First, I need to apologize for not being here in soooo long. I have responded to a few posts in the past month but not many. I hope everyone is well!

You guys are my sounding board and I need the expert advice. We just bought a new house on Saturday. It was lightening fast, I'm still blinking...OMGOODNESS
I will miss my house and neighbors but this house allows my husband to have a 10 minute commute instead of an hour and a half. We are moving from a good city with excellent school, to another great city with so-so schools. The neighborhood school at my new home only rates a 5 at greatschools.net and it is single track, so year round. I am nervous because I want my children to have the best education but with house prices it gets expensive to go the private route.I really want to utilize the school in our neighborhood because I believe it allows for great play dates and such for my son, but the scores are much lower then his school now. I'm sure lots of you have been in my shoes,any advice would be appreciated.
*On the upside I get to quit my job and concentrate on my schooling now. So, once again I will be a stay-at-home mom which my kids have begged for since last year...YEAH

By Mrsheidi on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 07:07 am:

Being a teacher myself, it's not necessarily the teachers or the schools...it's mostly the parenting. You'll just have to be more actively involved and they'll be fine. I would even volunteer in the school for a few hours every week so you know exactly when tests are, etc. ;-)
And, YEAH!!! Being a SAHM is going to be great too!!!

By Tarable on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 08:07 am:

I totally agree with Heidi, the more parents are involved with schools the better they seem to rate. I would just try to get involved with the school and possibly volunteer a few times a week or something. Good luck and I totally envy you for being able to stay home. I know my kids would love it if I didn't have to work.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 08:58 am:

I agree.. The girls school doesn't have a very high ranking but they are working at the same level as the school they moved from in October, which just happens to be one of the highest ranked in the state. My kids are still solid A-B students and their education doesn't seem to be effected by the low rankings..

I agree, start out active in their education at this new school and your child will do nothing but excel..

Low rankings are often generated because of a failure to find a level playing ground in the system. There is a break down between the parents, teachers and the children.