Schools

[SmallTown]

As we try to find out where to build our new house, one of our biggest concerns are the schools. I checked out http://www.psk12.com/rating/threeRs....=High&county=0

to see how things looked.. Not good.. At least when it comes to high schools. Looks like Town Creek elementary ranks pretty high, but then there is a drop off. Over all, St. Marys county elementary schools rank about in the middle of the state schools.. Calvert is up at number 3 and charles closer to the bottom at 17.

As for middle schools, calvert ranks high again at 5, Charles at 10, and St. Mary's at 17.

As for high schools, again Calvert ranks high at 5, St. Marys is pretty low at 19, and charles next to the lowest at 23.

Sometimes people blame money (or lack there of) in a community for the quality of the schools ( other would argue just the reverse argument).. But Great Mills High ranks higher than chopticon, but Great Mills has a higher percentage of students receiving free/reduced lunches (20% for Great Mills, 7.2% for Chopticon). Overall, seems like the kids in St. Marys get off to a good start, but then things start going down hill. Being a newbie to the area, why is it that calvert ranks so much higher? Do they pay there teachers more? Do they pull from a larger teacher talent pool that includes annapolis? Are the parents there more active in their child's education?

Seems that St. Marys ranks a little lower than others in the number of kids who go to college after graduating. I think this number is a bit scewed since many feel the presence of the military base and choose the armed forces over college, or serve there time then go to college.. Perhaps they should include that in their statistics as well.

But back to the statistics, what could be done to get our schools ranked higher?

[Sharon]

Homeschool if you want them to get a good education.

[Tonio]

Some thoughts:

Calvert pays their teachers and supervisors more. So many of the better educators in St. Mary's and Charles eventually migrate to Calvert. The county can afford to do this partly because of the property taxes from Calvert Cliffs, and partly because the housing in northern Calvert is some of the most expensive in all of Southern Maryland.

I've noticed that the school administration in St. Mary's plays favorites. Leonardtown HS has been treated as the flagship school for as long as I can remember. Not coincidentally, this is where a lot of the teachers and administrators send their own kids.

I would like to see a comparison of the central office staffs in each of the counties. The school systems in the larger counties are saddled with huge bureaucracies that sap money and attention from the classrooms.

[Azura]

Originally posted by Sharon
Homeschool if you want them to get a good education.

That's a great idea for people who can afford to stay home and do it. Unfortunatley some of us have to work all day to keep the roof over our childrens heads and we are left with no alternative but to send our children to public school.

SO i think it's a valid question. WHat can we do to improve the scools.

There is the obvious, small things that parents can do such a being involved and talking to teachers and administrators on a regular basis....

[SmallTown]

Originally posted by Sharon
Homeschool if you want them to get a good education.

I've never been a big fan of homeschooling. I have seen success stories, and I have seen complete failures. For the simple fact that one person (or two) can not give their children a fully well-rounded education. There is a reason that teachers normally only teach one or two subjects.. It is tough to be really knowledgeable about many different things, and you can not help but put focus on the things you know best.

For instance, if I were to homeschool my children I would lean more towards science and math because it is what I am good at. If my wife were to homeschool, she would stress Literature and writing because that is what she is good at. And those are only two sides, with so much stuff in between.

Plus in schools, you get different view points on things. In history, you may have one teacher is a real civil war buff so you get an indepth education on that particular war. The following year your teacher is a major colonial period buff so the teacher may put more energy and focus on that. The same goes for just about every other subject. You learn from the Teachers' different life-long learnings in their particular field of interest. If it were a matter of just reading right from a textbook and taking exams, then you wouldn't see such differences in the school system ratings.

I know spanish, my wife knows french. What if my child wants to learn german? japanese? chinese? You're stuck listening to translation tapes which really isn't very helpful.

I just love the interactions of a school. The different view points (even those that may be opposite of my own). The competive nature of peers to keep pushing you to do better and better.

To a lesser extent, the same problems arise with private schools since they normally have a slant on things (such as religion). I am a huge advocate of the public school systems. Partly because of the many success stories, and probably due to the fact that my wife comes from a long line of teachers :)

[Sharon]

Keep making excuses, I always get a kick out of them.

[Azura]

Originally posted by Sharon
Keep making excuses, I always get a kick out of them.

Excuses for what? Can you elaborate a little bit on that one?

[Tonio]

My wife and I are considering homeschooling. From the people we've met and the materials we've seen, there are many families who homeschool for religious reasons. We're uncomfortable with some of the ideology we've heard--"Public schools are deliberately trying to turn children away from God" and so forth.

Even some of the local Christian schools espouse this ideology. One of these schools uses Bob Jones University curricula. Our sister-in-law is black, and we don't want to send our children to a school that may teach that interracial marriages are evil.

[Sharon]

Read thru the thread...not enought money, not enough time, not knowledgeable enough, etc... Do you think your child is going to learn chinese in the public school? Granted, it's not for everyone, especially a single parent, although some do it. Put your time and energy into talking to school teachers and administrators, that'll fix it. BTDT
I bow out gracefully from this thread so you guys can fix public edu. without my distractions. Best of luck to you.

[SmallTown]

I think the anti-interracial stuff is mostly further south. Was it just this past year when one of the schools first allowed interracial couples to go to prom? Give them credit for FINALLY changing that.. Just took awhile.

That is one of the things I enjoyed about going to public schools and then to a large university. Getting to meet people from all over the world, different religious backgrounds, different cultures all together. You can really learn a lot about yourself by talking to others who come from much different backgrounds than yourself. Life is about learning, take in as much as you can.