What's important in a high school?
Hello,
My kid and I are debating on which high school will be a better fit for her. We moved into a supposedly "top" area with a "great" high school, which often boasts 10/10, high achievers with high tests scores, and lots of AP classes. Sounds good, right? Well, our experience has been that the schools are actually underwhelming and the success of the students are driven by the parent's drive and usage of tutors for all courses. I am not opposed to the parents drive to help their kid succeed if they are not getting the instruction needed at school. We have experienced that many of the classes are not actually taught effectively because the kids are already expected to know the topics already. Also, our home high school is known for its high pressures.
We have an opportunity to switch to a neighboring high school, but their rank and scores are not as high. I am not sure if this is due to the less intensity, less school and parental pressures or if it is related to something else. Unfortunately, the other neighboring high school also has less classes that my kid are interested in, in terms of electives and AP classes. The home school would have all the classes and electives she is interested in (however, it doesn't mean our kid will get to take them).
I guess we are feeling a lot of pressure to pick a school that is a good fit for our kid. Our high pressure, high-scoring home school is also not diverse at all. The neighboring school is much more diverse in terms or race and social economic classes, which we like. Also, the neighboring school is known to be "less intense, " in terms of pressure from the teachers and students. Many folks I have talked to ask us why we would move our kid to a lower performing school when you are already at the "best."
These folks also say that colleges and UCs look at the school rankings and reputations. Is this true? We really do not want to decrease our kid's odds to getting to a UC or other colleges because of the school's overall ranking or reputation. Statistically speaking, when comparing the admission rates to UCs at these 2 high schools, there is a 10% difference in acceptance rate. That does seem significant.
I am looking for your experiences or advice on what is important in a high school in terms or fit, class availability, and ranking for college admission. If you could give me your opinions, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks for your advice!!
Parent Replies
My daughter recently graduated a low-mid-ranked, very diverse high school and is doing very well in college. The high school is somewhere around the 4th most diverse high school in California. The academic environment was intense for those who chose for it to be that way (about 25% of the student population). The school had a variety of classes and its music, dance, and computer programs were highly regarded. In her opinion, the most important factor is small class size. She said that off into the future, she would not choose any school for her children that has more than 25 students per class (this school and the feeder middle school had some classes with 35-40 students per class). Curriculum is basically all the same at any high school, thus my daughter is adamant that nothing else matters except class size, because if there are too many students it is impossible for the teacher to impart the curriculum in a meaningful way.
I understand from your post how "folks" feel about this. And I get the idea that you are on the fence. But what about your daughter? When you say you are "debating" are you both sitting the fence and discussing or does she want something different that you do? More than anything else, I would take her opinion seriously. Teenagers need to feel in control of their lives. If she gets to choose, she will probably do better no matter where she is.
Perhaps you value diversity, but the kids form groups with people just like themselves: jocks, nerds, band, whatever. Your daughter will find friends on the same wavelength no matter what school she attends.
In regards to college, she clearly has your support, which will make all the difference no matter where she goes to high school.
I'm not sure what you mean in regards to "fit." You may want to consider the physical environment at each school: the buildings, landscape and surrounding area. You may also want to consider the commute. It can also be a real plus to have neighborhood friends who go to a different school and are caught up in a different social cauldron.