I have been sheltered in our Christian School for about 9 years now. I know nothing else. I can say we have a great program and I am happy where we are at. But the reality is that tuition is not going away and it will not get cheaper. So I am open to looking into HS in our area. But gosh, I don't know how to research this topic. As a Private school I know we don't offer a lot of outside programs . I feel that my child is gifted in art and many subjects come easy too her. I am hoping to have doors open for possible schalorships or something that may be offered in a public setting then another. I just not sure how to go about this. Any suggestions ?
Can I add that I have looked up sites that rate the schools. It shows a few from 2010 and many in 2009 . Really does not say about presant stuff....... the ratings are all about the same and some of the schools I hear are " rougher " Then others, still show good ratings.
As far as I know you don't get to choose the school, you live in the schools district and you have to apply to go to a different one. So I would have to say call the district admin office and ask them how to go about doing this.
Your home's location determines the public high school district the children will go to. Usually that means you have the choice of one school.
Why? What will you save these four years? Can you put away the tuition you would be saving for college, or are you just thinking of having more disposable income? Only to be hit hard when she actually does go to college. Full ride scholarships are hard to come by.
You can look up greatschools and other internet sites Beware though, people who are angry at something or someone will go to these sites and bash schools and teachers. People who are happy with something have no reason to go and say nice things online, they don't think about it.
Beware also of reported test scores, AP and such. Of the schools in our two counties, 10 highschools, one has a 100% pass rate of a 5 on the AP Physics test. AP Physics is one of the two hardest AP exams. But when you look at the real numbers from that school only 3 kids on average take the test, out of a class of 15-18. The principal at that school discourages all students from taking any AP exam unless they are sure they have a chance at 5.
My daughter's school has a pass rate of 73% for 5's. All students in AP Physics are encouragted to try to take the test, no matter what. So
most of them get 3's and 4's, maybe 3 kids get a 5.
Take into consideration word of mouth. If she is in a multi age sport, fencing, swim, taekwondo, ask the moms. They will be more than happy to tell you what they think about their highschool.
Sometimes the best schools are not the ones with the most money. We are a farm school out in the middle of nowhere, but our graduating seniors go to some pretty high falutin' universities. So find out where the kids go after highschool.
Also find out what the amount of scholarships was awarded to the senior class.
Talk to the guidance counselors and make sure the highschool classes she takes now will be accepted. Many are not and she may have to repeat Algebra, for instance.
Go to any open houses and meet the teachers.
Ask when the 8th graders are visiting and see if your daughter can join them. Most 8th graders have a field trip to the HS to see what it is about.
What kinds of clubs do they have?
What kinds of help for freshmen?
What kinds of extracurricular classes?
Is there an FCA chapter? (Fellowship of Christian Athletes)
Band/Orchestra/Art to include AP Art
Can your child take dual enollment at her Christian school?
Does the Public High School offer it?
First off, it will be different going from private to public. Be ready for a transition. Some public schools are excellent, some are below par. It takes research, word of mouth and visiting schools.
A good site is www.greatschools.org and also look into the school system website in your district to read about all the schools. You can get test scores, number of children enrolled, the rate of how many go on to college, etc
Our daughter is in public school because we felt it was a good diverse setting that would be good for her. She is very social, athletic and it has worked well for us. The worst year was 10th grade with girl drama. We wanted her in an environment with many types of people because she will deal with that when she goes to college as well as goes out into the workplace. We all have to learn how to deal with people.
He current Sr High school is listed among the top1% high schools in America. To us, we could not find a better school for her that prepares her for college, everyone works as a team and the teachers/staff are top notch.
As for being gifted and talented, many parents believe their children are gifted and talented and basically things even out over time. There are programs in place for children who do need additional instruction, there are the AP/Honors programs as well as the IB program.
We don't consider our daughter gifted and talented, but she is a great student with high GPA over 4.0 and in mostly AP and Honors classes as well as playing the violin and being on the cheer squad. It is a lot of work but a good balance. We are actively looking at colleges and she has been approached by some colleges.
As for as scholarships you can apply for any and all scholarships, there are many out there. Do your research on it.
My main concern would be the culture shock from being so overly sheltered and then adjusting to the real world.
If it is working, why change? Get creative with finding the money to continue instead of just throwing in the towel. I think it an absolute tragedy when parents opt to do this in the name of saving money.
Right now, you can not realize what you may be giving up academically, or how your home and children will change to adapt to the new "experience." We have too many friends who did this, and regretted it. Kids don't need a public school experience to be socialized and prepared for college. The cream of the crop make it to college regardless of their high school experience. But if a child has a lousy high school education or experience and is side tracked by unnecessary dramas, clique mentality and lousy curricula...college isn't even going to be an expectation.
If the quality of your children's education, faith and values are important and that is why you chose a Christian school in the first place, you should stick to your guns and continue with that plan. Otherwise, understand that in your effort to save a few pennies, you may lose everything that is *really* important to you.
I think in Arizona you can go to any high school you want, if you can get a variance. Some schools offer only a small window for that variance though. Example: I had to get permission for a variance from the school in my district to submit it to the school I wanted, only in the month of November the year before). Best way to check out schools is to go to the schools' future freshman night (though some have passed for this year, ours was in January), another is to shadow a student (your child spends the day at the school following around a student). I'm sure that many from your school don't continue for high school so I would start with those kids and talk with them. As for college scholarships, so many schools offer them without the student even applying for them. There are 2 to 3 thousand colleges! My daughter (a public school student) applied to arizona state and was accepted with a full ride tuition and free room and board for 4 years (without applying for financial aid). Of course she choose a school that offers no merit aid, but that is a different story. My son, large private religious high school, was offered similar scholarships (not room and board though) in his acceptance letters (mostly out of state). So, outside programs can be obtained but Clubs outside of your HS (athletics, choir, art...). My daughter did activities mostly outside of her school (volunteer at the hospital, club sports..) and you can volunteer at your school to reduce tuition (help in the cafeteria...) if you choose to stay there. If you don't, start visiting (with your child) some campuses, going to some games watch track meets, read their school newspapers. It will prepare you for college visits:)
PS also check to see the classes that are offered. I was floored, for example, to find out that none of Glendale Union High School District offered a second year of Chemistry (neither honors or AP), all the other districts do.
