Duval County Schools (Englewood, Lee: credit, magnet schools, college)

[GadgetRick]

Originally Posted by hlauburn

The problem with schools (generally speaking, not just Duval) is not as much finding decent elementary (or middle school) that pulls from a smaller area, but finding good high schools. The best 2 in the county are really good, but not everyone can get into those. Public high schools feed from a very large geographic area, so when you consider that there is a strong correlation between poverty and a school's success, it's something to consider.

I'm with you. It's just strange for me. Where I'm coming from--Northern NJ--they don't pull from a large geographic region and, if the elementary schools are good in a given area, the middle/high schools are generally good as well. Having to re-learn a lot of things down here.

[ilysse]

rick we are exactly where u are now! And it seems also that for the 2k to 2.5k with struggling to make that payment you still don't get something amazing! lol We are really confused as to what to do next ourselves.

[ilysse]

Originally Posted by GadgetRick

I'm with you. It's just strange for me. Where I'm coming from--Northern NJ--they don't pull from a large geographic region and, if the elementary schools are good in a given area, the middle/high schools are generally good as well. Having to re-learn a lot of things down here.

actually we are finding the elementary schools are great but the middle schools are also a problem! Not many rated that great in Duval except downtown magnets and I don't have the $$ to gamble on them getting in by lottery and then needing to send them to private schools! From what I can tell Fletcher seems "ok" other than that just the ones out in mandarin or downtown. Am I missing something?

[Bubbles Pink]

If you stay in the Mandarin/Beaches area, then it will be easy to get into the "good" middle/high schools.

This is a post I made awhile ago about schools, and I think it still stands true.

Originally Posted by Bubbles Pink

As everyone else said above, the Mandarin/San Jose/Baymeadows area is a great place to live. I live in this area and love it. It is close to major shopping centers (The Avenues Mall and St. Johns Town Center). It also has some of the best schools in the city.

Some good elementary schools are Loretto, Mandarin Oaks, Beauclerc and Crown Point are some of the best. But, if you plan on living in the same house for long, make sure you know the middle and high schools these elementary schools feed in to. Some are better than others. I'll tell you which schools feed into which, and how good each school is.

All of the students who live in the Loretto area go to Mandarin Middle, then Mandarin High. Mandarin Middle is, (in my opinion), the best middle school in the area. Same for Mandarin High. Great students, great teachers. Those are the schools you want your kids to go to.

Most of the students who live in the Mandarin Oaks area go to Mandarin Middle and Mandarin High, which I reviewed above. But, some of the students go to DuPont Middle, then Wolfson High. Two schools you probably don't want your kids to go to. DuPont is okay, just not as good as Mandarin Middle. Wolfson could be a good school, a lot of nice neighborhoods are in its district, they just don't go there. There are some good kids, they are just not as prominent as they are in Mandarin High.

The Beauclerc area goes to DuPont and Wolfson. Which is a shame because it has some VERY excellent teachers. It also has good students, but, the amount of "bad" students is increasing, unfortunately.

The Crown Point area mostly goes to DuPont and Wolfson. But, some of them go to Mandarin Middle and Mandarin High.


The Jewish Community Center (or JCC) is called the Jewish Community Alliance (JCA) here in Jacksonville. That is because of a synagogue here called the Jacksonville Jewish Center, usually just called the Center, is really close and could be confusing.

For a synagogue, there is;

Etz Chaim - Orthodox
Ahaveth Chesad (known as The Temple) - Reform
The Jacksonville Jewish Center (The Center) - Conservative
Beth Shalom - Conservative

These are all in the Mandarin area.

I had a bit in there about Synagogues because the OP in the topic I was replying to was Jewish, you can just ignore it though. (:

Also, since writing that post, a new high school, Atlantic Coast, has opened and it is very nice! My cousin goes there and he loves the tech classes they offer, very pretty school too! Although imo Mandarin High is better, but that may be because I'm currently a senior there and love it. (:

So, a good track would be Loretto/Mandarin Oaks for elementary, Mandarin Middle for middle, and Mandarin High for high.

If you need anymore info just ask. (:

[fsu813]

Originally Posted by ilysse

actually we are finding the elementary schools are great but the middle schools are also a problem! Not many rated that great in Duval except downtown magnets and I don't have the $$ to gamble on them getting in by lottery and then needing to send them to private schools! From what I can tell Fletcher seems "ok" other than that just the ones out in mandarin or downtown. Am I missing something?

Yes. There are many good middle schools not in Mandarin or "downtown" and not Magnet schools (none of which are in downtown, btw). Fletcher middle is not "Ok", it's actually very good.

The rating system is based on 1 standardized test. Nothing else. So i'd advise you to visit the school, talk to the teachers, see the students/parents before thinking a "C" rated school isn't good.

Here's a few highly rated that you may have missed, not in mandarin, the beaches, or downtown:

Dupont Middle School
Kernan Middle
Southside Middle

Here's a bunch rated a "C" that you should definitely check out for yourself:

Landmark
Lake Shore
Fort Caroline
Arlington Middle
Highlands
Jeb Stuart
Jefferson Davis
Stillwell
Mayport
Paxon

Also, there are 4 magnet middle schools (the one's near downtown you were refering to): LaVilla, James Weldon Johnson, Darnell Cookman, & Kirby Smith. So lots of people get accepte into these. Also ask about "special assignments" which are a little trick people use to get thier kid into a school that they aren't zoned for. But you didn't hear it from me.... =)

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by ilysse

actually we are finding the elementary schools are great but the middle schools are also a problem! Not many rated that great in Duval except downtown magnets and I don't have the $$ to gamble on them getting in by lottery and then needing to send them to private schools! From what I can tell Fletcher seems "ok" other than that just the ones out in mandarin or downtown. Am I missing something?

Moderator cut: snip
. You're basically talking about Mandarin and JAX Beach.

Note that I don't have kids - fsu813 doesn't either. On my part - my husband and I were educated in a couple of the better public school systems in New Jersey. There is pretty much nothing here in Florida in terms of public schools that compares to those (and when I moved from an excellent school system on Long Island to New Jersey - I was ahead of the "game" and skipped a grade). My parents didn't move to Florida until my youngest brother was out of high school and into college because of the poor schools here. Even where I live - in St. Johns County - I think the best schools are good - not great. I go to alumni events for my college (Cornell) and have never seen a local graduate here get accepted to Cornell except for students at Stanton (public) and Bolles (private). And - with the Stanton students - apart from their academic credentials - almost seemed to be candidates for varsity crew.

I will note that an Ivy League education may not be a good investment these days IMO. UF Gainesville is probably one of the best public colleges in the country right now. But it is very hard to get in (SAT scores today are higher than those at Cornell when I went there). Robyn

[fsu813]

Originally Posted by fsu813

Sure.

Here ya go: http://schools.jacksonville.com/fcat...&action=Search

You'll note that 76 are A/B, 43 are C and 11 are D/F.

Also, there are many N/A due to evaluation irregularities, mostly with some of the High Schools.

This has caused a lot of contraversey around his year's ratings. They used a different rating company, and there are many indications that some of the ratings aren't "accurate". In fact the city may be taking legal action against the company beacuse far too many school showed a decline where all other indicators didn't, and many of the school's evaluations (with a N/A) aren't even finished yet - extremely overdue.

Something about the procedure that the new company used.

Although judging a school by 1 standardized test is hardly an accurate way of measuring these things anyways. It's an indicator, certainly not a definitive measure.

Since 2010's rating aren't finished and/or accurate, here's some info from last year's ratings:

Big Gains in Duval School Grades - Local News on wokv.com (http://wokv.com/localnews/2009/06/big-gains-expected-in-duval-sc.html - broken link)

Duval superintendent given high rating by board | jacksonville.com

Most School Grades Up, But State Flunks 8 In Duval County - Education News Story - WJXT Jacksonville (http://www.news4jax.com/education/16819360/detail.html - broken link)

Also:

DISTRICT GRADES FOR 2009

Baker County -- B

Clay County -- A

Duval County -- B

Flagler County -- A

Nassau County -- A

Putnam County -- C

St. Johns County -- A

Volusia County -- A

per St. Augustine paper not too long ago


Oh, none of this includes private schools either, which are usually highly rated as wel.

The updated 2010 Duval County school grades are FINALLY out:
http://schools.jacksonville.com/fcat...&action=Search

This time, other things besides the FCAT were taken into consideration (a novel idea, I know) such as participtaion in enhanced classes and graduation rate.

And not surprisingly, when the ranking are not exclusively based on standardized tests - there are better ratings.

I've been saying this for quite a while, glad the experts finally agree with me.


I remember a few months ago, trying to tell someone who was looking at moving in to an area zoned for Sanalwood, and she couldn't get over that it was rated a "C" school. I told her that sh needed to check it out for herself, investigate, and take into consideration that the students who want to learn do well, while those who don't want to learn do poorly, but she wasn't interested.

Now it's rated an "A" school.

Wish people would listen to those who know what they are talking about....

[Robyn55]

I advise anyone looking into school ratings to examine the factors that go into the ratings. Some factors are like - how many kids who were really awful last year - are a little better than awful now (you get brownie points for that). And I wouldn't go by ratings alone. Go visit the school(s) that your kids might attend. See what's going on. Talk with the people there. Get a feel for them.

Having looked at the high school ratings that were reported today - there was a great deal of "grade inflation" IMO - everywhere (including PVB - both high schools went from B to A). Robyn

[GadgetRick]

Well, the wife and kids aren't down here yet (she has some bites on the job front so hopefully soon). But I think we'll be looking in the Atlantic Beach area. Mandarin is a bit too far from where I work (right next to the Town Center) from what I can tell (but it's not set in stone).

Besides, the wife would love to live so close to the beach. Also seems to be a great community and good schools. Prices aren't out of hand either.

Now, to get them down here so I can start looking for a specific place to live....

[JagFan27]

Originally Posted by Robyn55

Moderator cut: snip
. I go to alumni events for my college (Cornell) and have never seen a local graduate here get accepted to Cornell except for students at Stanton (public) and Bolles (private). And - with the Stanton students - apart from their academic credentials - almost seemed to be candidates for varsity crew.

Robyn

Just on Friday, a student at Paxon School for Advanced Studies told me he was accepted into Cornell.