In the experience of my kids that was how they described the non-honors class. In our particular school, I don’t think you could label the class as either low-ses or high-urn either. Other school, I don’t know.
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The school my kids attend is part of a group of charter schools that regularly have multiple campuses in the top 20 public and charter HS’s nationwide. My kid, however, is definitely not Stanford caliber. But the quality of the education she’s had in this charter system has been top notch and worth all of the driving we’ve been doing has been worth it.
My kid’s entire 11th grade class is about 30 kids. There’s 2 counselors at the school, one of whom entirely is devoted to helping the kids apply to and get into college. At the end of 11th grade, all students could basically graduate HS because they’ve already fulfilled all of the state requirements. The senior counselor said that she used to work at an elite NE boarding school where parents regularly paid $30k/yr for this same thing.
And we pay nothing.
It’s been awesome.
It’s also been a lot of hard work. Comprehensive exams starting in grade 6. There’s one curriculum for everybody in the grade…no honors 9th grade English vs regular 9th grade English. Everybody takes the same English and history classes together each year. There is some stratification in math, but everybody ends up taking at least AP Calculus AB in 11th grade. That’s what D24 is in this year and she’s having to work her butt off for her B-.
Teachers get financial awards for each student that gets a passing AP exam score. There’s no stupid PTA/PTO fundraisers like buy magazine subscriptions or sports drink cups…they have an Annual Teacher Fund where 100% of the money you donate goes to teacher bonuses at the end of each school year.
The vibe at the school is very collaborative. Haven’t encountered any bullying whatsoever. If your kid wants to make state championships in a HS sport, though, they shouldn’t go to these schools because it’s not about sports. It’s been a place where the cool kids are the nerds. Everybody is encouraged to be their true self. Nobody ever gets harassed for dressing a certain way, looking a certain way, being LGBTQ+, or anything like that.
I wish that everywhere had a place like this.
Getting rid of honors English is not the right solution to the problem.
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One might hope the Culver City school board would focus on improving the academic performance of the 1/3 of its students who can’t meet state standards instead of this proposal.
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Or, the more logical: work with the diverse students during middle school so they qualify for Honors if they want to take such a class in HS
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Sorry, I will edit my post. The potentially offensive overtones of that term didn’t occur to me until your comment (maybe because my kid’s class doesn’t have those demographics). Thanks for pointing it out.
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No worries. I repeated it in quotes earlier, hoping to subtly suggest it was inappropriate but instead it caught on. Given the many condescending and derogatory things being said about these students (some of which have bee deleted) it seemed worth point out.
These schools are considered to be pretty solid public schools for the area. That’s why they are at full enrollment and people from outside the districts are trying to get in.
Perhaps maybe those who aren’t familiar with these schools, communities, or students aren’t in the best position to be commenting on the conditions at either one of these schools, or telling these places what they ought to be doing in 9th grade English?
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I would expect that the best persons to opine upon the subject are those parents with children in the school district, but this being CC, it’s fair game for all!
Rather telling that, in your opinion, they are considered “pretty solid” schools for the area, in light of the State’s report card on the school (available online for anyone interested). Our perspectives differ, clearly.
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My perspective is based on a familiarity with the schools, relationships with many families who currently attend both schools, as well as other families who have attended in the recent past, the local reputation and desirability of the schools, etc.
Also, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), CA Dept. of Education CCH ranks in the top 20% of high schools for reading proficiency, top 10% for graduation rate, and top 20% overall.
In my opinion, these are pretty “solid” scores, especially if one knows that the school has a population of non-native English speakers, or Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students. (Those students have their own sections of 9th and 10th grade English.)
So yes, our perpsectives do differ, and our understandings of what is actually happening at these schools differs as well.
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No reason to argue about it. I sincerely hope the school gets more kids up to at least grade level in the future. I hope all schools do.
Yes, Culver City is considered a relatively high performing California public school now in comparison to the other California public schools. No further comment.
Not sure there is any justification for any poster to disrespect every public school in the State of California. Seems, In my opinion, unnecessarily insulting to the students and schools, and and inaccurate as well.
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Ok, you both disagree with each other. Can we respect each other’s points of view even though you don’t agree? Take it to social media if you want to go off further or discuss it on the politics board. #frustrating
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No need. I just think it less than helpful when posters (and not just this poster) keep making false assumptions about these the kids, communities, and schools. The kids who aren’t in honors courses at these schools are for the most part good kids, not animals in a zoo. They aren’t all lazy or disruptive, and they they haven’t all checked out, most all (about 90% at SaMo) are college bound. There is room for disagreement regarding how one views the mandate of public education but attacking and scapegoating these kids as disruptive troublemakers is too much.
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Fifty, No doubt there are parents who think their precious child is perfect even when they are behind the power curve. I was referring to parents who constantly read to their children at an early age, engage in games where their young kids learn their basic math, work on their ABCs and 123s, etc. The social capital extends beyond the family too. If the neighbor’s kid is going to engineering school and many kids at the local HS are taking AP classes and heading to college, that sets the example. There are also parents who do not have university degrees who drill their kids early on the basics and expect them to excel in school. The lady who runs our local dry cleaner is a Korean immigrant who speaks in halting English, but she is already quizzing me on the college application process and drilling her six year old on the multiplication tables.
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Why are teaches rewarded for passing AP scores? If the curriculum at the school is as strong as you claim, most kids should pass the exams. At our regular old public HS in MA 80% of kids pass the AP exams - the majority with a 4/5. There is no incentive for getting kids to pass - it’s an expectation that most will.
Many charter schools have a disproportionate share of low SES/ESL students. Given the demographic challenges, one might expect a lower pasing percentage than a more middle-class school.
Interesting. Im not sure about the SES/ESL rated at the charter schools in Phoenix that we considered. I do know that they were academically intense and they did not hand out passing grades. Many students would give the school a try only to transfer due to the homework demands.
Are you referring to the BASIS schools? They place greater emphasis on academics (than most public or private schools) and are considered very good schools.
Yep
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The Basis schools seem extremely strong academically. I was thinking more of the largest networks like KIPP, Success Academy and IDEA networks.