(no subject)

[danuv]

This is Rhiannon's last year in the comfy cocoon of our local neighborhood charter school. Next year she starts high school and we've been trying to decide what we're going to do about it. I say "we" but really Thomas has pretty much dumped this all on me. We rent so we could move but here's what I'm working with.

The local public high school pretty much finished at the bottom of the list for Georgia schools which probably makes it one of the worst in the country, or at least that's its recent history.

Right now there is ONE decent Atlanta Public School high school. It used to be a magnet school and you could weasel your kid into it. They stopped that a while ago and the past couple of years people have either been moving or paying to send their kids to the next town over's school which is small and well liked. Atlanta (intown) really desperately needs another good public school.

Many of the neighborhood parents who have had kids in the charter school are now working hard to improve the school. Some of the kids who left the middle school last year are there now and the high school is actually operating out of a different school building while their usual campus is completely overhauled/rebuilt. Last year at Isadora's IEP (special ed thigie) meeting, a woman who is in some leadership position for Atlanta's special ed program said she felt like Jackson (the local school in question) was in the position Grady (the one decent public high school right now) was 10 years ago and improving quickly.

Now we could move to the burbs. There are good schools north of town. They're also very white and very Evangelical. I tried talking myself into this option. We could buy a bigger house there when we're ready to buy. Crime is lower. I don't actually take advantage of living in town all that much and Thomas's job is up that way anyway. I tried. I really did. It just really rubs me the wrong way.

I want to stay here. I want my kids to stay in the same neighborhood they've basically grown up in. I like the density and the diversity. Sure there are class and race issues here but at least they are there to encounter, deal with and discuss and not out of sight and ignored.

It's just scary to have what feels like such a major decision resting on my shoulders.

Comments

[brododaktula.livejournal.com]

That's such a hard situation and OMG how did she get to be ready for HS already? We have a similar but not so bad public school and I'm pushing hard to go and do what we can to improve it. Can you visit the school now, attend PTO meetings, do the background check to volunteer in the library, whatever so that you can actually be there and see it and try to trust your gut on that about whether it will be a good fit for her? I'd be inclined to go with the school, but like I said we're facing "bad" but not outrageously bad, and I'll be open to private HS if that's what seems best.

[danuv.livejournal.com]

I know you hear all the time that they grow up too fast, but really they do.

I will definitely get more involved next year when Jack goes to preschool. We're holding back from kindergarten till he's 6/7 but he's still at home all the time right now. There are a lot of parents in the neighborhood that are getting actively involved in making the school better. I'm keeping a close eye on what's going on and I'm sure we'll attend some of the many public meetings that are going on about it.

They just did a massive redistricting over the summer and apparently it's thrown two rival gangs together in the school which is creating a lot more fights than last year but supposedly there's a plan in place and they're aggressively working to get things under control. Ugh.

Anyway, this is the first year there has been a substantial chunk of kids who went to through the charter schools here (it was only opened the year before Rhiannon started I think) going to Jackson so I'll definitely be watching and listening. We can't afford private school, especially not once Isadora is in need of high school and even to send them to the public school the next town over is $6000 a year so we'd really just have to move.

[brododaktula.livejournal.com]

Is there an AP/IB program she would be tracked into? (I realize those have pluses and minuses.) Are there other kids from whatever subculture she most identifies with there? That sort of thing would matter more to me than gang fights she's not going to be involved in, but on the other hand that's not really what you want her HS experience to be either.

It sucks to think you'd have to move to find the kind of schools you'd want, especially if you aren't sure you WOULD want those kind of schools. It really seems like there isn't a great answer. It's very promising that there are already pioneering parents working to improve this place. Maybe that will help.

[danuv.livejournal.com]

I don't think she'd really qualify for AP programs right now. The middle/elementary schools they went to don't have an AP program at all at the moment and she's pretty much been an average or slightly above average but responsible student. I think most of her little gang of friends is going to Jackson which is definitely a factor for me. Apparently Jackson (the HS in question) is in the process of becoming an IB school though I'm not entirely sure what that means. Slacker mom needs to get hip to educational lingo. ;) ("Maynard H. Jackson High School is in the application process to become an IB World School. We are currently in Academic Year 2 of the Candidate Phase/Request for Authorization. The IB authorization process requires at least 3 planning years to become an authorized IB World School. We expect to receive authorization during the Summer of 2013 in preparation for the 2013-2014 school year.")

Sorry it took me a while to respond, the reply email got lost in my mess of an inbox.