Re: How does the school system work?
 

....or pay an extra $10,000 and you can go to "another" SD - well, in Pa., you can apparently.

Re: How does the school system work?
 

As others have said, it can vary by individual school district. It looks like these might be the two you are interested in:

http://www.fortbendisd.com/
http://www.katyisd.org/Pages/default.aspx

Remember though that we're talking about what is generally known as the "public school" system here in the US. This is the regular school system that is funded by taxes and administered by a local government agency. (Note: the term "public school" can be confusing to people from the UK where it actually means "private school").

Usually the public school your kids attend is determined by where you live. However, even then there can be exceptions to this. Here are some exceptions I have seen from my own school district here in Maryland:

(1) Some school systems have "magnet" programs that are offered only at certain schools ("magnet" schools). Magnet schools offer a specialized curriculum and draw students from inside and outside its normal catchment area - normally through testing.
(2) Often a student will be allowed to finish their time at their current school even if their parents move outside the school's catchment area. For example, I know one student who spent 3 years at his high school before his parents moved out of the catchment area. This student is being allowed to stay at the same high school for his final year.
(3) Students who have been involved in bullying (as a perpetrator or victim) can be moved to another school.
(4) Catchment areas can be adjusted and some students are allowed to finish their time at their current school even if they now no longer live in its catchment area.

Also the number of schools your kids attend and when also varies by where you live. In my school district, kids would normally attend 3 schools as follows:

- Elementary School (grades K through 5)
- Middle School (grades 6 through 8)
- High School (grades 9 through 12)

Multiple elementary schools feed into a particular middle school and a smaller number of middle schools feed into a single high school. These are known as "high school clusters" or simply "clusters". When you consider a home, you will know what elementary, middle and high school your kids will attend. So if you are dead set against a particular school, stay away from homes in its catchment area. If you want your kids to attend a particular school, look at homes in its catchment area. Remember though that other parents (and prospective parents) will be doing the same thing so the quality of the school system is a major factor in rent & home prices.

Of course, you also have the choice (and expense) of bypassing the public school system completely by sending your kids to private schools.

Many people also choose to "home school" their kids. This can be done within the public school system who provide curricula to parents and allow students to take standard tests within the public school system.

Re: How does the school system work?
 

Add to the mix charter schools, religious and private schools!

Re: How does the school system work?
 

thanks MarylandNed and ScousePete! Just trying to determine if all the private schools are religious in Houston…seems that way to me! Cheers, Fi.

Re: How does the school system work?
 

You need to do your research esp. in Houston. Where will you be working and how big a commute do you want. Then look within that range for the nicest area with the best school district. When we first moved we knew that hubby would be dividing his time between his offices on the West and his workshop on the East so we picked somewhere in the middle, we didn't want to live downtown so we picked Pearland, good school district, 35 minute commute each way and then looked for a house there.

If you want to go to the private school you need to find a home that gives you a reasonable commute to work and the school unless you are on a bus route for the school.

Re: How does the school system work?
 

Very badly on the whole

Re: How does the school system work?
 

Ok, why?

Re: How does the school system work?
 

High School graduation rate USA 77% UK 91%

Average Class size USA 22 UK 19

Global Math Ranking USA 31st UK 29th

Global Science Ranking USA23rd UK 16th

Why? As usual politics and money.

There is a recent article below you may find of interest

In secondary school (high school) the differences become more pronounced. Here by most standards the average British child is indeed one year more advanced in mathematics and language than their US counterpart (based on national average statistics).

http://www.bisb.hu/essentials/educat...sh-curriculum/

Re: How does the school system work?
 

It's also worth noting that the US overall scores are influenced, heavily, by a large number of children in poverty scoring lower on the tests, whereas those living in more affluent communities are scoring well above other nations--basically the top of the charts worldwide.

Something to remember while house-hunting, sorry to say. Money generally flows to the schools from property taxes, which are influenced by the value of housing.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...olumn/3964529/

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/20...ebell.h31.html

"America does not have a general education crisis; we have a poverty crisis. Results of an international student assessment indicate that U.S. schools with fewer than 25 percent of their students living in poverty rank first in the world among advanced industrial countries. But when you add in the scores of students from schools with high poverty rates, the United States sinks to the middle of the pack."

Re: How does the school system work?
 

Also the US has a large number of people from third world countries (including illegals) who had limited education in their country and/or English is not their first language (about 25% of Americans).

My mother was from Yugoslavia and came to the US at age 15 during the early 1900s not speaking a word of English and didn't learn to read or write until she entered the US school system. Her mother remained illiterate all her life and never spoke English except for a few words. However my mother's brother who was born in the US got a college degree.

Re: How does the school system work?
 

Just to further paint the US school system in a bad light, critical thought and analysis were no where near the agenda of my high school's education plan, and I was taking what are called College Preparatory classes. But then my high school was in the ghetto.

I would imagine better public institutions teach better techniques, and make students write argumentatively and reason at an actually suitable level. It's something that will prepare them for university, especially should they want to get into the more prestigious or competitive institutions.

Re: How does the school system work?
 

Generalizations cannot possibly give you a true picture. It never will.

Re: How does the school system work?
 

That is a generalization in itself :rofl:

Re: How does the school system work?
 

No, but it shows statistically that they are both shit, but the US is marginally pipping the lead as a nation in the slide of education.

Now we all know there are going to be locations where some schools are going to be world class here, but just as many that aren't...but as there's no national set curriculum, someone living in a poorer neighbourhood is going to be massively more hindered in reaching their potential than a kid living with well off parents in a great part of town, just considering educational potential.

Re: How does the school system work?
 

I agree. According to that, US is lagging the UK in everything, but looking at what my 7th grader is learning, he is waaaay ahead of where I was at that age in everything (except handwriting:frown::unsure:). He is on the GT program, so is working ahead of his grade by up to 2 years in some cases, but even so, it's still advanced compared to when we were in school. In Math he is working on probability and statistics that we didn't hit till A level. In English he is working on grammar that we never covered, although I did drop Eng lang at O level. In science he has been working on genetics and STD transmission (:eek:) and so on. The regular academic stream is a lot less advanced, and I suspect is more on a par with what we would have been doing, or possibly below that level - a very large disparity within the same school. There are less than 40% of the kids on all Academic..over 60% are on pre-AP/GT....all too busy studying to get ahead rather than enjoying being kids.....bet their graduation is going to be a real barrel of laughs....:eek: