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Now if you are like many and want your child in a mostly white upper middle class environment, look for the exemplary rating.

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Good points overall, AgCPA, but I would quibble with the statement above just because I know CSISD tries hard to balance the populations in their elementary schools.

Also, schools like Mumford belie the point.

Thanks for the info everyone. Now I know someone HAS to have some not so great things to say. Where are they?

And BTW, I am a former teacher and I am not interested in rankings or test scores. I am more interested in teachers, staff and inovative activities that are done. Any schools with outdoor gardens or animals in classrooms?

What about more on some Bryan schools?

AgCPA FTW

firefly, I'm a elem. teacher I teach in CS and live in Bryan... I'd gladly grab a cup of coffee and fill you in...

And College Hills nails it...

Growing up my siblings and I went through South Knoll. My husband went through College Hills.

Our kids go to College Hills and we love it! The teachers have been great, experience has been awesome as well. Our middle is in the dual language program we really like the program. Our youngest has a few years to go, but we are doing his speech there and she is fantastic!

Overall, we really love College Hills. Love the teachers and support staff and have had no problems at all!

See...

My oldest started at Mitchell midway through kinder and graduated out after fifth grade. No real complaints about the school, although I will say I was bothered that not one teacher broke through her shy reserved shell and got to really KNOW her. Sure, she made great grades and participated just fine. She's just a different girl outside of school, night and day really. The faculty have always been responsive if I contacted them, most teachers were lovely (just a few really didn't have nice bedside manner but were skilled at their job). Not sure if the butterfly garden really took off and don't really recall class pets in any of her rooms. I'd say the same small percentage of parents were involved in every school event, rather than lots of parents rotating through the year. Think that's typical, though.

We've recently moved and now my middle child attends Johnson. We're too new there to really give it a fair review, but so far so good. I am liking their "open concept" classrooms and they do have a leopard gecko on the front counter and that's pretty cool!

Interesting to see that Neal Elementary in Bryan with a 95.9% economically disadvantaged student population is ranked Exemplary. Would certain other posters send their kids to Neal?

[This message has been edited by halibut sinclair (edited 1/3/2013 2:03p).]

Someone mentioned the lack of substitute teachers. . . Bryan "raised" the pay for subs to $55 a day back in about 2006. That's still the pay for subs. College Station pays $60. Hmmmm, let's see, $55 divided by about 8 hours . . . Long term subs get a little more.

Best to not say anything...

My son had a small animal in one of his 1st grade classes. I think it was a guinea pig or a hedgehog...I will have to ask him. They may have had a snake, too (I really didn't want to hear too much about it, if they did). I also believe GP has an outdoor garden, but I think it was a project by the older kids. Both GP and Pebble Creek had their GT classes make wreaths for Christmas, and they were auctioned off at Victoria Bank in Tower Point. All proceeds went to the GT class. I thought that was a really neat idea!

CH Kinder has a garden... Very impressive...

My daughter goes to Neal Elementary in Bryan and she loves it! She is in 1st grade. She started off in Kindergarten in College Station at Southwood Valley Elementary and had a difficult time there. She wasn't happy at all, we had problems getting her ready in the mornings and she cried a lot sometimes begging us not to make her go. I tried talking to her teacher about it and they didn't seem to feel it was a real problem, but it upset me to see my daughter like that. We moved to Bryan just a little before she was 1/2 way through the Kindergarten year and started at Neal and she has loved it from Day 1. She loves getting up and going to school. She loves the activities and learning Spanish.
In all truthfulness, I was the one leery about her going there and was so worried about it, but she is doing great, she loves it, I love seeing her love it and I wouldn't want to have to send her anywhere else now. We love Neal Elementary.

Good post.

[This message has been edited by halibut sinclair (edited 1/3/2013 2:01p).]

And there you have it - CSISD makes children cry.

Bowen Elementary

If a school with the same socioeconomic make up as a south CS school has low scores, I would be worried. But that would be hard to find... And when you consider the number of exemptions provided a particular school is only 15 or so last I read, may have changed, even though there is an effort on the district's part to balance things, scores will be impacted by even subtle differences none the less. Past CS data on this released showed a clear correlation between rating and the make up of the student population. Remember if a school has a particularly large special needs program that will eat up most if not all of their exemptions putting them at a disadvantage to schools with different make ups and programs. All I am really saying though, you will be happy at any school in this area. They are all very good.



[This message has been edited by AgCPA (edited 1/3/2013 2:49p).]

and I counter with CSISD makes them cry when they have to leave...

^ As a teacher, your reading comprehension needs help.

This has been one of the better threads recently and I thank the OP for starting it. It sounds like we are in agreement that doing a little legwork, talking to actual teachers and staff, and keeping an open mind is a better way to evaluate which schools to send our little ones then lazily reading remote statistics devoid of much context.

acp

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College Hills, my little girl and my wife cried on her last day...

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For you halibut, we PE coaches dont pretend to know everything but we do our best...

acp... more than you know...

Flesh you like your job and are afraid to say anything? That sounds just like the teacher I worked for that left in Dec. She was so afraid to explain why she didn't need my services anymore. But I work for a teacher at S Knoll and one from Bowen and the latter has been there for over 10 years and her description of her teaching experiences since this last administration change has been well to quote her "has taken all the fun out of teaching". I feel for those Houston kindergarteners and the ones at Mitchell who bonded with their teachers and then had to lose them because their teaching techniques were taken away from them for various reasons. Teachers who once loved their jobs and cannot afford to just walk out like one did at the first of the year are now boggled down having to shift students around because they will not hire subs. Yeah they have the funds they just don't want to use them. Pulling teachers from other areas like PE and having them teach 1st grade or a 2nd grade teacher moved to PE and then moving a fifth grade teacher who is used to teaching older kids to kindergarten. How does that benefit anyone?

Fleen, be careful doling out those coveted blue diamonds to acp. He's likely to sell those diamonds on the black market and blow all the cash in the Sonic drive-thru.

I kid; I kid.

nana, I love my job and get to coach every kid, everyday... I can't change the rest...

It's not Showfriends, it's Showbusiness...

Your evidently one of the lucky ones who love their job and is allowed to do it his way. I applaud the teachers, always have. My dad was a PE/coach for 28 years for BISD but dang things have changed. From discipline to curriculum. And with what the teachers have to deal with now, it's not enough that they probably spend 60 per cent of a class period dealing with discipline problems but now have to struggle with having to please higher ups just to keep their jobs. I wish Dr. Sarah Ashburn had never left. Things haven't been the same since.

nana, aside from the kids, I work for you, your parents, my parents, my kids, your kids, grandkids... etc... doing my best to help a kid...

Lord knows I don't get paid for it...

I know that at least one of the kindergarten classes at Forest Ridge has a bunny for a classroom pet, and that the older kids are seen walking and playing with dogs at recess at times.

agswife, a 3rd grade teacher brings his dogs to school...

I checked with my son, and apparently, they had a guinea pig and a hedgehog and two snakes in one of his first grade class rooms.