How to Research/determine "Good" Schools?

Hello M.,
I grew up in the Nokomis area. I have lived in Burnsville, Edina, Eden Prarie, and soon to be the Hopkins/Minnetonka area.. Its all a matter of checking it out...take some days and check out the parks, the schools, just hang around like its your neighborhood. I personally dont prefer Bursnville.. I do enjoy Edina although some people can be rather SNOTTY in some areas of it but you deal with what comes at you...there isnt alot of violence which I love..obviously. I have a 5 yr old who is starting Kindergarten this fall and I have heard good reviews...VERY good reviews actually about the Hopkins/Minnetonka schools. Just check things out, talk to people in the area... Hope I helped!! :)

M.,

A subject near and dear to my heart having just gone through it choosing a Kindergarten for my son!!

First you need to determine what you consider to be "good". Some people think a school is "good" because it is located in an upscale neighborhood alone. I would encourage you to delve a little deeper into what kind of education you want your child to have.

We live in a more upscale area but sent our child into a more urban area because we wanted him exposed to diversity (we're white but guess what, the whole world isn't :)). The school has Spanish from Kindergarten on (all day Kindergarten) and advanced technology. Everything from the curriculum to the instructional methods is also very innovative and global. The students are VERY involved and engaged in their own learning.

However, if I told you where the school was, you would probably not want your child there because of the neighborhood reputation. The great news is that, because it's a magnet school, we don't have to live in that neighborhood though.

So really think about it. The Minnesota Dept. of Ed has all the school and district report cards mandated from No Child Left Behind. There is also a website called School Matters (www.schoolmatters.com) that is good for side by side comparisons. Be careful about using parents comments - like from the Great Schools website- because you have to consider who it is that takes the time to write reviews on sites like these. Take it with a grain of salt.

You can gleam some information from those but once you narrow it down, nothing beats pounding the pavement. Request a tour when school is in session. What's the vibe of the school and staff? Do people seem happy/excited to be there?

Also, I would encourage you to look beyond just the neighborhood schools into magnet and charter programs. Both are public schools and provide transportation for the student but are usually designed around a mission or theme (arts, science, community service etc.). That REALLY expands the housing market so you can choose the home you want instead of letting a specific neighborhood limit it.

Alot of people only want the neighborhood schools so the kids go on the same bus as their friends. In this day and age of playdates and activities, school isn't the only school outlet. Plus, it actually makes their social circle twice as large!

Good luck to you. Our research really paid off - we were amazed time after time at the school we chose where my neighbors say the neighborhood schools is "OK".

Try www.greatschools.net You can search using your address for schools in your area. Learn the test scores and parent reviews for the schools your interested in.

Hi M. -

Hope this doesn't confuse you more . . .

If you look on each school districts website you can find the "Characteristics" report or something to that effect. You can find out the district scores for various tests, minority statistics, percentage of students who receive free or reduced lunches, qualifications (staff degrees), class sizes, etc. You can read as little or as much into this information as you would like in combination with visiting the particular school that you might be mapped to to see if you think it's a good fit for your family.

We also found it helpful to talk to our neighbors to see what their impressions of our particular school were. Since we had a couple of years, ourselves, after we moved in, we did most of our research that way. We positioned ourselves in a nice area (not extremely wealthy but the neighborhood is not run down by any means, it's fairly new, etc.) and joined our local church that had a parochial school knowing that that could be an option as well if the district school wasn't what we had envisioned.

We want our kids to go to good schools, but basing our entire move on what school they would attend can at times, be expecting too much, in my opinion. School lines can change, your situation may change or the population at that particular school may change over time. At this particular point in time our daughter is entering 1st grade and we are looking ahead to middle school/high school options. At this point in time neither of these schools has a good reputation, however, we also know friends whose children attend there and they have not had any problems. It's all about what you want to expose your children to while still making sure that peer behaviors do not take a front seat to your child's learning. Some schools are better at balancing this than others.

So, in essence, find a nice neighborhood where you can see yourself for the 10 + years and everything else will naturally fall into place. Maybe I'm an optimist, but it seems to have worked well for us thus far! Also, to add another wrench into our family dynamics when we moved, I was pregnant and our baby was unexpectedly born with hearing loss. Our new district was VERY helpful and provided wonderful early intervention services so that he's on track, now, at age 3 1/2. Also, our elementary school is very open to parent involvement and as the principal has a child of his own with special needs I imagine they will be receptive and helpful when our son hits kindergarten as well. Some things, like I said, you just can't plan, but couldn't have fallen into place better!

Best of luck!
M.

Not sure how to find out about schools, but I'd try to find a district with a variety of schools, so you can choose the best fit for your child. St. Paul has lots of magnet schools, each with its own philosophy of learning. Since there is open enrollement, you can pretty much choose the school that best fits your child and send your kids there. Sometimes bussing can be an issue (if you choose a school across town), but you can always arrange your own transportation.
Best of luck!

Try the neighborhood newspapers for school information. If you read them fairly frequently you can keep abreast of the different offerings and attitudes of the schools. We also always ask anyone we meet who has kids where their kids go to school and what they think of it. You'll get lots of inside information if you do that!