Deciding to Request Elementary School Transfer?

It really depends. It just so happens that our current home is in a great school district but the school we would be assigned to is one of the lowest performing schools in the district with 98% free lunch kids - so when we move, which we will for other reasons before DD goes to school, we will look for a better school assignment neighborhood. So yes, I would try to get a better assignment.
That said unless you have visited the school and talked to the teachers and staff, asking for reassignment is a crapshoot. Your low performing school could have the better teachers who can really help your child succeed academically and socially. While your high performing school may have academically driven teachers that are lousy at connecting to students and can really make a kid hate learning.
School is so dependent on on the luck of the draw which teachers you have. You can get great teachers in low performing schools and crappy teachers in high performing school...
If your school has an open house, go there and meet them.
Good luck.

School rankings are a poor way to judge a school. They take very little into account. Just because a school has a lot of low income kids doesn't mean that the teachers and curriculum are not going to meet your child's needs. Sounds like you need to visit the schools in question, ask to observe classrooms, ask the school for some current parents that would be willing to talk with you.

Have you visited the school? You can go visit and observe classes to see what is going on. Keep in mind, every day is different and there are up days and down days for all classes.

Where is the bus stop for the elementary children in your neighborhood? Be there in the morning and afternoon to chat with some parents.

Find out when the PTA meets and go to a meeting. You can get a good feel for parental involvement, etc.

Before you make a decision you must gather all the information you can so you can make a good decision.

Good luck.

I think there's a lot you can do with working with your child to augment what ever they do in school no matter what it's rating is.
My philosophy is - never let the school limit what your child learns about.
If she has an interest, pursue it, buy books (read them to her till she can read them herself), go to museums, etc.
Some places will not test for gifted/talented till 3rd grade and even if they pass, the gifted programs are often extremely cut till middle school or high school.
Pursuing outside interests (while getting through the easy repetitive stuff the school makes you go through) will keep her from getting bored.

I am rather confused, these are school rankings within the same district? If that is the case they are providing the same curriculum. The differences would then be caused by the students not the facility. This would also explain how it varies from year to year. Kids graduate, move away, or ask to go to a difference school.

In other words it would make no difference which school she goes to.

Have you been to a school board meeting? Have you talked to the principle? Have you joined the pto to ensure solid relationship s with the teachers and help ensure the kids have what they need? Do you work with your child at home to make sure she is performing at grade level or above? If you are fully involved fabulous you have done everything and perhaps a transfer request should be put in. howver if you are a parent who expects everything but is not willing to fully participate the public school system will never satisfy your expectations.

Go to the school and ask for a tour and also to sit on on some of the kindergarten classes. See what you think. Ask what the school's Commended rate is (rate of children testing at the "college ready" level. The schools get rated "Exemplary" or "Recognized" based on percentage of students meeting minimum standards (passing).

Also go to a couple of other schools and take a look at them. In large school districts, all schools are NOT created equal - some schools have great administrators and staff, others do not. Great schools can be in terrible neighborhoods and vice versa - so I would 100% investigate.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Were you going for ACA? I'm pretty sure my little girl didn't make it in, either. We're in the Corey zone, which is a good elementary, but you're right that in Arlington, the schools are very divided into good/rough schools, depending on your location. Anything east of Cooper street is suspect. Not all of the schools east of Cooper are bad schools, but you have to check them out much more carefully than the ones west of Cooper.

Long story short, I would go for the transfer. It is true, to some extent, that with parent involvement, your kiddo will be just fine, but it would be nice to start out in a good school, and then add the parent involvement on top of that. :-) Good luck!

but you don't know anything about the school, other than what this ranking system says. ranking systems don't know if the kindergarten teacher is warm and funny, the administrators helpful, the janitors always looking out for the kids, the pizza amazing. you just don't know what intangibles are going to click for you and your kid until you've actually *met* the school.
if she goes and it doesn't suit you or her, you can always do something then. but how can you base so important a decision on so little info?
khairete
S.

I am making a similar decision. I switched my second son to a different school for kindergarten because it is closer to the day care I chose. My oldest walks to school with neighbors. But I like my second son's school better. The biggest benefits I see for my children attending school in our neighborhood, making my decision hard, are #1 They are able to walk/ride with neighbors, giving me a backup plan if the car breaks down or I am unable to take them myself. It sounds like that might not apply to you. #2 They attend school with the same kids they attend church with, giving them a familiar group they feel safe with in any situation. At the beginning of the school year I was concerned that it would be more difficult going to parent nights and such at the farther school, but truthfully that school has such better activities that it is worth the drive to me. I have never felt like a parent party was a waste of time at my second son's school but I have often felt that way at my struggling neighborhood school. There is nothing yet that frustrates me about my second son's school but I have been frustrated with so many things over the years with my oldest son's school. Good luck with your decision!

I would go to the school and ask to sit in and observe the kindergarten classes.

Watch and observe the teachers teach...a really great teacher or group of teachers squashes a school's "testing scores" in my opinion. You will need to do this each year and decide which teacher is the most outstanding in each grade level and get your daughter in that classroom. Some schools say you can't request teachers...ours does...but I write a letter each year explaining the type of teacher I feel would be best for my son's learning style and needs for the next year. I describe the teacher to an explicated degree without naming her...and so far I am two for two in getting the teacher I wanted for him.

Find out what criteria meets the "gifted and talented" class/group. Each district uses different tests and scores to determine who is GT. (My son has been tested three times, in the two years since he started school as he clearly meets some of the GT guidelines...but has yet to test high enough to get in the program. And that is okay neither my husband or I were GT, yet we both have master's degrees).

When you start school kids in the neighborhood will come pouring out of the woodwork...I discovered tons of kids on our street and streets on either side of us...the parents both worked and the kids had been in daycare. We met them starting at orientation and at the tons of birthday parties we are invited to each year from school...go and meet the other parents.

We live in a very nice neighborhood, but our school is also "low income" and tests "lower" but we have over 50% English as a second language population...so we are going to test lower...but it is a great school with awesome teachers. Go give your school a try and see what is going on inside the classrooms.

Is the Greatschools.org ranking your main driver for wanting this change? I would never let a single source, especially a website where I don't really know who is behind it or exactly what data they are using, how old the data are, if the people behind the web site have any agenda of their own, etc., push me into a decision. It should be just one among many, many things you consider. You also mention that the school can "barely keep the children up to state standards" -- what is that based on? On Greatschools. org or on other data like state education reports? I'm not knocking Greatschools but I wouldn't rely on any one sole source if that's what's happening.

You have gotten good advice here about visiting the school and looking at more than a web site. I would add that you cannot necessarily go by the Gifted and Talented numbers. Find out more about how GT works in your district: Do kids get to move out of "base schools" to "GT center schools" at a certain grade? That would affect a school's number of students designated as GT. For instance, here, parents can opt at the end of second grade to move their child to a GT center school if the child tests into the program, so the base schools that these kids leave may end up with lower GT numbers; it does not necessarily mean the base school is a poor school, it could just mean that more parents at the school opted for the center.

Also, I don't fully get the idea of school transfers at will, based on the parents' perceptions that a school isn't challenging enough. If it's public school, usually it is very difficult to get a child transferred away from his or her designated, neighborhood base school unless there are pretty serious logistics and circumstances involved, such as, "My child care provider is in another area and we cannot transport my child from our designated school to child care, so we need our child to go to the school nearer child care." Other than those types of things, just saying "I don't like this school's poor ratings" may not be enough to get a transfer -- or it wouldn't be here; maybe you can make the argument there. I'm just saying, brace yourself to be told that your local school is the one you must use, short of some kind of extenuating circumstances.

Don't be afraid to go to a PTA meeting at the school your child would attend, listen in, talk to some parents afterward.

Just another way to look at it (that some of your other responders touched on) - just because the school "tests" low doesn't mean it has crappy teachers, curriculum, etc. I taught at a high school that sounds very similar to the elementary school you are speaking of. I worked with so many wonderful teachers there. We just happened to be working with a lot of disadvantaged kids, most of whom didn't test well. I don't believe the "smart" kids fell through the cracks. Every teacher must teach to all sorts of levels, no matter where they're teaching (unless it's specifically a GT school or whatever). I just wanted to throw that out there in case, for whatever reason, you have to send your daughter to this school. Also remember, what you do at home makes a HUGE difference in how well your child will do it school. Good luck with all of it!

I would not rely on the rankings from some random website, especially one like GreatSchools.org - their disclaimer on test scores is this "Keep in mind that when comparing schools using GreatSchools Ratings, it's important to factor in other information, including the quality of each school's teachers, the school culture, special programs, etc." And remember, it's 3rd and 4th grades that are state tested and that the testing changes starting this year for the entire state from TAKS to STARR.
Your kindergarten round up should be coming up in April, take advantage of going in and meeting the principal the teachers and requesting a kindergarten visit. I realize there are schools within the Arlington school district that are less than desirable because of their location. If you decide the school isn't the right fit for your daughter then you may have the option of a transfer. Know however that not all schools have transfer openings and that it is your responsibility to get her to and from school each day.

In our district due to the schools testing so low we get a letter sent home prior to school starting stating that we may change district schools however it is our job to take them as no busing would be provided.

Personally, we've never changed our daughter's school. She is 8 in the 2nd grade, tests higher than most other kids in her grade and has tested as gifted in some areas. We're currently working on all the testing for the actual gifted program which will start in 3rd grade. The school always tests low and isn't the most highly rated but I've found that it is my daughter and our work with the teachers within the school that has proven to be our saving grace, so to speak.

Ultimately it is up to you on whether you will change and weigh the pros and cons accordingly. I hope you and your family find what suits you best!

Check the aisd website first. There are hardly any available spots for kinder for the "better" schools. Im holding my daughter out until next year because if it. My son went to starrett, Barnett and now bowie and I love those schools! I was able to keep him in there because he was enrolled already. Our home schools now are awful and I will not send my little one to them and there are 0 openings for kinder at starrett! Check that spread sheet first, I hope your desired school has openings!

Sounds like you are @ our school. We have the same situation. We tried to do an indistrict transfer & could not b/c we do not have a "hardship". We are in keller isd & we had to suck it up. We are currently looking to move. Fortunately we did not just move here. We were here before we had kids. Good luck:)

YES I would. There are two upper income neighborhoods in our local school zone so our school does not quality as Title I. I found out they would if one neighborhood was zoned for another school. They would have far more resources to help the kids. The district screwed up when dividing up the zones.

I would also contact private schools to see the maximum income for financial aid. One school here gives nothing to any parents making over $50,000. Another gives every family a discount of some kind.
It widely varies.

I would also let the charter school know that if anyone decides not to come, they can call me.

School, school districts and learning are part of life but not the only part. You can put very rich people in a very poor school district, or very poor in a rich school district and if the student has the ability and the desire or just plain old stick to itness you can find they soar later in life or vice versa. I am now seeing the years of growth and education my children both had. Now they went to perfectly fine schools, I didn't find the highschool that terrific, but they were able to turn into really neat decent human beings. If I want to I could blame the school district for any problems I had, I could blame myself for getting divorced and remarrying, I could blame my ex husband, or I can sooner or later fess up to the fact that life is not perfect and people aren't either. My oldest son went into the service, after a brief attempt at maybe two college classes and has since gone on to get a nuclear engineering degree. My second son, well I had become rather despondent over him, not sure whom to blame when I began to see he has severe depression and he has had to be hospitalized and that was not the school's fault. And after blaming myself a lot, I was somewhat assured that it was not my fault either. He is now older and he works, is taking classes in college is in several plays and finding himself now. So despite thinking I had him in the right place, the truth is, it is the individual who will sort their life out someday, no matter how hard we try to put them in every right spot on earth.

I agree I would not solely rely on the rankings. Go take a tour of the school, talk to the principal and counselor of the school, they are there to help. Kinder roundup should just be around the corner. That alone will give you lots of info. The school my kids go to is a title one school (we also do not live in a low income neighborhood) and both my children have excelled.