Recieve?

I before e except after c, coach.

i before c, followed by e... I teach P.E.

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I notice Sam Houston is no longer a favorite. After all the teacher shuffling around a few years ago, the school has suffered tremendous losses as far as good and experienced teachers.

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No one has talked about this.

The new principal is light years better than the last one, but unfortunately, a LOT of damage was done, and a lot of really good teachers left. I'm not a fan of how they deal with major behavioral issues, but I think that's pretty much the norm now.

Lot's of factors make a school a home, which it essentially is for 8 hours a day and factors even heavily more for some kids. Meet the admins, meet the teachers, meet the parents, but most important, be involved. Just as you need our help to educate your kids, we need your help to let them grow...

Can I get opinions on Greens Prairie Elementary? It's not rated in the system...I imagine because it's pretty new. Is there anything I need to be aware of as I prepare for my kids to begin there next year? I've heard pretty good things from a neighbor, but I was hoping to get the board's opinion...also, are there specific programs offered there I should be aware of considering? (ex: dual language, GT, etc.) Thanks in advance!

[This message has been edited by JR Ewing (edited 1/9/2013 12:29p).]

I left an earlier post about GP...we LOVE it there. My son started in first grade the year that it opened. From what I understand, the principal "recruited" many teachers to go with her - they weren't just assigned there arbitrarily (as I was afraid would becthe case when I first heard we would be going to GP instead of Forest Ridge). My son is GT, and the program/teachers are outstanding. In both first and second grade, he actually had 2 teachers - a "home room" teacher and a secondary teacher. One tends to specialize in math/science and the other reading/language arts. I have been extremely happy with the level of experience that the teachers working with the GT kids have. My son seems to do better with more experienced teachers, and that is exactly what we have had. Facilities are top notch, the admin and staff (everyone from the office to the cafeteria) are wonderfully caring and helpful. My family had a major disruption this past fall, and I can say that everyone went above and beyond to help me deal with it and minimize the impact on my child. Unfortunately, because of this disruption, we will be moving and leaving GP, but I am doing everything I can to keep my child there until the end of the year (140 mile commute every day). The school is wonderful...I can't say enough good things about it, and we are very sad to have to leave.

I should add - last I checked, test scores aren't available because the school hasn't even been open for two years. I'm not really worried about that because I know my son has outstanding teachers. The second grade had so many GT kids that they were split among two classes (in first grade, they were clustered in one). The mix of students seems to be good - yes, there are privileged kids, but since the school serves all of the Wellborn area and beyond, there are disadvantaged children, too, as well as kids who speak little to no English. I personally think the diversity is healthy for kids. My son has learned a lot about compassion and empathy from his classmates.

Thanks for the extensive write up Transplant! That's great to know...and very informational! T&P to your and your "situation" and prayers for a Blessed resolution...

Thank you, JR...glad I could help! Fortunately, I did get a resolution, it just means moving away from College Station and Greens Prairie. I'm hoping and praying that we are just as happy with the next school...GP certainly set the bar high!

Transplant--I think I know you! And I'm so thankful you didn't make the move at Christmas!!! Greens Prairie is a school family like no other!

LOL, 69Ag, you probably do! I feel like half of College Station knows our story! I will never pass up a chance to sing the praises of GP, though! We are going to miss the family so very much!!!

We've only lived in BCS for not quite 3 years. From the second we arrived (moving from 3 states away), we intended to make it our forever home, despite 1) not knowing even a single person and 2) not being an Aggie. It has been a wonderful experience and we have some great memories! I can see why so many Ags come back or never leave in the first place!

How difficult is it to get into the dual language program in College Hills?

We applied our daughter last year to the dual language program. She was starting Kindergarten a year late due to a Summer birthday (this is the norm in Dallas private schools, which is where we were coming from). She's already reading on a 3rd grade level and we thought the dual language program would be the academic challenge she needed. She did the testing, we filled out the application, and she was wait listed (which turned out to be ok because we ended up living in Bryan anyway). I'm pretty sure once they pass the initial screeners, it's just a luck of the draw kind of thing. In my experience (as a 10 year veteran teacher), I would've thought she'd have been a no brainer for the dual language program.

that's a bummer. Is she in one of the Bryan dual language programs? What is it that they are testing for during the application process?

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How difficult is it to get into the dual language program in College Hills?

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Difficult. It is not random. Number of openings for English speakers depend on how many Spanish speakers enroll because the balance in the classroom in CS is 50/50. (Bryan's program is different) The application is important. Preference is given to those with siblings in the program. Also, the level of commitment to the program is important as you must be willing to stick with it for kinder-6th grade---not an easy assignment.

But after the students meet those criteria, is it basically a lottery? Does anyone know how difficult it is to get into Bryan's dual language programs?

The dual language programs in Bryan vary as to how they are structured. We did not have a good experience at the one we chose. Turnover in teachers and information was not easily obtainable about the specifics of the program.

And as a side note to the school discussions, it is really difficult to compare the schools. There may be some good teachers at all the schools, there may be some great teachers in certain grades and there may be some not so good teachers and because you have no control over which teacher your child is with, it is the lottery. Also, the turnover in teaching staff is unpredictable. We selected a school that has low turnover, but then this year there has been a number of changes in teachers. It is frustrating as a parent because everything is changing so quickly. I will say changes in principal (also difficult to predict) can really change the dynamics at a school.

In Bryan, you have to be zoned for one of the schools that offers DL. It's not open enrollment like CSISD's program. When I inquired about it, I called the schools that offered the program and they made it sound like if you want in, you get in. But, you had to live in the attendance zone for Henderson, Johnson, Milam, or Jones (which we don't).

Johnson

I do know that in Bryan your child has to have an interview for Dual Language. Not all that interview get in. Not sure what the exact criteria is though.

Unless something changed, last year you didn't need to live in the zone for a particular school for dual language in Bryan. You applied and it was a first come first served.