Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools

[EastSideResider]

In my opinion:

Struggling Schools:

West Charlotte

West Meck

Vance

Independence

Garinger

Berry

Average Schools:

East Meck

Olympic

Waddell

Butler

Good Schools:

Harding (surprisingly)

Hopewell

Myers Park

North Meck

South Meck

Providence

**The new Audrey Kell school in Ballintyne will be good because of it's location.

[skysdalimit]

Yep, Ardrey Kell and Providence will be the 2 elite.

[EastSideResider]

Yea, I'm pretty sure it's because of the upper class population that lives there. There rarely is an issue going on in Providence and I'm sure the Kell school will be exactly like that. I think that the new Kell school will be taking South Meck and Providence's upper-upper class (way high income) and leaving the upper class. That's the only way I know how to explain it - haha.

[skysdalimit]

err, I don't think Providence will really go down, I think South Meck will though because all of South Meck's upper class students live out that way.

[f0xym0p]

Yea, I'm pretty sure it's because of the upper class population that lives there. There rarely is an issue going on in Providence and I'm sure the Kell school will be exactly like that. I think that the new Kell school will be taking South Meck and Providence's upper-upper class (way high income) and leaving the upper class. That's the only way I know how to explain it - haha. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ick, that sounds awful. I would have hated going to a school like that.

[DigitalSky]

err, I don't think Providence will really go down, I think South Meck will though because all of South Meck's upper class students live out that way.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree. South Meck will be losing a majority of Piper Glen, Ballantyne

[EastSideResider]

Yeah, Providence will remain the same. South Meck won't change too badly though.

[DigitalSky]

Yeah, Providence will remain the same. South Meck won't change too badly though.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, Providence will be losing Providence Country Club, but i don't think they're gaining any new territory

[EastSideResider]

I think that a little rezoning of certain schools districts would be a good idea. I think that Independence's district needs to become smaller. Indpendence is so overcrowded. Maybe they could let Butler or Vance or East Meck take over a part of their district. Where I live some people who go to Butler live closer to Independence, so the zoning is all out of place in my opinion. I think you should be able to go to the school nearest you. They need to make the school populations closer. Myers Park had 2,537 students and Waddell had 992. That was the biggest difference but still they need to make it more equal.

[MZT]

The only thing more political than redistricting the city council, is redrawing school districts.

Getting a different councilmember is just another pol. But putting your house in a different school district is an intrusion on your children's lives, and it affects your property value.

[EastSideResider]

So you're saying you disagree? Because I have to travel 15 minutes to Butler when I could just spend 2 going to Independence?

[MZT]

I'm saying that's why it's so hard to move district lines.

We do have the choice plan, and people can *choose* to send kids to Waddell. They just aren't doing it.

[EastSideResider]

I thought they got rid of the choice plan about 2 years ago? I would definitely try getting my children in Independence because it is closer, but I don't want to go through tons and tons of paperwork. So I just drive the extra 10+ minutes. Are you sure the choice plan is still in effect, or is what I described the choice plan and I just didn't know it?

[skysdalimit]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can still "choose", but only if your choice school has a reasonable amount of space, meaning those who live in the zone get first priority.

[Seabreeze]

You have rated the schools above in your opinion... what are you going off of to base your opinion? how many mcmansions are located in a 1 mile radius?

[peaceloveunderstanding]

he is probably going off graduation rates, crime rates, and college attainment rates.

[EastSideResider]

You have rated the schools above in your opinion... what are you going off of to base your opinion? how many mcmansions are located in a 1 mile radius?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Congratulations, you can make a joke? Instead of making some wisecrack, why don't you post what you think? But to answer your question, no, I don't base it on "McMansions". If you go to this website Click Here and type in the school name you want to see, it shows you their performance. Providence and Myers Park were way ahead of the rest (in the 80s). The only two that I changed were Harding and Butler. I've been inside Butler and seen the school in action and it didn't impress me because the crime was bad, so I moved it down to average. Harding really impresses me even if its score isn't that high. Berry's score was 49.1 and Harding's score was 58.8. Those schools are practically side-by-side, which shows how hard the Harding students try. Also in newsweek magazine Harding was rated 25th best high school in America, probably because it offers IB/AP courses. So no, I didn't base it on "mcmansions", but if I did it probably would turn out the same (except Harding). Low Income/High Income areas differ a lot.

[ngp]

I read somewhere that a lot of the high-ranking schools in the city were artificially raising their ratings by cramming as many kids as possible into AP courses. I have no idea where I read that, so feel free to disregard this post altogether. I'm just thinking that such a practice would be very CMS-ish, and it would be a shame if high rankings allowed the more persuasive parents in the area to slip into apathy over the school situation here.

Anecdotally, a co-worker was desperately trying to find her high-school aged daughter a math tutor a while back. She felt her daughter was ill-prepared for the upcoming class, despite attending one of the "good" schools. There were none left because all the other parents in the area had already hired them out for large sums of cash.

There were lots of fun inferences to be made from her story. You know, with regards to socioeconomic safety nets and so forth.

[EastSideResider]

Yeah I totally agree, the higher income areas can do a lot with their money to help their children. Just another fact about why I moved Butler was becuase it had the lowest graduation rate for all CMS schools (90%). Out of that 90%, 97% chose to go to college/better their education. The 97% was the highest in CMS though. They're lowest in one category and highest in the other.

[Seabreeze]

CHill out man, i was just making a mcjoke... I just didn't think my school was that mcbad

[EastSideResider]

What school do you go to?

[Seabreeze]

I am alumni from East Mecklenburg Highschool... when i went there it wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing but it was consistantly ranked as one of the best schools in Charlotte...

[graydog]

Congratulations, you can make a joke? Instead of making some wisecrack, why don't you post what you think? But to answer your question, no, I don't base it on "McMansions". If you go to this website Click Here and type in the school name you want to see, it shows you their performance. Providence and Myers Park were way ahead of the rest (in the 80s). The only two that I changed were Harding and Butler. I've been inside Butler and seen the school in action and it didn't impress me because the crime was bad, so I moved it down to average. Harding really impresses me even if its score isn't that high. Berry's score was 49.1 and Harding's score was 58.8. Those schools are practically side-by-side, which shows how hard the Harding students try. Also in newsweek magazine Harding was rated 25th best high school in America, probably because it offers IB/AP courses. So no, I didn't base it on "mcmansions", but if I did it probably would turn out the same (except Harding). Low Income/High Income areas differ a lot. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't see any validity to the Newsweek rakings. They are primarily counting kids who take IB/AP tests. That's only a small piece of a school's worth.

You also need to wonder about the source. Newsweek's parent is the Washington Times. They own a company which sells AP/IB tests. Coincidence?

If you look at the Harding stats for poverty and crime, it's doesn't seem like a good environment for learning. South Meck is a great CMS school, but they have major issues.

Parents, teachers and money are the biggest factors for school success. The parents keep the kids focused, the teachers teach and the money brings an environment condusive to learning. That attracts good teachers and involved parents with money and the cycle continues.

Perhaps we have been trying to solve the wrong problem. Maybe we need to teach the parents in struggling schools how to support and encourage their kids. And maybe we need to take some of that CMS budget and use it to keep the kids off the street while their parents are working.

[DigitalSky]

yeah, The Newsweek Rankings don't paint the whole picture about a high school, people really shouldn't solely base how good a high school is on that.

[EastSideResider]

I didn't base it just on the magazine. In my reply I posted other factors for my decision. Graydog... South Meck has problems? What kind? I havn't heard of any. The only school I know that is in an upperclass neighborhood and has issues is Myers Park. I've never seen a school with that many drug problems.