I've been thinking about this a lot lately. We recently moved away from an area with high-scoring public schools (test scores, that is). But, honestly, I wouldn't want to send my kids to those schools. They were either intense, high pressure schools (think ultra rich, kids of diplomats, very high powered parents) or just boring, high achieving schools. I grew up in the area and went to a *top* high school - it was big, very traditional (a very set curriculum, very few electives, just listen and take notes, etc.) and I didn't enjoy it at all. Now we live in an area (a different state - 1000 miles away) with a wonderful school system that really nurtures it's students, encourages creative thought and collaborative learning, takes interesting class trips, has zero tolerance for bullying, etc.Â
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While I love this area, our families are back in the old area and we may end up there again in a couple of years. But now that I've seen the schools in this area I am on a quest. How do you find schools that are really, truly, top notch. Not necessarily the best scoring schools, but the ones that encourage and support kids and make learning fun? Maybe I just stumbled on an incredibly ideal school system, but I'm hoping this exists elsewhere and I'm just wondering if anyone knows how to find it? All the school comparison sites just use test scores and teacher/student ratio, etc.
