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#31
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Character of a growing girl (middle school question)
Kevin Karplus wrote:
It depends a lot what you mean by "prestigious" and "decent". There is a very nice article in a recent issue of Academe by Renny Christopher http://www.aaup.org/publications/Aca...a/03jachri.htm claiming that working-class kids are getting short-changed in their university education because of lower quality education in the California State (CSU) schools contrasted to the University of California (UC) system (she has taught in both). I think that for most people, the CSU system is considered "decent" and UC is "prestigious". The UC school system is roughly at the same level as University of Washington, Seattle---I'm not familiar enough with the Washington colleges to know what the equivalents are of the CSU system. Thanks for the link and the information. I'd guess that UW and WSU are top-tier schools, while WWU, EWU, and CWU are not. On the other hand, my sister went to WWU and was happy with it...though when she went to grad school, she went to UW. At that time, though, she was living and working locally. If your standards are higher (that almost any research university is "decent" and Stanford or UC Berkeley is prestigious), the question becomes quite a different one. Thanks for your thoughts on this. No matter what, my daughter won't be going to an Ivy League school unless she gets some sort of amazing scholarship. It does occur to me, though, that if she went to UW and was willing to live at home, the overall cost would be much less. I hope not to have to face this problem with my son---we've been saving for college for him since he was born, and hope to be able to afford to send him to whatever schools or colleges best fit his needs and abilities. We've been saving for college, but not with the thought in mind of sending The Kid to private school or anything other than an in-state public university. For elementary school so far we have stuck with public schools (taking full advantage of a strong bilingual program to get him intensive education in Spanish). When the bilingual program ends after 3rd grade, we may move him to a private school for a few years, since the GATE program is practically non-existent in the public schools here. For middle school and high school, we will probably try to get him into a local charter school that has very high academic standards. Unfortunately, there is a lottery to get into the charter school (only room for 50 students per year), so luck may affect our choices. The charter school sounds great. I hope that works out for you. Thanks for your well-thought-out response. You have me thinking...which is always a good thing. beeswing |
#32
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Character of a growing girl (middle school question)
"Robyn Kozierok" wrote in message
... I think our private school is completely different from the one(s) you are considering, and is indeed a pretty "alternative" model for a school, but I like talking about it, so I'll take your opening anyhow. Thanks for letting me hear about your school. It sounds great. beeswing |
#33
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Character of a growing girl (middle school question)
2 situations I've heard of myself:
1) My SIL's niece, who ended up with low self-esteem issues when she was in a big, fairly weathly suburban public school...she transferred to a small private school (actually, in the same wealthy suburb, but with enrollment from other towns) and she really came out of her shell. 2) My cousin's stepdaughter, who went to a Private Catholic Junior High, and felt like she was taunted mercilessly about her weight, etc... She transferred to a larg Public High School and developed a huge crowd of friends and was incredibly happy. So I guess you need to know both the school and the child. Some private schools are very "nurturing," and some allow much more cliqueishness and abuse than a public school would ever tolerate. Some kids need to be a small fish in a big pond to reach their potential; some need a small pond to feel safe enough to grow. |
#34
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Character of a growing girl (middle school question)
beeswing wrote:
Jeanne wrote: I'm not sure I would use early graduation as an indicator of successful, but I'm not a fan of pushing students through school as fast as possible. They don't graduate early, neccessarily (I don't know that they do or don't, really, but that wasn't what we were being told). What I mean is that all of this year's graduating class is working two or more years above "grade level." The only caveat I see is that the kids are required to be at grade level or above to get into the school, so I don't know if it's chicken or egg. Oh. I see. I'm beginning to think private schools have to say the kids are two years above grade level - my daughter's school says the same thing. Again, I'm not sure this is good. In first grade, she's learning multiplication along with addition - holding off subtraction until later. So yeah, in some ways, she's two years ahead. By the way, what did you decide to do for graduate school? Spend the extra money for a number one school, or go to what you called a "second-tier school"? Option Number 3. The one of the top schools (for City Planning), UC Berkeley, was the one I thought I would attend if I got in. One of my old professors would be my adviser if I went there. Then, I got in. Unfortunately, they could only guarantee one semester worth of aid and the cost of living was very high. I also got into U. of FL in Gainesville, definitely second-tier but I would be queen. Lots of money, lots of resources and my old adviser from a previous degree program was department chair. This was scary because even though I would have lots of support, again, the program wasn't a great fit. Unexpectedly I heard that I was accepted into UNC-Chapel Hill with a one year assistantship (which turned into essentially a fellowship) working with a very well respected faculty member. Low cost of living, as well as one of the top schools. So, I ended up at UNC. Before I heard from UNC, I was strongly leaning toward Florida. I wasn't thrilled with the program at Berkeley and I pretty much knew it wasn't right for me. Do you think the choice you made has made a difference, either positive or negative? Of course my choice made a difference. Suffice it to say, I'm happy where I am now in my life so it's pretty moot whether the difference is positive or negative. I never once said to myself (even when I knew I wasn't going to finish), "gee, I wish I went to..." so I guess I made the right choice. I think you just need to make the decision you feel is best for your child and you. Jeanne |
#35
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Character of a growing girl (middle school question)
Scott wrote:
LFortier wrote: I spent years saying how glad I was I didn't have to relive the teen years until it finally dawned on me that a parent relives them through children. Yes. But I think it's important to recognize that your daughter or son may or may not react to things the same way you did. So you may relive them, but you're reliving something that is different from what your child is living. Scott DD 10 and DS 7.8 Oh, yes, and that's something I must constantly remind myself with the older child. We're very alike tempermentally in many ways, but I have to remind myself that she's not a carbon copy. Lesley |
#36
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Character of a growing girl (middle school question)
"Beeswing" wrote in message
... Here's why I asked the question I asked. Although the school we are considering is much better academically than our public, urban middle school, I really *am* concerned about "character" -- self-image, self-confidence, personal integrity, and the ability to steer clear of peer pressure (i.e., that my daughter be strong enough to own choices on sex, drugs, and so forth). The school we're considering is much different from the environment of our public middle school. It is an all-girls school whose mission is to train "future world leaders" -- in whatever way those future leaders might choose to run with it. Some of the parents and a few of the girls spoke at the school's open house. The parents were enthusiastic about how their daughters had grown and changed; they also talked about how engaged the kids were in the school and in education. The girls were poised, confident, well-spoken, and very positive about the school. Ah, Seattle Girls School? We were looking at it too. I have two friends with daughters there. I too had a pretty wretched time in junior high, so I am very concerned about my daughter's experience next year. She's a 5th Grader in the Bellevue public school system, and we're exploring middle schools options ourselves. There's lots of considerations -- she has some neurological quirks that make it harder for her to adapt socially and would make it more likely she will end up on the bottom of the middle school social heap. She's a bright kid, and is complaining now about how dull her current academic situation is at her existing elementary school, where she is in a gifted pull-out program. We spent some time at school conferences last week talking to our daughter's classroom teacher and her teacher for her pull-out gifted program. Both of them strongly encouraged our daughter to try to test into the district's full-day gifted program. I can see the benefits of being in this program -- if you are among other "smart" kids, you are less likely to be tortured (as I was) for doing well in the classroom. Social markers like having just the right clothes are probably less important. The school that hosts the full-day program also is the magnet school for the district for drama, another one of my daughter's interests, and she could participate in the general school's drama program as an elective. So we are going to cross our fingers on this, and hope she tests in to the full-day gifted program. Our district also has an international school, in which kids go through the international baccalaureate program as it is set up in Europe. This program is very popular, and you get in by lottery. We could also see if my daughter could get into this program as well. When we looked at private schools, well, here on the Eastside, there's only one secular middle school -- Overlake -- and it costs over $17K a year. In general, we're concerned about the costs of private school -- even SGS, one of the cheaper ones, is at 9K and climbing every year. Further, if we go to Seattle to try to find more options, nearly everyone in the household has some concerns about the time sink of commuting in to the city for middle school. I guess we ended up feeling much more positive about our public school options compared to private after looking into it in depth and talking with the teachers -- much more so than before. Maybe that should be your next step. Are you in the Seattle school system or outside of it? -- Warm Regards, Claire Petersky Home of the meditative cyclist: http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at: http://bookcrossing.com/friend/Cpetersky |
#37
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Character of a growing girl (middle school question)
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#38
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Character of a growing girl (middle school question)
"Claire Petersky" wrote in message
news:Orgvb.200127$275.745324@attbi_s53... I guess we ended up feeling much more positive about our public school options compared to private after looking into it in depth and talking with the teachers -- much more so than before. Maybe that should be your next step. It sounds like we have similar concerns as far as how the middle school goes, including the gifted issue. I tried to emailed you a nicer, longer, more detailed response, but it bounced (hmm, no such thing as "mouse-potato.com"?). I was wondering if it might bounce, but hoping it wouldn't. If you can send me a working email address, I'd really like to resend it. The upshot of it is that I've checked into the public school choices we're given, and they aren't the best. Maybe my daughter could go out of the area (but within the district). I don't *think* she can, but I haven't confirmed it. (Transportation would be a problem, though.) The quality of her middle school choices also depend on whether she can test into the upper tier gifted program. Thanks so much for your response. You touched on a lot of the same things I've been thinking about. beeswing |
#39
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Character of a growing girl (middle school question)
"H Schinske" wrote in message
... wrote: Ah, Seattle Girls School? We were looking at it too. I have two friends with daughters there. I'd love to hear about their experiences by email, if you have time. (Heck, maybe we should all get together sometime! Real life, what a concept.) I'd like to hear about their experiences as well. I'd love to talk with you all IRL, too. I've met Claire briefly; and my husband has met Helen briefly, but I haven't met Helen at all (: . It would be great to be able to simply sit down and chat with both of you together. beeswing |
#40
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Character of a growing girl (middle school question)
"H Schinske" wrote in message ... wrote: Ah, Seattle Girls School? We were looking at it too. I have two friends with daughters there. I'd love to hear about their experiences by email, if you have time. (Heck, maybe we should all get together sometime! Real life, what a concept.) I'm having a tea party on Saturday, you're welcome to come! -- Warm Regards, Claire Petersky Home of the meditative cyclist: http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at: http://bookcrossing.com/friend/Cpetersky |
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