US News rated 2 city of Richmond high schools in top 10 in Virginia (Chester: crime, how much)

[sls76]

Originally Posted by sarchivist98

Are there really no OK public high schools in Richmond that aren't magnet/specialty? It looks like Jefferson has an IB program. My older child has taken both IB and AP classes in NY, and the IB seems much more in depth and prepares you better for college than AP.

We may be moving to the Richmond area with my rising 9th grader in the fall. Richmond itself is a much better fit for our family than the suburbs. My son currently goes to a poorly ranked, high poverty school with metal detectors in NY, but I have discovered that once you get past that, there are excellent teachers and pockets of greatness. Is there anyone who has sent their kids to a general public Richmond high school who can comment? I have found that people who are just going on hearsay about schools have all kinds of incorrect ideas.

We are overeducated professionals, so we are able to advocate for our kids and fill in the academic gaps at home, but worry about atmosphere. Do the kids feel safe at school?

I don't know that anyone who posts on here has the experience you seek. Jefferson is in the bottom 2% in the state according to school digger. My dd goes to an IB middle school which we love, but obviously all IB schools are not created equally. Personally I'd look in Henrico or Chesterfield in neighborhoods close to the city.

[ellieb128]

Honestly if you have the means to put your child in a school in one of the surrounding counties you should. There is one OK choice in the city for HS and it pales in comparison to what is available a few miles away. Personally we'd love to live in the city but we have kids in school so once they graduate we'll go back.

[Charlesaf3]

Well, actually there are 3 good high schools, that was the point of this thread. But they are exam/magnet.

Thomas Jefferson does not have a great reputation, but it's safe. Ironically, it's in an upper middle class neighborhood. If it has one kid from the neighborhood attending I'd be a little surprised, but...

[VA Yankee]

Specialty schools are not an accurate gauge of any communities schools, when you can glean off the top percentage or choose those who put themselves out there to be admitted you are going to have positive results. Looking at Richmond schools without the magnet/specialty schools they are poor to mediocre which is why most middle class families are forced to pay up for private school or move to the burbs, which is a shame because a strong middle class is what the city needs.

[Charlesaf3]

Yes, as I responded previously, I don't disagree, but this shows there ARE options. Which is different from nothing.

Also there are 3 superb elementary schools

[sls76]

Originally Posted by Charlesaf3

Yes, as I responded previously, I don't disagree, but this shows there ARE options. Which is different from nothing.

Also there are 3 superb elementary schools

Too bad the options are mainly for upper middle class kids with highly educated parents.

[Charlesaf3]

Originally Posted by sls76

Too bad the options are mainly for upper middle class kids with highly educated parents.

True. Though little different from the counties in that respect. Henrico has some truly awful schools, but they don't get any airtime.

[sls76]

Originally Posted by Charlesaf3

True. Though little different from the counties in that respect. Henrico has some truly awful schools, but they don't get any airtime.

Oh, come on. This just gets sillier by the post. The majority of Henrico students have access to excellent or very good schools. Unfortunately the demographics in the eastern part of the county are challenging. On a very middle class salary, my kids have access to some of the best schools in the state from kindergarten through 12th grade without playing Russian roulette with MW and the specialty centers. That cannot be said of anywhere in the city.

[Charlesaf3]

majority? That's equally silly. Check the RTD on east side henrico schools, this isn't exactly an unknown issue. And it's true in east Chesterfield as well.

If the short pump area, or the area north of it, is middle class, than the West end of the city is as well. Which is to say, that's going to be viewed by most as a silly statement.

The fact there are good schools in the city, which most are unaware of, was what this post is about. There's nothing silly about that, as your own posts demonstrate, as do others on this page. And yes, obviously people in the city know that. Not so sure about people in the far west end. But many people who read this are from out of town, and that knowledge is useful for them.

If one doesn't get one's city kids into the good schools, one can always move to west Henrico as the fallback option. But it's not a given that people who don't want to should have to live out there.

[VA Yankee]

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I won't argue that there are more social issues brought into the schools in the eastern end of Henrico then the west end but even with those challenges their performance far exceeds the secondary schools in the city. As you point out the further west you go the more affluent the communities feeding the schools become reducing the presence of these social issues. Other than 2 or maybe 3 elementary schools which have good parental support what regular schools do you consider "good schools in the city, which most are unaware of", I am curious. Even the areas of the city with middle class or above demographics have crap school assignments forcing parents to pay up or move out which they shouldn't have to do. The other day I was watching the news about the recent problems at Huguenot and a student expression that just trying to go to school is too dangerous....