Lake mary High Schools (Orlando, Winter Springs: how much, house, school rankings)

[joesupra]

When choosing a place to live in Lake Mary how much of a factor should the high schools be? I've only recently started researching the area and the impression I am getting is that living in an area zoned for Lake Mary High School is much more desireable. As a parent of course I want the best for my kids. Is there really that much of a difference between the two schools? I would hate to pass up on a house just because it's zoned for Seminole High. Does the zoning ever change? Could I start out in a LM zone then they change it down the road?

[beckycat]

I've been here 10 years. There was one time when they did rezoning. The best thing to do is live close by the high school. If you have kids, I'd say Lake Mary High unless your kids go into the IB program or health academy at Seminole High.

[Broker Dave]

My wife and I live in the Lake Mary area not only for the schools but also the family feel you get when walking into a grocery, restaurant etc... and getting a greeting from a friend or a wave from a neighbor.

If drive time to job or location to beaches isn't an issue check out the Winter Springs and Wekiva Springs areas both have good schools. I also like the new area on the back side of Disney zoned as Horizon West.

Hope this helps,

[AONE]

In the tests for 2008 the schools rated this way.

Crooms Academy - A
Hagerty -A
Lake Brantley - A
Lake Howell - A
Lake Mary - B
Lyman - B
Oviedo - A
Seminole -A
Winter Springs - B

So in fact Seminole had a higher rating than Lake Mary did.This was taken directly from the Educational Guide. Accoding to the Sentinal those are still accurate.

Central Florida High School Ratings - OrlandoSentinel.com

There is this false belief that Lake Mary high is an A rated school. If you can find a home in the Seminole district it tests higher ( for what tests are worth).
The highest rated school in our area is Oviedo. Winter Park, Dr. Phillips, Olympia. consistently test high at state levels. Another false belief... that Orange county has only bad schools. The actual scores for some of the Seminole county schools are high but yet they only receive B's in many cases.....


Alaqua in Longwood attends Lake Mary as does much of Heathrow. Those are probably the most desirable areas there to live but actually have a B rated high school. Seems the kids do just fine despite that so If I liked the area I don't think I'd loose sleep over a B rated school. but I tend to think most of the education should come from home too.... I would also set expectations with the teachers too. Wekiva got a C rating so I can't quite agree with them being good.

If you want to broad brush a county for poor schools that title would go to Osceola County, their Professional Tech and School for the Arts are the only A rated high schools of their 9 of their 7 middles 1 had a A, St Cloud, otherwise you can safely say they suck.Lake County has no A rated high schools but do well at the lower levels ( unlike Osceola). While I'm going there Volusia county has 3 A's of their 9 and average with the lower levels

A little side note, all the 12 Seminole county middle schools got an A rating, the surprise.... Of the 33 Orange county schools 22 also received A ratings.

21 Seminole elementary schools - 18 were A's 86%
122 Orange county public schools - 72 were A's 59%

These came from the printed copy of the educational guide but they have an on-line source as well - www.americaseducationguide.com
They also talk about the private schools which I will skip over.

Summary, Orange and Seminole Counties are the better choices if education is a factor in where to move.

[nativefla]

AONE, what part of Heathrow is zoned for Lake Mary High? I've been selling homes in Heathrow since the year it was built (1985), and I've never known any part to be zoned for Lake Mary High.

You folks are putting too much emphasis on school grades. They aren't meaningless, but an "A" grade does not necessarily a good school make. Nor does an "A" grade mean a school is better than a school with a "B" grade. The state grading system is unfair to the high-performing schools. The system docks schools a letter grade if lowest performing 25% of the students don't show adequate progress in reading. This piece of the process was created to ensure the high-performing schools do not ignore their weakest students. What it does, however, is take resources away from the high-performing students and directs them to those who want them the least. Effectively, we are cannabalizing the education of our smartest students. That's why my kids drive by Lake Mary High on their way to Trinity Prep every day. Not all will make that dramatic a choice, though.

Check the FCAT scores of Seminole High vs. Lake Mary. Lake Mary's average test scores are much higher. Drive through the areas of both schools and ask yourself if this is where you want your children going to school. That's why people pick Lake Mary. The Orlando Sentinel developed a school rating system using 20 different criteria, including test scores. Lake Mary finished #1 in all of Central Florida last year and ranks #2 this year. Seminole ranks #14. Results can be seen at Central Florida High School Ratings - OrlandoSentinel.com

[Parrotrosie]

Originally Posted by nativefla

AONE, what part of Heathrow is zoned for Lake Mary High? I've been selling homes in Heathrow since the year it was built (1985), and I've never known any part to be zoned for Lake Mary High.

You folks are putting too much emphasis on school grades. They aren't meaningless, but an "A" grade does not necessarily a good school make. Nor does an "A" grade mean a school is better than a school with a "B" grade. The state grading system is unfair to the high-performing schools. The system docks schools a letter grade if lowest performing 25% of the students don't show adequate progress in reading. This piece of the process was created to ensure the high-performing schools do not ignore their weakest students. What it does, however, is take resources away from the high-performing students and directs them to those who want them the least. Effectively, we are cannabalizing the education of our smartest students. That's why my kids drive by Lake Mary High on their way to Trinity Prep every day. Not all will make that dramatic a choice, though.

Check the FCAT scores of Seminole High vs. Lake Mary. Lake Mary's average test scores are much higher. Drive through the areas of both schools and ask yourself if this is where you want your children going to school. That's why people pick Lake Mary. The Orlando Sentinel developed a school rating system using 20 different criteria, including test scores. Lake Mary finished #1 in all of Central Florida last year and ranks #2 this year. Seminole ranks #14. Results can be seen at Central Florida High School Ratings - OrlandoSentinel.com

Wow...there is alot of data in this article...depending on what is important to you, pick a criteria and any given school may come out on top! lol...also, consider Hagerty is only a four year old school having just had it's very first graduating class , so there is not enough data to get a real ranking. But looking at individual data points, it seems to hold it's own against Oviedo High and Lake Mary and Winter Park. Thanks for this very informative link!! Lots of meat in here!

[beckycat]

These "grades" are misleading. Part of the reason, Seminole High has an A is b/c of the IB program and health academy. I'm not saying Seminole High is a bad school either. My friend is a teacher at Seminole High. She thinks they are too strict on the students there. It's not in the best part of town either.

I do hear from the kids that there are more drugs in Lake Mary High b/c they have the money. Every school is going to have it's positives and negatives. Probably, the best thing to do is visit the schools during school time and then decide. FWIW, if you look at the student parking lot at Lake Mary, you will see brande new cars (Jettas, Mercedes, Hummers), not at Seminole High. Honestly, I think it's rediculous.

I think they both offer a good education, there are just different groups of kids that attend each one.

I just think these grades are not a good judgement whatsoever. Not to mention, the FCAT is rediculous IMHO, but that's a whole other subject.

Just my 2 cents.

[KrisCole]

Joe, I teach at Seminole High School. My son graduated from SHS & my daughter will be attending SHS in the near future. The best thing to do is compare the test scores on the Florida Department of Education Website. There is a huge difference between reputation & reality. Both schools are very good. You just need to figure out which one fits your family's desires better. Seminole has the Health Academy which prepares students for careers in nursing, fire & rescue, the veterinary field, and obviously many other health related fields. Seminole also has the I.B. program. As an added bonus, Seminole has last years National Championship Dance Team - the Dazzlers & last years 6A State Championship Football team. There are great things going on at both schools. One other note, Seminole is ranked higher (#132 in the nation) in Newsweek's school rankings than any other Seminole County high school.

[AONE]

When push comes to shove a school is no better than the involvement of the parents and students. a poorly rated school could offer as much opportunity as higher rated schools. A child's experience is limited more by how he approaches life than what a school offers. In reality the Lake Mary schools are probably pretty similar. If it were my child I would opt for Winter Park, Olympia, Dr. Phillips or private, but thats just me.

If parents keep active in the schools any child can get an A rated education.