<p>Anyone swim with the SYS Sharks? Both our girls swam with the Sharks for years and also with VHS. (PV kids can participate where they want)</p>
<p>parent, as a Pineview parent what's your opinion on IB? Does it offer an equal, or greater, alternative to a Pineview education?</p>
<p>PV, probably. </p>
<p>We had one daughter attend and graduate from PV and another from the VHS honors academy. Both took a rigorous curriculum, including APs, in hs and both have done well at FSU. A friend of theirs received an IB diploma. PV is still probably more comprehensive, but mainly due to the excellent teachers. Some of the teachers at PV have Ph.Ds, for example.</p>
<p>PV is rather unusual, however, in FL and the U.S. It's probably not a fair comparison.</p>
<p>(for our UF buddies - both girls turned down UF. So much for that myth. ;))</p>
<p>ah gotcha. I ask because several of my classmates back in IB went to PV for middle school and found the IB experience a lot more rewarding given the curriculum and all-around high school experience you gain at Riverview. I'd say about 85% of my graduating class went off to UF, others were distributed between FSU, UCF, and northern schools. Few got into Ivies - our valedictorian is at the H now. For a while, IB essentially guaranteed you admission to any school in the state but not so much anymore.</p>
<p>Oddly enough one of my IB math teachers jumped ship for PV after my junior year of school. Not necessarily due to the poor curriculum of IB, but because she couldn't stand the administration (the current principal for the program is a loon).</p>
<p>School politics have a lot to do with the quality and effectiveness of the teachers it seems.</p>
<p>We feel lucky having raised our girls in Sarasota county. Most all schools are quite good. PV was selected by our older daughter as her districted middle school had some problems we tried to avoid. This was back before school choice. She took to PV in 6th grade and stayed all the way through. Many kids left PV before hs.</p>
<p>Out of her class, most probably went to out-of-state schools, some Ivies. A bunch went to UF and FSU, fewer to other Florida schools like USF.</p>
<p>Hi Cougarette - </p>
<p>I took my daughter to Florida School of the Arts in Palatka last summer - it was quite an outfit and would have worked out but she was not 100% sure that she wanted a liberal arts college. The FSOTA is associated with St Johns River CC, and ties in with the State university system (it feeds into UF, but you can go wherever you want.</p>
<p>We also visited SCAD (Savannah) on that trip - all I can say is WOW. But very expensive.</p>
<p>On a related topic, the Marching Cougar Band is doing great this year - chack out their videos in youtube. </p>
<p>Good luck in your college search.</p>
<p>My D is a Graphics Design major at UCF, but she will graduate with a Bachelor in Fine Arts. Since your major is Art History it struck me as that you would receive your degree in Art to have that broad based perspective but I'm not positive about that, just my sense. Perhaps there is a bit more leverage and opportunity from a career standpoint that way. I might look into that aspect.</p>
<p>We have a very successful mentor in the art field from LA. One of his main criteria for a student exiting a school with a art background is that that the school have an accreditation from the NASAD (National Association of schools of art and design). I believe FSU has it although I'm not positive, UCF is getting theirs this year.</p>
<p>FSU Accreditations:
<a href="http://www.ir.fsu.edu/Factbooks/2006-07/Accreditations.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.ir.fsu.edu/Factbooks/2006-07/Accreditations.pdf</a></p>
<p>They do have NASAD in numerous areas it says.</p>