Moving to Bentonville/NWA - need help (Fayetteville, Hot Springs: public schools, university)

[thewizard16]

Originally Posted by jjsmom

we just moved from NWA, and I will strongly suggest that if schools are important look into private- we went to a highly regarded public-and it was beyond horrible-no attention given to advanced students-everyone taught at the same level

jjsmom, I'm very sorry to hear you had a negative experience, but that is the opposite of what I've heard from the vast majority of parents. Most of them complain that if you aren't an advanced student you don't get much attention. I'm sorry your student didn't get the attention they deserve. Good luck with your new home!

[jjsmom]

Originally Posted by thewizard16

jjsmom, I'm very sorry to hear you had a negative experience, but that is the opposite of what I've heard from the vast majority of parents. Most of them complain that if you aren't an advanced student you don't get much attention. I'm sorry your student didn't get the attention they deserve. Good luck with your new home!

sorry but that is a joke AR is so far behind it is sad that people have such low standards. I was also told how great they are...I can say that I know at least two families that were at our school that have also left and their kids are having to repeat their respective grades-thank you we are LOVING our new home. I just want those who are serious about education to PLEASE be careful we were told so many times how great the schools were and in comparison to a "good" east coast school, they are average at best. But then the south is not known for their schools-just giving out info someone had given us two years ago.

[bluenoter]

The cream always rises to the top. I hope your kids aren't now on meth after having lived in Arkansas. Cheers!

Originally Posted by jjsmom

sorry but that is a joke AR is so far behind it is sad that people have such low standards. I was also told how great they are...I can say that I know at least two families that were at our school that have also left and their kids are having to repeat their respective grades-thank you we are LOVING our new home. I just want those who are serious about education to PLEASE be careful we were told so many times how great the schools were and in comparison to a "good" east coast school, they are average at best. But then the south is not known for their schools-just giving out info someone had given us two years ago.

[DC at the Ridge]

Originally Posted by jjsmom

sorry but that is a joke AR is so far behind it is sad that people have such low standards. I was also told how great they are...I can say that I know at least two families that were at our school that have also left and their kids are having to repeat their respective grades-thank you we are LOVING our new home. I just want those who are serious about education to PLEASE be careful we were told so many times how great the schools were and in comparison to a "good" east coast school, they are average at best. But then the south is not known for their schools-just giving out info someone had given us two years ago.

The public schools in Northwest Arkansas are competitive with public schools in other parts of the country. I'm sorry that you are so down on the south, and that you were so unhappy in Northwest Arkansas. I've had experience with educational systems in several parts of the country, to support my subjective opinion. And even an objective examination of the test scores in Northwest Arkansas will uphold my subjective opinion.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by jjsmom

sorry but that is a joke AR is so far behind it is sad that people have such low standards. I was also told how great they are...I can say that I know at least two families that were at our school that have also left and their kids are having to repeat their respective grades-thank you we are LOVING our new home. I just want those who are serious about education to PLEASE be careful we were told so many times how great the schools were and in comparison to a "good" east coast school, they are average at best. But then the south is not known for their schools-just giving out info someone had given us two years ago.

The schools depend on the district just like the east coast, west coast etc. The more affluent areas will damand better schools. To make a comment about the schools in the east compared to the south sounds more to be like East snobbery than fact.

Bentonville and Fayetteville, considering the size of the cities had as many merit scholars the last couple of years as most districts throughout the USA. This goes with the number who are attending the military acadamies as well. Are there a large number choosing IVY league schools, no, but not because they can't, just because they are choosing other universities.

I have no idea why your child didn't get the attention you thought he needed, but my experience dealing with gifted children, they will excell regardless.

Nita

[bluenoter]

Originally Posted by nmnita

East snobbery

I bought a girl from Boston, Mass. a drink I met at a bar in Taos, New Mexico a few years back. New Mexico was the closest she had ever been to the south. I told her I was from Arkansas, and she replied, "you don't seem that stupid". She was good lookin', and turned out to be a lot of fun, so I didn't really give it much thought.

Most easterners, even the stupid ones, look down on the South. That's just the way it is.

[thewizard16]

Originally Posted by jjsmom

sorry but that is a joke AR is so far behind it is sad that people have such low standards. I was also told how great they are...I can say that I know at least two families that were at our school that have also left and their kids are having to repeat their respective grades-thank you we are LOVING our new home. I just want those who are serious about education to PLEASE be careful we were told so many times how great the schools were and in comparison to a "good" east coast school, they are average at best. But then the south is not known for their schools-just giving out info someone had given us two years ago.

I am very glad you're happy in your new home, but your impressions about the state's public education are flat out wrong. I don't know if they didn't use the resources available or if your friends students are repeating grades for reasons unrelated to school curriculum, but I know the Arkansas core curriculum and standards are solid, and pretty similar to most places, so I honestly don't understand that. Education Week ranked Arkansas's public school system at the 10th best in the nation: The Best & Worst Public School Systems in the U.S. - WalletPop . Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia, and New Jersey are in the top 10 too, but statistically speaking, student test scores, college admissions odds, etc. are comparable in Arkansas when compared to most of the East Coast. No, all schools are not created equal, there are some bad public schools in the east coast just like there are some bad public schools in Arkansas too, but state wide, we do quite well. A lot of this mis-perception is due to some of our very rural, poorer areas which do not have the same infrastructure as say Little Rock or NWA. One bad school in the delta will be viewed as the norm from an outside perspective occasionally, when that couldn't be further from the truth. Central High school in LR has been ranked in the top 20 nation wide high schools on and off for years, for example. Another problem is people always claim "Arkansas is ranked 49th or 50th in education", which has nothing to do with public school systems, it has to do with the percentage of residents holding a bachelor's degree or higher. As a largely rural, agricultural state, this is to be expected, and we're working on it. Will we ever be one of the most educated states (on average)? Probably not, for the previously mentioned reasons. Do we have a surprisingly good school system for a state our size and population density? Absolutely. (Note: I am a proud product of the Arkansas public school system who had admissions offers from some solid colleges and some pretty decent scholarships, and is now moving on to bigger and better things. I wouldn't have had the opportunities I had at my high school nearly anywhere else, and I say that without reservation.)

Anyway, we sidetracked this thread way too much. Back to Bentonville advice.

[jjsmom]

Originally Posted by DC at the Ridge

The public schools in Northwest Arkansas are competitive with public schools in other parts of the country. I'm sorry that you are so down on the south, and that you were so unhappy in Northwest Arkansas. I've had experience with educational systems in several parts of the country, to support my subjective opinion. And even an objective examination of the test scores in Northwest Arkansas will uphold my subjective opinion.

no they are not. And I would love to see the source of these scores bc it simply isn't true. One thing I can point to is in K, there was no reading or math testing all the kids were in one group and spent most of their time doing these centers that any preschool child should be able to do. Most kids could barely read and my son has been reading since he was four and was bored out of his mind. There was never an attempt made to give him more difficult work-in fact he was given busy work so the rest of the class could catch up. It was him and four or so other kids. Any descent school at the very least has various levels of reading and math groups to expect all kids to be at one level is ridiculous. My second child is 4 and reading so no way would I subject him to the same crap. I am from Europe and have lived all over the U.S. too but the emphasis on sports over academics in the south is horrid.

[hognoxious]

JJSmom - pick up a ball and go play with your kids, they might enjoy it.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by bluenoter

I bought a girl from Boston, Mass. a drink I met at a bar in Taos, New Mexico a few years back. New Mexico was the closest she had ever been to the south. I told her I was from Arkansas, and she replied, "you don't seem that stupid". She was good lookin', and turned out to be a lot of fun, so I didn't really give it much thought.

Most easterners, even the stupid ones, look down on the South. That's just the way it is.

and that is so sad. We were just watching O'Rielly, there was an except from a program back in Feb when he interviewed Larry Gatlin. Gatlin happens to have a major in English and minor in Poly Sci. We looked at each other and said, "would you believe a 60 year old country and western singer has an education past 8th grade?"

Nita