academy

8 or 9 minutes.

* 11. Friends Select

Not sure of driving time.

*
*Welll I'm not sure I'd classify a 20 mile radius as "near". I'd say a 20
*minute (tops) drive is "near". Maybe that's the issue.

See above.

h.
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
not-so-newly minted veterinarian-at-large