How important are school ratings?

[gymnbomb]

DS is finishing kindergarten at our local public elementary school (K-4). It's in our neighborhood, we've been happy with his teachers, and he likes it there. It's rated a 4 on Great Schools. The middle school (5-8, they keep them mostly separated but we don't like that it starts in 5th) and high school (9-12) in our district are rated a 5. We feel ok about elementary because we think luck of the draw for teachers and what you're exposed to at home are the most important things, but we're very concerned about middle and high school. I know ratings don't tell you everything, but in general I hear more negatives about them than positives.

Private school is not an option. Very few within a reasonable commute and way way out of budget for 8 years times 2 kids.

We've planned for a few years to try to move to a much better district before he hits middle school. We were under contract for a house there (K-5 elementary is rated a 9, 6-8 middle school is a 6, 9-12 high school is an 8 for that house, overall it is one of the top 5 districts in the state) in late Feb/early March but backed out when the inspection revealed some expensive problems the owners didn't want to fix correctly. We feel like that was a good thing since we would have been trying to move mid-pandemic, pay 2 mortgages until we sold our current house, etc. So now we're tentatively planning to start the house hunt again next spring. But I'm kind of having second thoughts.

We can afford our current house on my salary alone (I make more and my job currently feels a little more stable, though you never know) if we're not paying daycare, so there's a lot of comfort in that. We have been saving for a down payment, and could do a really nice kitchen renovation - which is the only part we really don't like about our house other than school district - and still have enough left to pay off half of what we owe on the house. We hope to find a house for $400-450K, but that will not be easy to do, may possibly be willing to stretch budget to $500K. Realtor suggested listing current house for $299K.

Just looking for some help weighing some of the pro's and con's of moving and the importance of what schools the kids go to. Assuming we can even find a house we want. It is NOT an easy thing to do. We were going to have to do an addition to the one we were under contract for, but it would have still been in budget including that.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I’m betting the average BBB parent would not send their kid to my district...and that would be their loss for relying on a school rating website. Clearly I don’t value them. I also am not interested in the opinions of others that may know the school only by reputation but never sent a kid there.
No school is going to be a good fit for every student so I take negative experiences with a grain of salt unless they speak to a really universal trend- if everyone has the same problems then I’m far more swayed.
Our school is racially and SES diverse. A school like that doesn’t do well on those cookie cutter scoring systems. And, sadly, in my area the negative comments about our district are almost all said with a not so subtle layer of racism. It’s really frustrating and sad to see so much “white flight” as there are amazing things going on in the schools. So, I would wonder if the same sort of sentiments are in your school as well.
I’m pretty sure our high school is a 3 on Great Schools. But they’ve won countless awards (academic, arts, sports). Like I said, I can’t imagine any BBB moms would find that acceptable but ds1 has been well educated, taken lots of AP courses (and scored well), was in NHS, plenty of activities and gained a better/broader perspective of race and poverty issues.
I don’t know why your school rates a 5 but I doubt it’s “that bad”. I would save the money and stay put! Save for retirement and college vs sinking $$ into a “better” school district. The “best” schools in our area are well off financially...and have big issues with drugs. So, no school is perfect.
Sorry for that rambling. It’s a hot button. Deal breaker for me would be no activities, no rigorous courses, and large class sizes. Otherwise, we can make it work.


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[carolinamama]

I don't like school ratings. In my opinion, they do not tell you what is really happening at that school but instead correlate with the ratio of low SES kids. Most do not measure growth at all or very little. The advantages of sending kids to a school with diversity often outweigh other measures imo. Schools with higher SES don't eliminate problems and my friends and I joke that they just have more designer problems. I've also learned that amazing things are happening at schools with lower ratings - they just don't usually have the funds to showcase their achievements to the world. I say this as a parent with first-hand experience in our local schools from low SES magnet, neighborhood public school, and private.

My guess is that any of the BBB kids would do well at any school given the level of parental interest and engagement. So if you truly don't like the schools, that's one thing. But if you have been satisfied overall and the ratings are your driving factor, I wouldn't hesitate to stay.

[carolinacool]

I’m betting the average BBB parent would not send their kid to my district...and that would be their loss for relying on a school rating website. Clearly I don’t value them. I also am not interested in the opinions of others that may know the school only by reputation but never sent a kid there.
No school is going to be a good fit for every student so I take negative experiences with a grain of salt unless they speak to a really universal trend- if everyone has the same problems then I’m far more swayed.
Our school is racially and SES diverse. A school like that doesn’t do well on those cookie cutter scoring systems. And, sadly, in my area the negative comments about our district are almost all said with a not so subtle layer of racism. It’s really frustrating and sad to see so much “white flight” as there are amazing things going on in the schools. So, I would wonder if the same sort of sentiments are in your school as well.
I’m pretty sure our high school is a 3 on Great Schools. But they’ve won countless awards (academic, arts, sports). Like I said, I can’t imagine any BBB moms would find that acceptable but ds1 has been well educated, taken lots of AP courses (and scored well), was in NHS, plenty of activities and gained a better/broader perspective of race and poverty issues.
I don’t know why your school rates a 5 but I doubt it’s “that bad”. I would save the money and stay put! Save for retirement and college vs sinking $$ into a “better” school district. The “best” schools in our area are well off financially...and have big issues with drugs. So, no school is perfect.
Sorry for that rambling. It’s a hot button. Deal breaker for me would be no activities, no rigorous courses, and large class sizes. Otherwise, we can make it work.


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Yes to ALL of this. Your school sounds so much like the one DS attends. I love the racial and SES diversity -- about 35% to 40% receive free or reduced lunch. The building is terribly old and nothing is new or shiny. But the teachers are wonderful for the most part. We have very little turnover. The principal, who is sadly retiring at the end of the year, cares so much for those kids. He wants them to succeed academically, of course, but he really wants them to be great people with good character. And there are similar gems throughout our district. There are also some schools that are really struggling with constant turnover in teachers and leadership, show little to no academic process shown from year to year and more. I would not want DS in that situation.

However, the schools that some people only ever want to tout are in one corner of the county. I'm sure they score well in those "best school" ratings. But they are lily white with a population that is solidly middle to upper middle class and up. I think the percentage of kids getting free lunch is under 10% if that high. Outwardly, they might not have some of the issues that less-affluent schools have, but a friend who works in the school system said one of the high schools has a crazy drug problem, but money and influence can help cover that up.

[PZMommy]

I don't give much credit to school ratings. The school my kids attend has a lower rating than many of the others in our area. However, I LOVE the school and it has been an amazing experience for both of my kids. I'm heartbroken that my oldest is graduating from there this year. I wish he could stay there longer. To me the teachers are what make or break a school. If the school has caring teachers that work to help meet the needs of their students, then that is more important to me than whatever rating a school gets.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

i don't like the greatschool ratings. they rely on heavily (almost exclusively?) on test scores, so only tell you part of the story.
our current elem school is a 6/10 on great schools. it is like that because it's a Title I school (40% of kids on free/reduced lunch). other than some issues with getting things for DD and her 504, the teachers there are pretty good. DD had an excellent teacher this year (both kids did). they have had gifted education provided since Kinder and have lots of activites. at a district-wide math competition early this year (literally hundreds of students, and were' in a SUPER competitive district, major Tiger-mom'ing going on - the west side of our town is typically known nation-wide for the schools), the 5th grader who took home the Grand prize was from our school!!! title I school from the far east side of town) i'm glad my kids go to a school that is very diverse (ethnically and socioeconomically) so that they don't just go to school with rich kids.

the Niche ratings i think do a better job of evaluating schools...they take into account diversity and other things. on there, my kids school got an A+ ratings and the district got 2nd best in the state.

[gymnbomb]

So how do I tell if they are really bad or just not good test scores? Many people I trust scrunch their noses and say oh, yeah, you have to get out of there before middle school, but I don’t know people whose opinions I would value a lot who have sent their kids there in the past 10 years. I don’t work in this town (moving would also put me closer to work, which is not a deal breaker but would be nice) and most of my friends are from work, so I don’t feel like I have a good source of information.


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[gymnbomb]

ms.pacman;4364966]i don't like the greatschool ratings. they rely on heavily (almost exclusively?) on test scores, so only tell you part of the story.
our current elem school is a 6/10 on great schools. it is like that because it's a Title I school (40% of kids on free/reduced lunch). other than some issues with getting things for DD and her 504, the teachers there are pretty good. DD had an excellent teacher this year (both kids did). they have had gifted education provided since Kinder and have lots of activites. at a district-wide math competition early this year (literally hundreds of students, and were' in a SUPER competitive district, major Tiger-mom'ing going on - the west side of our town is typically known nation-wide for the schools), the 5th grader who took home the Grand prize was from our school!!! title I school from the far east side of town) i'm glad my kids go to a school that is very diverse (ethnically and socioeconomically) so that they don't just go to school with rich kids.

the Niche ratings i think do a better job of evaluating schools...they take into account diversity and other things. on there, my kids school got an A+ ratings and the district got 2nd best in the state.

I checked the Niche ratings after reading your post. Current elementary is C+, middle is B-, and high school is B+.


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[SnuggleBuggles]

I checked the Niche ratings after reading your post. Current elementary is C+, middle is B-, and high school is B+.


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Our Hs got a c+ on Niche. I think so much of what you get out of any school relies on getting involved (clubs, sports, music, activities), challenging yourself and having supportive parents. Like someone said above, pretty much any kid of a BBB parent would likely thrive in even low ranked schools.
To find out what the schools are really like join teams and activities that pull from your district. Odds are the parents have older kids too and will have more to say.
Look for some Facebook groups for families in your district. Follow the schools, both the general page and maybe the PTA and the principal’s page (our principal is our #1 champ and his FB page is a fabulous peek into what’s going on on a daily basis). Go to activities at the schools- plays, sports, back to school events. The arts and sports are affordable ways to have fun and be a part of the community.
Make sure you can read between the lines. I can tell who just doesn’t want their kids in school with “certain types” (aka poor black kids). It just is a spidey sense I have picked up. The wealthier the parent, the less faith I have in their assessment. Again, I don’t know if that’s an issue in your district or not (diversity of any type) but it’s good to consider the source(s) especially if you tend to talk to the same kinds of people.


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[trales]

First, no one will ever tell you anything nice about a middle school ever. Kids are teased, hormones are rampant, it is the nature of the beast. I heard nothing but HORROR stories about our middle school, and you know what, it is a lovely place. Yes, it has issues with kids who are mean, so does every middle school in America.

As for HS, ours is rated low, it has 37% new american kids, 57% free and reduced lunch, all things that are negative on ratings. It is an amazing place, they offer every elective and AP and early college course you can think of, its diverse, its dynamic and its real. The top kids all got into top schools nationwide.

I teach at a community college, I see a lot of kids from a lot of different backgrounds, I personally think the families attitude toward education and the kids level of motivation will do more for them in the long run.

My DD will go to our moderately rated public school rather than the elite boarding school DH teaches at b/c her friends, her music, her sports are all at the public school and I think she will be happy and do well. She would have to give up her passion (ski jumping and nordic ski racing) to attend the boarding school.