I can't say enough good things about the school system my kids are in, and I hear mostly good things about Maine schools generally.

If we were in the UK my children would be going to my old high school and the thought absolutely makes me shudder! Which just goes to show you can't judge an entire country's education system by a few experiences.

Not out in the north counties they're not

Arizona generally has a not so good reputation for education but there are pockets of good school districts.
I'm pleased with the education my sons are getting but they were born here so didn't have anything to get used to. I've known a couple of people come over here from the UK and complain that school is too easy for their children. What they seem to do here, at least from my experience of my sons elementary school, is that they get put a child ahead a grade or hold a child back a grade for certain subjects if they want. There are also optional tests you can have your child take to see if they are good enough for an acceleration program. One couple that came over with a 12 year old boy said that he got mobbed by the girls when he started school. By the time he had left school he had a girl pregnant.

My only issue with the school is the place itself. Its basically a prison. 10 foot high fence, rows of concrete buildings, small classrooms, no windows etc.
However they have a huge gym and don't appear to be short of equipment. Compared to when i was at school certain things seem to be much better here, i never saw a musical instrument at my school (maybe a recorder) but over here music seems to get more attention. They will have band, a choir etc.

The cafeteria is a bit of a joke. I'm not sure what its like in the UK now but over here its basically a hole in the wall to serve up slices of pizza or other prepared food. There is no cooking going on.

I think the PTA has a bit more weight over here than it does in the UK. If you want your kid to get the best teacher next year you'd better volunteer for the PTA etc.

Also fund raising is more aggressive with having to sell coupon books etc and they are often asking for donations of consumables such as paper & pencils etc.

Yes, I chose our area to live based on triangulating 'hubby's commute' with 'area we can afford to buy a nice house' with 'excellent schools'; I identified the high school I wanted, found the best feeder middle school, then the best elementary, and told our relocation guy to find us a house to rent "here, in these two square miles *points at map*".

I'm a bit 'meh' about the elementary. It's great by AZ/ US standards, but the academics are a bit lightweight compared to the UK; even allowing for the later start here, the stuff my daughter is doing aged 10 seems very basic compared to what UK kids of the same age were doing. There's lots of repetitive sums on badly-photocopied worksheets. And it's downright rubbish compared with the Swiss primary my kids went to, which was no further advanced academically, but did a ton of well-rounded activities like teaching kids to use knives and tools, a sewing machine, camp out in the forest, etc. I'm also not thrilled about the CONSTANT praise-via-handing-out-sweets that goes on here.

But my daughter loves school, and skips off merrily each day, and is getting the basics down, and the other kids are nice, and she has good friends, and the teachers reinforce how much they like her and how well she's doing, and all this is largely what I see elementary for, to NOT turn them off the idea of school before the real work starts.

On the other hand, I've adored the middle school my son's been at for two years, and have very high hopes for the high school. Classes are streamed once out of elementary, and there's plenty of scope for taking either a very academic or a very vocational path. So kids can work hard and finish high school with a year or two of college credit already in the bag, or work hard and finish high school already qualified as a welder, or hairdresser, or nursing technician, etc. High school seems much closer to attending a UK 6th form college in the way that the education can be customised.

This is something I have learned recently. The level of overall parent involvement makes the school. Young Sir is only two but we are looking at the two elementary schools nearby. The nearer one we could walk to is ok by AZ standards, the other slightly further afield is the one everyone wants to get their kid into. The reason being partly fashion but it self reinforces because the well heeled Scottsdale parents go there and empty their wallets on a more regular basis than the slightly more diverse and less well off parents of the other school. So they get better ratios, better equipment, better extra activities...

They have schools up there?

In between potato season

My wife was helping out at the school and getting the children to make little models out of modelling clay, which needed to be baked in an oven for 15 minutes to harden. Found out the hard way that the cafeteria doesn't even have ovens! They only have heat lamps for still-warm food delivered that day. Made me glad that we send the kids with packed lunches every day.

If you have a kitchen then you have a whole load of regulations to comply with. Not worth it.

I am not current with standards in UK schools any more although it gave me a good, well rounded education. US education tends to be braod but shallow. Teachers work very hard and get a lot of criticism. If your kids are respectful and not trouble makers the teachers will like them. Like any where there are good and bad teachers most like UK are average. My advice is tell your kids tacher thay are their favorite teacher and that teacher will be the best teacher they can be with your kids. They are not used to praise. Becaue teachers are not trusted most of the tests are true / False, or multi choice. Answers are either right or wrong. This stops the parent who says why did my kid only get a B+ or an 89 when he should have got a 90. Parents think their kid deserves an A for showing up. C is not average here, it is considered failing.if you tell your parent your child is average they don't want to hear that. They think they are better than they really are. Parents show up for sporting events but not parent conferences once the child hits 7th grade. American children are used to dominating their parents and getting their way, so if there are problems the parent is going to take their kids word over yours.

As a taxpayer i would rather fund a school kitchen and encourage healthy eating rather than waste money on health treatment for obesity related illnesses later in life.

Definitely worth it

The two are not connected.

Which two exactly and why not?

Health food and School Kitchens, there was a TV Series a few years back OMG.

All USDA approved!

Elementary education in the states has a lot of the kids doing the same thing at the same time. Math is math, lots of worksheets. There is a lot of sitting, too much sitting. Thisis why they have so many ADHD kids as the kids can not move around/ IN UK schols there is more integration working on projects and themes which require, reading, math, science and writing. There is (or used to be ) more oportuities to move around allowing kids to use gross motor muscles.
I find very bright kids and slower moving kids suffer in the USA elementary system, again why so many about 20 % are special education. As they do not have vertical streaming, if a kid does not get certain skills by a certain age then he/she becomes special ed suspect when in reality he/she was just developing a little later. Some elementary schools have done away with recess which is criminal ans kids need to run around and scream. Even lunch can be limited to 27 minutes, not even 30 minutes.
Kids in elementary school actually get more homework than at secondary. Collecting seconday home work becomes more difficult so teachers have learned that if you don't set it (or little ) then collecting is not a problem. Some secondary schools have gone to block scheduling ( double periods) this is to keep the kids out of the hallways, and it allows time in class for kids to do their homework.