is anyone pleased with public school? - Page 2

[Katana]

I'm happy with our public school. Ds is going to the same grade school that my younger brother attended, so I was somewhat familiar with what to expect.

The parents are all very involved here, it's a smaller school (15-20 kids per class), and the teachers really care about what goes on. The services offered are exceptional (both dd and ds are in speech). They have a great music and art program as well as really good math and science options.

Ds is in K, and is doing the same things academically as his cousin, who is in an expensive private school. He's absolutely blossoming and he loves school.

I'm very relieved, actually, because ps was our only option.

[SeekingSimplicity]

I am happy with our public school too. My son is in first grade and my daughter is in second grade. Our school utilizes a reading program called Success for All (SFA). The program groups children in the same reading level, no matter what grade, in a classroom for 90 minutes each day. I think this program is great and it has encouraged my children to challenge themselves in reading instead of being stuck at the same level as other children in their grade.

We were originally a homeschooling family but my daughter wanted to try public school. I was hesitant at first but we decided to give it a try to see if she would be happy. She enjoys school and is thriving academically and socially. Public school is working very well for my family right now but I let my children know that if they become unhappy we can homeschool.

[philomom]

We did school the way folks used to. We moved into the very best school neighborhood in our area. Mind you, sometimes I feel a little tough about my big mortgage payments , but it's been worth it.

Being at the most enriched and wealthy public school in the area, means that my kids have a foreign language, a real music teacher and real art teacher and even a full-time clinic nurse. My kids always have good textbooks, computers in the school and a fabulous school library. I never have to worry about any lack of field trips, special events or great after school activities like a math club, chess club and Spanish club. Also the class size is reasonable, less than 20 kids for most classrooms.

The down side is that a lot of the kids are spoiled. At least we have great diversity from the local college (Emory) and the CDC.

It hasn't been perfect, but it works for us. Good luck on your choice.

[DebraStorm]

We are quite pleased with ps. But I feel like we have the best of both worlds, so to speak.

I did homeschool my son over the summer with full intentions not to send him to ps. But we ended up deciding to give ps a try since there aren't any charter or Waldorf schools here. We looked into sending him to a Catholic private school but that is just way too expensive & we definately can not afford it.

We then heard about a program at B's school that intrigued us. It is a multi-age classroom (it's called K-1 & K-2) that is more like a Waldorf setting & they practice child-led learning. We checked it out, spoke with past students & their parents, teachers from this school as well as others. And we really liked it. With his class, it is a smaller setting. Half the class is kindergartners & the other half is first graders. They pair up a kinder kid with a 1st grader to sortof be their buddy/mentor, etc. At the beginning of the year they test each child to see what level they are at for different subjects. If the child is reading on a 2nd grade level, then they get 2nd grade work, etc. They base each individual child's school & homework on those levels. Which is more work for the teacher but it is great for the kids. The curriculum is great! They mostly use A Beka & Reading Rods. I forget what else they use. Another thing we liked is that B will stay in the same class for 2 years. So next year, he'll become an "oldie" & will welcome in the new kindergartners & be one of their mentors. Then when he goes to 2nd grade, he'll move into the K-2 class which is 2nd & 3rd graders & again same senerio....he'll be there for 2 years, etc. It really is a great program & he loves it!

B tends to learn better with others. And we just didn't feel like he was giving 100% when we were homeschooling. But since he has been in the K-1 class, he is excelling at everything. The only thing he needs to work on is his handwriting.

We do continue to work with him on the weekends & we will follow a curriculum during the summers to continue to inforce what he has already learned in school. His teacher is great & is really good about letting us know what the lesson plans are & we receive a lot of materials from other teachers. I guess it does help that I am a substitute teacher & have that personal relationship with all the teachers!

I couldn't have asked for a better opportunity! Good luck!

[~ATenthMuse~]

Ds was in two wonderful public elementary schools for 1st and 2nd grade. 1st was in Washington, and 2nd in Ohio.

Unfortunately, going to public school in New Orleans is not an option AT ALL. There are like 3 good elem. schools. Charter schools, I believe. One that we considered is a Montessori school. The only problem is that you have to get the application in for the school year the December before. We weren't sure we would be moving here at that point and didn't get it in.

So we ended up choosing a small, (and very diverse, by New Orleans standards) catholic school. There are around 230 kids. Ds loves it! Which is the reason we won't be moving him anytime soon. Because of the military moves, he's been in a few schools. We've decided that he won't switch until he gets ready for middle school, when some of the other kids will be leaving , too. At that point we're looking at leaving here anyway. And when we do move I WILL DEFINITELY be considering public school again. IMNSHO, the WA and OH public schools ds went to were equivelant(sp?) to a lot of the private (catholic) schools in this area.

[missvee]

I really love the school my son goes to in Denver. He's in a multi aged class, with a lot of child led learning, which is fantastic. I had everything ready to homeschool him, but after I read about some of DPS's programs I thought I'd give it a shot, and have been really happy I did.

[MamaBug]

I love our public school. One of the reasons we moved here was the school. The class size is very small ds had 8 kids in his K class and now has only 14 in 1st grade. My other ds who will be in K next year will have even less then 8. There are many so many wonderful things about the school: great principal that stays in touch with all the parents, my ds is learing French in 1st grade, will be able to take piano lessons in 4th, great robotics class, great playground, very involved caring staff who actually like parental involvement.....the list is endless.

Good luck, I hope that you are able to find a school that you love as much as we love ours

[cvsprague]

I am a special education teacher and have been teaching middle school students with behavior disorders for 10 years. My husband has been an elementary school custodian for 5 years. Our 4 1/2 year old son goes to preschool in a public school program. Throughout my career I have worked in 2 different schools, one small (one class for each grade level) and one larger (2-3 classes for each grade level). I've worked with exceptional teachers and "not so exceptional" teachers at both facilities. However, both my husband and I feel like we work in a good district with (mostly) good people who care very much about kids and education. Our son is very happy at his school and his teacher is a wonderful woman who seems to have been created specifically to teach young children.

I believe that as long as the parent, teacher and child are doing their part to create a positive learning environment, then any environment (public, private or home school) can work. Good luck with your decision!

[paganmommy]

I can deal with it

I have wanted to homeschool all of my kids life but both me and hubby really did have to work. My husband is a teacher so that was a weird one for us too. We moved upstate and I do like the school. It is true what someone said, it is different with every teacher and every grade but for the most part I use the bad teachers as examples of how I don't want my kids to be. They behave but they also know respect is earned and if an adult treats them disrespectfully then we know about it. If you are involved and you listen to your kids then public school can give you lots to work with in terms of dealing with life problems. I have a feeling you will or you wouldn't be putting up this post. Blessed Be, Nancy

[chiromamma]

My kids are in school for the first time. We homeschooled and for a variety of reasons took some time off.
We love our public school. It's Waldorf inspired but with out the dogma and rigidity of the local private Waldorf schools.
My kids are learning how to work effectively in groups, conflict resolution and how to be leaders. Most importantly they are learning that other peoples' needs are as important as their own.
We have a glorious parent community into which I was immediately welcomed . We'll return to homeschooling when my oldest reaches middle school (one more year) but for now, this is a really good place for us.
Good luck there are some really good ones!

[Snow]

Simple equation.
The more you put into it, the more you get out of it. In other words, volunteer as much as possible.

We love the Minneapolis public schools, ymmv.

[chiromamma]

Yup. I agree. DH and I are at the school alot.
We have had both teachers over for dinner. I've gone hiking with one. When we decided to do school we did it with the attitude of expanding our village.
We've been blessed with teachers who have become our friends and partners in raising our children.

~Tracy

[Bahesmama]

Thanks for everyone posting such positive things about their schools! I'm househunting right now in the Portland area and have been using the greatschools website for info on schools and reading parents' comments. I had a great elementary school experience in public school and really didn't want to send my children to private school right away. We'd rather save our money for college! Luckily, here there seems to be many good schools to choose from. We are looking at the Beaverton area, since my husband works here and are looking at cohousing here. Both cohousing communities (Trillium Hollow and Cascadia Commons) have well-rated elementary schools and most of the cohousing members send their kids to them. I know with the money I save I can afford to pay for my children to participate in other activities like the Northwest Children's Theater and the karate classes my dd craves!

[rowantree]

Originally Posted by love2all

I am an unschooler whose kids wanted to go to school-
i will finally admit that I am thrilled with it- they attened a public charter school

totally ditto!!