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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
s/o Schools post
Those of you who are completely anti-TPS, can you fill me in on why?
Aside from the State Ratings, preferably.
Re: s/o Schools post
Honestly it's the ratings. When looking for a house I would not move to an area that isn't in the excellent category. However, if say Lake Local went down in ratings I of course wouldn't pack up and move. Let's just hope that doesn't happen.
I see a few schools in Toledo are rated excellent so if I already lived in that area I guess I might be okay for the time being w/ my kids attending a Toledo school. Effective rating just is not good enough for me. My children are on the honor roll and I want them to get the best education possible. I just can't imagine Toledo in another 16+ years when the OP would be sending her kids to high school.
I found this and found it to be quit interesting:
ExcellentBeverlyBirminghamElmhurstGrove PattersonHarvardStartToledo Early College High SchoolToledo Technology AcademyEffectiveArlingtonBowsherCrossgatesEast Side CentralGarfieldLongfellowNavarreOWE AcademyOttawa RiverRaymerContinuous ImprovementBurroughsByrnedaleChaseDeVeauxEdgewaterGlendale-FeilbachHawkinsLarchmontMarshallMcKinleyMcTigueOakdaleOld OrchardRiversideRogersStewartWaiteWalbridgeWhittierAcademic WatchBTIEBMSHumanitiesKeyserLagrangeLincolnReynoldsSMARTShermanWestfieldWoodwardAcademic EmergencyAllied HealthGlenwoodJonesKingLeverettePickettRobinsonRosa ParksSpringI am with you Kelly. Education is very important. TPS as a whole gets a very bad rap, it has for years and as long as I can remember as a whole never gets a very good rating. If I couldn't afford a home in a district that as a whole gets an excellent rating then yes, I'd then look at individual ratings of certain TPS schools and try to stick with living in the area that goes to those certain schools.
And who is to say Sylvania, Anthony Wayne, etc.. won't go downhill in several years, you just never know.
But statistics don't lie and if I was thinking of the future education of my children I would stick with a district that as a whole gets an excellent rating. Not just rely on picking and choosing and trying to stay within a neighborhood that has a handful of schools with excellent rating in that district.
It is sad and unfortunate that this has happened to TPS.
I'm so happy with Harvard, Merin... H is doing so well! and I believe the new Beverly will be K-8 so that should be her middle school (instead of Byrnedale) which also makes me happy. I've been to the new Bowsher HS and I'm really impressed with that as well. I think S Toledo/Heatherdowns area is the exception to the TPS "standard" that everyone hears about.
And the preschool, omg I can't say enough good about them! I'm so thankful for them and H2 is just thriving there.
Maybe in a few years when I'm able to afford a home in those other districts, and the property taxes that go with that, we will consider moving. But I'm really happy I chose the Harvard area to buy our home, with my little single mommy budget
While I would never, ever, fault a parent for choosing schools that they feel are best for their child(ren), I still cannot understand the distaste for and bad-mouthing of TPS as a whole. (and I'm not saying you ladies were all sitting here bad-mouthing, I'm just saying this as a general sentiment of things I've heard everywhere)
Sure, it's easier (and maybe smarter? who knows) to choose a district where all of the schools are good, but I still don't think it's fair to dismiss TPS totally because of the State ratings.
TPS is a much larger, urban, school district than the others mentioned, so there are obviously going to be a lot more schools, with several of them in "rougher" areas, that will bring down the rankings for the district. In addition, the State ratings are really a small part of the whole picture.
But even with that small snapshot, the individual school ratings that you posted, Kel, are a good example of the fact that there are really great schools within TPS.
I guess my big issue is that people go around saying how much TPS sucks and how they would NEVER send their children to TPS, etc. and I really don't think it's fair to make a blanket judgement like that.
Ditto Merin.
I couldn't say it without a really long post but you sumed it up quite nicely.
I personally would never send my kids to TPS based on a couple of facts. #1- the ratings. #2- the fact that I know people who have worked in the district and they've told me some seriously effed up stories.
Had we stayed in Toledo, I would have sent my kids to a private school even if it would have financially strained me. Hell, I won't even send my kids to my alum (Maumee) due to the issues THAT district has (and they get good ratings academically!).
From my professional stand point (did my student teaching at Walbridge and subbed for district), it's not the label of TPS, it's the resources available. They have outdated materials from textbooks to computers (unless you are in a new building). They have little manipulatives or money for the ones the teachers would like. There is little professional development for the teachers to better their learning. There is little to no money for field trips, etc. Typically there are larger class sizes and some of the schools don't have playgrounds due to their locations in the city (Walbridge for example didn't used to, just blacktop but since it is being rebuilt I am not sure what it will have). As I recall, the school lunches were nothing to write home about. If I wouldn't eat it, I wouldn't want my children eating it.
All of these individually aren't a big deal and of course each building has it's different story. As a whole, these are just some of the issues that the district as a whole deals with regardless of the school. If I were to move to Old Orchard area or South Toledo but I don't think I would stick around for junior high.
Honestly, I'm not even a fan of living in this city and seeing so much deterioration. But whatev. We're here...in this house for at least another 5 years. As this city continues to deteriorate, I certainly don't see the schools improving. Seems my company is one of the very few really actively hiring...most other companies seem to still be at a standstill...at best. That doesn't help the city. Which, in turn, does not help the schools. As it is now...there's always the threat of one school or other being closed, lots and lots of cuts, etc. So many schools, lately, seem to be threatening cuts...not just TPS. When these schools close, when these cuts happen, that's fewer resources to spread around to all of the students. They close the schools in the 'bad' areas of town...they gotta go somewhere, right (those that haven't dropped out yet, at least)? I have a friend who was an art teacher at Libbey. She loved what she did...but she would be the first to admit it was a rough school. That school is now closed, sending those students elsewhere...those who want to learn and those who want to cause trouble. As I said before...DH is a product of Bowsher, his mom taught for years in TPS...but he is definitely not for sending Baby B to TPS (he even went to parochial school through junior high. It really comes down to personal choice...and this is what we choose.