My Lakewood Elementary Visit (Dallas, Pasadena: YMCA, private school, live)

[littlewmn]

Hmmm- I sound like one of "those" kind of parents and you know someone who had a parent like me. I am "too involved"?
I will somehow try to find a way not to take that personally, CGGirl.
I have worked with elementary school-aged students too. I agree that "you can do fun things without alienating other students and still engaging all students;" worksheets do not come close to falling into this category. Again- just looking for any evidence that they do other creative stuff.
And why on Earth can't a Kindergartener learn about circumference if they are learning how to measure things? How exactly is that "crazy" and shouldn't be taught in Kindergarten. My point was that it was an advanced concept tied to their own active observations. An example of higher level thinking. Do we only let them learn so much at age 4 or 5- and once they do they need to stop so their head doesn't explode? Or am I supposedly trying to raise some kind of supergenius when I mention that my son has already learned how to count to 100, recognize patterns and so on and would be bored *unless that material is presented in a fun and creative way*.
While money doesn't make kids learn, it does give a school more resources for a fancy computer lab to show they are dedicated to learning, even if they do not use those computers in ways to enhance learning. And having someone home all day or part of the day who can help a child with homework instead of a single, working parent likely makes it easier for a child to get help with classwork at home. Neither money nor two parents living under the same roof make a child naturally smarter- I never said it did. Both, however, provide much easier access to help if a child needs it.

Thank you FarNorth- I was under the impression that it was a rarity to have a Blue Ribbon.

[debtex]

For the record, we live in the Lakewood Elem district and go to private school, primarily because of what happens at Long in Middle School. But what happens in kinder in our private school is very different from what happens in pre-K. It really is "knuckle-down" time and although the lessons are creative, worksheets have their place too. Circumference and viscosity are all well and good, but you know...number theory, early reading skills and fine motor skills take precedence.

Public school is still public school...they must teach within strict standards, cover material in a particular order and depth, etc. I guess I'd argue that what you're seeing seems like more of a difference in style than substance.

Lakewood is a great school, with fantastic teachers but more importantly fantastic families, but it isn't a super-shiny, well-funded private school. If you want that, spend the dough and steel yourself to get hit up for money every month from your kid's school. That's the decision.

[lpepping]

Originally Posted by FarNorthDallas

I can list all the Blue Ribbon schools if you want me to. There are over 150 of them in the area.

Is there a link you can post? Most of the websites I found don't seem to have the information I am looking for.

[lpepping]

Originally Posted by debtex

For the record, we live in the Lakewood Elem district and go to private school, primarily because of what happens at Long in Middle School. But what happens in kinder in our private school is very different from what happens in pre-K. It really is "knuckle-down" time and although the lessons are creative, worksheets have their place too. Circumference and viscosity are all well and good, but you know...number theory, early reading skills and fine motor skills take precedence.

Public school is still public school...they must teach within strict standards, cover material in a particular order and depth, etc. I guess I'd argue that what you're seeing seems like more of a difference in style than substance.

Lakewood is a great school, with fantastic teachers but more importantly fantastic families, but it isn't a super-shiny, well-funded private school. If you want that, spend the dough and steel yourself to get hit up for money every month from your kid's school. That's the decision.

What exactly happens at Long middle school that pushed you to private schools?

[NorthDallaswide]

I currently live in McKinney and have been trying to gather information regarding Lakewood elementary as well. I am frustrated with living so far north and had heard that Lakewood was a great school with very involved parents. Living in McKinney, I have come to realize that no school system is perfect and perhaps there are schools in Dallas (such as Lakewood) that warrant a look. (My husband commutes from Richardson which also has good schools.) I planned to take a tour of Lakewood next week. My children are currently at a montessori school (pre-k and kinder). I have to say I am very surprised at the responses to the questions regarding this school. Perhaps I am mistakenly assuming some of you are parents of Lakewood students. If so, are you able to provide information regarding your children's experiences, teachers, general enthusiasm, etc? My sense is that, if you are in fact parents of students at this school, there is a lack of enthusiasm for both the school and your children's learning environment. I apologize that I haven't read the entire thread but have read several pages and became quite frustrated.

Thank you.

[debtex]

If I'm going to be really honest, what happening at Long is that the kids exit the bubble of affluence that is Lakewood right about the time they hit puberty. Both those factors influence the culture & behavior at the school. They've had some drug problems, for example. We chose to extend the bubble to the 8th grade, basically, at which point we'll reassess. Hear amazing things about Woodrow, and love the idea of sending the kids to public high school. I have a lot of mixed feelings about sending my kids to private school.

Just my .02. Lots of happy parents at Long, too...lots of yard signs and support from the neighborhood. For the record, our pediatrician sends her kids to Lakewood and plans to send them to Long. Not exactly someone who doesn't value education, right?

Good luck in your search...
Deb

[littlewmn]

Thank you, NorthDallaswide! I was hoping to hear from Lakewood parents something along the lines of "No, you hit us on a bad day. We don't do a lot of worksheets. As a matter of fact, just last week we did Cool Lesson X and Neat Concept Y." I know parents are very involved in the school, and often stop by to read stories, etc. and they are active in extracuricular math programs before school. Parent involvement is clearly great, but I just wanted to know more about the teaching approach.
They offer tours the first Tuesday of the month. I may try to go again if I can to get a better snapshot. If I can't, can you PM me your opinion, NorthDallaswide? A school that is in a well-to-do neighborhood can often look better on a quick visit then it actually is, ya know? I just want to know if I should stick with Lakewood or go charter. I supose I just am partial to nonconverntional learning techniques. For a bright child, boredom is the enemy.

[NorthDallaswide]

Will do...I am definitely going on Tuesday morning and will give you and update. Thanks!

[Lakewooder]

I would be glad to put you in touch with some Lakewood parents. Life at Lakewood has been traditionally by the book and there have been only a few kids in the history of the school willing to take the chance on a walk to the principal's office (and as a result have become infamous legends).

However, there has always been a creative edge at the school as many parents are involved in the arts and some are rather free-spirited (actually several members of Polyphonic Spree have kids there). Visits to the opera and symphony are traditional. There is a huge arts sale for the home tour. The choir won a state-wide competition last year. I think the thing I am most proud about is when a kid who was kicked out a private school for having AIDS was embraced by the students back in the 1980s when it seemed no other schools wanted him. He passed away but his memory is still marked by ceremony.

By-the-book isn't always bad: the staid math team nearly always wins the championship, the science fair is a major event (since the 1950s and Sputnik) and the chess club recently beat St. Mark's.

Attend a few of their parties - they have one coming up in May at Gilley's which will precede the school's spring carnival.

Long Middle School has had top math and science teams for many years - I am talking about tops in thes state - they have also beaten St. Mark's for instance. Also a very good fine arts program with the same musical director for 30 years - they do all ORIGINAL shows written by the director and her husband with the help of the kids. Lakewood has done original operas every year under Karen Kimball - who recently retired and the Long kids feed into Woodrow's legendary 52-year, Cappie Award winning musical programs. The Expectations Show Choir is fantastic and most of those kids hope to make Variations at Woodrow.

However, the school has suffered from having a lot of low-achieving students tarnishing its reputation and there has been a turnover of principals, the most recent due to illness - she was the daughter of the principal in the 1980s. This year, Danielle Drury Petters has taken over and she is a graduate of Woodrow and had seven siblings go through. She also taught at Woodrow for several years. The community is very excited about her appointment to the job.

She and Woodrow principal Ruth Vail (another alum, second-generation) have submitted a complete redesign plan which was verbally approved by the superintendent yesterday. The schools will become college-preparatory specialty schools - they will still draw from the neighborhood but transfers in will be allowed for college bound students seeking to take advantage of the program. Pre-AP classes will now be offered as low as sixth grade and Woodrow and Long will be the first in Dallas to offer the International Baccalaureate - starting in the fall of 2010.

[littlewmn]

Love the 6th grade AP/college-prep/IB ideas. I find that middle school is a horrible time for just about everybody- I doubt Long is any different.
I dunno- still fighting the mental image of my son finishing a worksheet and distracting everybody around him and then starting to scribble designs on his worksheet until the work is unreadible. After all, why shouldn't he take after his mom?