moving from aisd to eanes? schools & 'hoods (Round Rock: to buy, private school)

[centralaustinite]

Nearly every private school in the immediate Austin area has a hefty portion of students from Eanes! I think nearly everyone at Trinity lives in Eanes! Without families from Eanes ISD, Austin private schools would be lost!

[curious1111]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

Please go back and reread my posts. I have not asserted that there is nothing for gifted kids in the public school. I have simply stated that public schools must meet certain requirements that dampen their ability to innovate. I also wrote that there are many private schools that still embrace the "industrial" model. No kool aid drinking here.

We spent three years in the public school system here and in another state. You are new to it. I could just as easily suggest that you are in a "honeymoon phase" However, I'm not going to do that because I don't know you or your circumstances. And I try to not resort to ad hominem attacks, instead I argue with the ideas.

The school we've chosen is radically different than any private or public school in this area. It works for us, we are happy with it, I doubt it would work for anyone with a rigid view of what education should look like. My point was that there are plenty of people that live in Eanes that are not satisfied with the public schools there so they go elsewhere. This can be for as many different reasons as there are families.

So to reiterate, it would be wise for the OP to decide what she is looking for in education and then explore those options rather than just moving house to go to what the masses consider the "best" school district.

I think it's obvious most of what I am writing is opinion, most of everything on CD is opinion.

I find this post to be very different than your first post. I am not going to go back and paste it here, but I think by any objective measure you were stating gross generalizations as facts in that post, and much more reasonable tone in this one. It's a fair point by the way that perhaps we are drinking the Eanes kool aid, we are new to it. I promise to post back after a longer period of time.

[curious1111]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

Nearly every private school in the immediate Austin area has a hefty portion of students from Eanes! I think nearly everyone at Trinity lives in Eanes! Without families from Eanes ISD, Austin private schools would be lost!

I think that this is absolutely true, particularly for Trinity, St. Stephen's, St. Andrew's. Think it has a lot to do with the income demographic of the ISD and which families can afford private school. I would bet the same of the affluent neighborhoods near downtown in AISD.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by curious1111

I find this post to be very different than your first post. I am not going to go back and paste it here, but I think by any objective measure you were stating gross generalizations as facts in that post, and much more reasonable tone in this one. It's a fair point by the way that perhaps we are drinking the Eanes kool aid, we are new to it. I promise to post back after a longer period of time.

Here, I'll do it for you and you can show me my gross generalizations.

I wrote, "Over half the student body comes from the Eanes school district." FACTUALLY TRUE

" Many of those families moved to their homes for the schools and were disappointed." While their disappointment is routed in their feelings and values, that they were disappointed is a factually based statement

" It's still a "factory based educational model" where kids are expected to conform and kids take standardized tests." If by factory based educational model one means kids are grouped according to age, there is a predesignated curriculum that teachers must conform to, they take breaks when the bell rings, and the walk in straight lines and the teachers teach from top down, then I think I my statement is accurate.

"If you want something innovative, you are going to need to go the private route." Clearly, this is my opinion. I really don't see any gross generalizations in what I wrote. Maybe you don't see the way we teach kids as an "industrial model" but I do and so do many other people.

The great thing about living in this country is that we get to make choices that best serve our families.

[curious1111]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

Here, I'll do it for you and you can show me my gross generalizations.

I wrote, "Over half the student body comes from the Eanes school district." FACTUALLY TRUE

" Many of those families moved to their homes for the schools and were disappointed." While their disappointment is routed in their feelings and values, that they were disappointed is a factually based statement

" It's still a "factory based educational model" where kids are expected to conform and kids take standardized tests." If by factory based educational model one means kids are grouped according to age, there is a predesignated curriculum that teachers must conform to, they take breaks when the bell rings, and the walk in straight lines and the teachers teach from top down, then I think I my statement is accurate.

"If you want something innovative, you are going to need to go the private route." Clearly, this is my opinion. I really don't see any gross generalizations in what I wrote. Maybe you don't see the way we teach kids as an "industrial model" but I do and so do many other people.

The great thing about living in this country is that we get to make choices that best serve our families.

*sigh* I think many people would say that these statements are a gross generalization:

"Over half the student body comes from the Eanes school district. Many of those families moved to their homes for the schools and were disappointed. It's still a "factory based educational model" where kids are expected to conform and kids take standardized tests. If you want something innovative, you are going to need to go the private route."

Particularly the part about how kids are expected to conform and if you want innovate you need to go the private route.

That's like me saying: "small unknown private schools are for people whose kids can't fit in with 'normal' kids". Or "private schools have bad curriculum because there is no standard/certifying body that requires them to follow a certain bare minimum". Those would be gross generalizations if I believed or said them. I dont, and I didnt.

Regardless, this has become petty I suppose, and not any longer constructive to the OP, so I bow out...and definitely agree with your statement about choice, and picking the very best for our kiddos. All that matters.

[Jennibc]

I'm sorry if you think I am being petty, that's not my intent. I just don't think I am making gross generalizations. Sure I have opinions, strong opinions as many on this board do. I certainly don't begrudge people whose kids have a good time at public schools. I wish our local school worked for us, we'd get to go out to dinner again and maybe take a vacation, but it didn't and it doesn't for a lot of kids.

And it is true that when ever there is a big bureaucracy running things, innovation suffers. That goes for both the public and private sectors. A school district is a bureaucracy. Some private schools are run by bureaucracies so they aren't going to be innovative either.

I think we are just going to need to agree to disagree on this.

[austin-steve]

Here is the latest Chaps Connections Newsletter (http://goo.gl/zwtJy - broken link) for December/January for Westlake High. This should give you a sense of what's going on there currently. Yes, it's boring to read through the long list of achievements.

As far as innovation, here is a quote related to the trial program which has every Senior and many Juniors issued an iPad this year.

"We are discovering many benefits to having this tool in our classrooms, especially as tablet computers relate to increased student organization, engagement, and motivation. We have been approached by a number of school districts who want to visit Westlake to see how we are using these devices, and our school leaders have been invited to speak at several state and national conferences to talk about what we have learned."

Here is a KEYE story on YouTube about it.


Westlake High students get school issued iPads - YouTube

Westlake operates ahead of the curve and outside the box in a number of ways. If you take more than a superficial look at Eanes and its programs, it's easy to see how it differentiates itself from other ISDs, not just in the measurable, tangible ways, but in the intangible ways as well. I can't agree that innovation is lacking. I see just the opposite.

Steve

[curious1111]

ok.... deal, agree to disagree...

In my opinion, innovation occurs with the teacher, in the classroom,not with school administration or district policy makers. Same for private/corporate, innovation is not driven by the C-suite, it is driven in business units, etc.

[wi2tx]

umm, eanes kool aid being sipped over here in central austin....bunnies in the library? yoga? kid news? sold....!

i think any of my neighbors/friends in central would jump at a school like this. i know i would.

and, yes, true, i can't predict what my preschoolers will be like in middle and high school, or for that matter, 1st grade. BUT i can guess that more parent involvement/more financial resources and huge amounts of pride in a school will translate to more opportunities....and that's what i can do as a parent, provide opportunities...

i really can't afford PRIVATE school for 2 kids, even montessori. what i can do is sell this house and use that money to buy one in a better district, though. so this does make the most sense for me...it's gonna be a culture shock at first (for me, i am sure the kids will love it)

this forum is so great, thank you for all of the comments i will be reading if you wanna keep discussing

[curious1111]

Originally Posted by wi2tx

umm, eanes kool aid being sipped over here in central austin....bunnies in the library? yoga? kid news? sold....!

i think any of my neighbors/friends in central would jump at a school like this. i know i would.

and, yes, true, i can't predict what my preschoolers will be like in middle and high school, or for that matter, 1st grade. BUT i can guess that more parent involvement/more financial resources and huge amounts of pride in a school will translate to more opportunities....and that's what i can do as a parent, provide opportunities...

i really can't afford PRIVATE school for 2 kids, even montessori. what i can do is sell this house and use that money to buy one in a better district, though. so this does make the most sense for me...it's gonna be a culture shock at first (for me, i am sure the kids will love it)

this forum is so great, thank you for all of the comments i will be reading if you wanna keep discussing

Good luck. The bunny in the library is named "Mr. Lucy". Apparently they originally thought he was a she, and so the name that had been given (Lucy) needed a little modification