Rialto in Jupiter and school systems (Trenton, Limestone Creek: renting, credit, home)

[Pookahan]

Hi I am currently renting in Abacoa and am looking to buy either in Abacoa or Rialto. The home we really like is in Rialto, but the elementary school and middle school (Limestone Creek and Jupiter Middle)are not schools I would want to send my children too, if I had another choice. I am new to Florida, can anyone explain how and if I could send my children to another school of my choice. I appreciate your assistance in advance!

[jgreco5]

In Abacoa, your child's elementary years are split between two different schools. They will attend K-2 at Lighthouse Elementary and years 3-5 at Beacon Cove. This could be a hassle if you have two elementary school aged kids that get split up between the schools. The school's start and finish times are very close, and can be a real time suck/hassle getting them picked up and dropped off reasonably.

For what it's worth, my dentist's children attend Limestone Creek and they have nothing but great things to say about it.

Why are you against Jupiter Middle? In my opinion that school is better than Independence, both of my children were terribly bullied as well as my doctor's daughter. The school did nothing to stop it. Kids are bused in from other areas that do not respect the school, neighboring parks or residents. As soon as this started happening I started seeing graffiti and the bullying got out of hand. My daughter left two years ago, maybe it's changed since.

Another issue to consider is transportation, there are no buses within Abacoa for any of the schools. Since Middle School has a start time of 9AM, it could cause trouble for working parents.

I believe Jupiter Middle is also a Magnet School for Math & Science, if I were to do it again, I would want my kids to go to Jupiter Middle (in a heartbeat). Friends of my kids who went to Jupiter Middle loved it and have gone on to good schools.

Then there is the issue of High School, you need to figure out if you'd want your kids going to Dwyer or Jupiter High. Most if not all of Abacoa is considered within walking distance of Dwyer and again no bus transportation is available and may be a hassle.

Hope this helps.

[Pookahan]

Thank you for your thoughts! I am glad to hear the positive things about Jupiter Middle. Strangely,I have heard alot about bullying at Independence and wonder why they are tolerating it. Any thoughts on Dwyer vs. Jupiter High?

[jgreco5]

Well that depends what you're looking for... I think you need to match up your kids to the right school based on his/her needs not based on what everyone else thinks. Here is my experience with both schools.

We are zoned for Dwyer, my oldest son was a Freshman 4 years ago. There were media reports about guns at school and my whole neighborhood was up in arms about how bad Dwyer was just a year earlier when boundary changes made our school Dwyer.

We were able to get my son in the Magnet program for technology at Jupiter High. That being said (due to other families desiring Jupiter vs Dwyer and a large number of "boundary jumpers", the school is extremely overcrowded), the band program is incredible- BUT the teachers (that I experienced, not all) seem to be very lax about everything from tardies, dress code, missing homework. My son's Senior year was not his best, he tried to get an appointment with guidance (a 3 month wait), he had D's & F's throughout each semester. Somehow he finished each report card with all A's & B's due to extra credit. I felt he was "pushed through the system" and never challenged. I think with that many kids they can't give the extra attention. I will say the school is clean and well taken care of.

Let's move onto my daughter. We were told if she was in band, kept to hanging out with the "good" kids (band nerds), she would be fine at Dwyer since Jupiter was not able to accept her into magnet. We enrolled her in the summer band camp and what I saw absolutely horrified me. After band camp, we went to see a performance of what they had learned. I had never seen such an awful, disrespectful bunch of kids in my life (moving my stuff to take my seat and then laughing at me when I asked them about it). Kids yelling "F You" to the band director while he was talking and just utter chaos (and these are the "good" kids)? The school is gloomy, poorly taken care of and resembles a prison. My husband who is extremely open-minded and went to High School in Trenton, NJ said "there is no way in hell she is coming back here, I will get a second job to pay for private school" and that is what we did.

Now if your kid is into SPORTS, that's a different story, a lot of emphasis is put on their sports teams. My daughters friends say school life there is "ok".

My daughter is now a Junior at Benjamin. (she does not like the kids, but says her education is incredible and loves going to school).

After seeing the lack of direction my son was able to get, and chaos at a simple band function with such a small group of kids, I was determined that she was going to get the attention she needs (albeit at a very dear cost).

[Pookahan]

Wow... Thank you for your honesty. I am glad Benjamin is working out for her, for the price, it should be wonderful I wonder if anyone else has had any positive or negative experiences with these schools.