How Small Is Too Small?

If it were my choice, I would go with the smaller school, if in the future for some reason she needed extra help with a subject, she would be more likely to receive it, also more one on one help in a smaller school if its needed. Larger schools to me are just trouble, i mean how can you keep that many kids under control, such as fights, etc.

Good luck on your choice.

First, there is no perfect school district. There are going to be pros and cons to each of them. It is a good idea to study what the standardized test scores and graduation rates are. If the district is too small, it is likely that your daughter won't have the opportunity to take courses such as Latin, Calculus, or advanced sciences. In medium to large size schools, kids often have the opportunity to join clubs ranging from FFA to chorus. I would also recommend that you go see each elementary school IN PERSON. You can tell a lot about the "feel" of the school and whether it is a happy learning place by walking the halls. My children both graduated from the largest high school in Oklahoma and their classes had over 1000 in them. They thrived at Broken Arrow High School and they made an easy adjustment to college. The main thing is that your daughter has parents who care about her and her education. That will be the biggest plus of all, more important than the actual school you pick.

look into a few things the graduating class size does not always give you good insite to class/ school size. also check graduation percents and drop out rates. you might even be able to get class and full student counts.

i have always heard you should buy the worst house in a good neighborhood, because you can always fix up the house, but you cant change the neighborhood. go for the best school in the best area. go online and look at the school with the best rating then choose your house according to that.
another point - in texas you dont have to live in the school district to attend that school, they abolished that years ago, you should check in your area for that

The smaller the school, the more attention your child will get. I found a small school great when I was young and a medium-sized highschool okay when I was a teen (more boys of course, but who really liked high-school). The special attention you can get in a smaller class is priceless. However, you pose a good question - 20 seems REALLY small.

I graduated from Pass Christian High School over 10 years ago. We had a Graduating glass of just less than a hundred. I was a foster child a moved around a lot during high school. Pass High was the smallest school that I attended down here and I have to say it was the best. There were enough people that I didn't feel like my every move was being scrutinized, but there wasn't so many people that I just ended up being yet another number. If I needed help it was there. The larger schools in Billoxi would have just swallowed me up. But Pass High took the time needed to make sure I graduated. Just a note though, Bay High which was bigger than Pass High, but smaller than Billoxi was not better. The year I graduated the diploma from Bay High was not worth the paper it was written on. I know from experience that their classes were not up to par. So my advice to you would be to look for a smaller school, but not to small, and definitely look at success rates of the graduates.

I graduated from a really (REALLY) small, country H.S. I know if you go with a larger school (usually in a more prosperous tax base) you get more opportunities. I graduated over 20 yrs ago, but they didn't have a foreign language offered when I was in HS.
I agree with the post about trying to stay in the middle as to size, however:
I think the most important thing is to find a school that has a large % of their graduates attend College. I also think it would be a great idea to check out alumni to see what they are doing now. If you have some who are very successful at a variety of fields then that might be your choice. Also you could contact the school board and see if they have info about school performance (Testing scores, drop-out rates etc...)
Plus you might want to check out the schools in the districts you are planning to look at and see if you can TOUR the school-see if they offer updated classes/labs/technology etc... You want your child to be able to compete in the real world when she graduates.
Also-there are websites that offer ratings by parents/teachers etc.. If you narrow it down to 2 or 3 might want to just google the names of the school and find out if they have a "hate" page (students/former students who put up a page online telling all why they hated their H.S./middle school experience or Loved it-might also look at blogs with the name of the School in it-that would give an insight into the social climate of the place).
Fineally I'd see if you know anyone at work (or hubby's work) who has kids in various schools and see how their kids are doing-do they get offered progressive classes? is there any gang/drug activity at school, are there lots of opportunities for the kids to network-lots of kids make friends/contacts in H.S. and that gives them an 'in' for college/jobs later in life.
I hope this helps.
Good Luck!
C.

What your letter said to me was you are looking to move and can afford to be picky and afford to move into a more affluent neighborhood. If you can afford that then my suggestion is to buy the house you fall in love with and choose private school. A "Great Expectations" school is your best choice as far as I think. Our local Christian school is working on getting that certification and I learned about the program from my friend that takes her children there. We wish we could afford the extra cost ourselves because we see the huge difference it makes. My best friends daughter is F, K and F are 3 1/2 months apart. F was taught how to read whole books in Pre-K at her private school and K is finally starting to be taught how to sound out words and read in K.

Public schools with larger student bodies will have more extra activities because they are in a different catagory and receive different funding. Smaller schools run the risk of being shut down from budget cuts now days. I don't know about little bitty schools being better, seems to me that I'd rather be in a school that was middle size.

Hi S.,

Happy Thanksgiving!

We did research into the school districts before buying our home. We were amazed at the differences. Now I can't recommend a school, but I will recommend a school district. Broken Arrow School District provides the best education and services by far.

My situation is a little different than yours...my son is now 16. He also needed special education classes. But, in my opinion, the Broken Arrow School District went over and above what is the norm. Our son did not have to be placed main-streamed into classes that he wasn't suited for...a bonus for him and the other students.

You can visit each district's web site and get some information. You are going about it in the right way by asking for opinions of parents in the districts. Good luck on your search and finding your new home.

W. Q

S.,
Hello. I think you have to follow your instinct as far as a quality school. I'm a personal fan of smaller schools too, but not too small too. However, the way I look at it is if a current class has 20 kids, I figure by the time our 3 year old daughters are ready to graduate, it could possibly be more like 80 kids (since that is 15 years away). And I like the more individualized attention my child will receive from a smaller school. It's a hard decision to make, but factor in more that just graduation size, since things change. Hope that helps a little. Good luck.
~ J.

Everyone is different, but I grew up in small towns that had around 20 people in each grade. You always knew who your classmates would be and who your teacher would be. You didn't get ripped away from your best friend(s) each year like you do here in this big town our kids go to school in. It was secure and safe-feeling, and if you needed extra help it was easy to go to your teacher for help. You weren't just another potential trouble-making child or a face in the crowd. You'll know her teachers and friends and they'll know you. On the other hand, if your child doesn't get along with a child or some of the children in her class, not getting "shuffled" around may be a negative. All things considered, having a small-school background and now having our children in big schools due to where we live, I would vote for small. If you live near a big town or city, you can always drive her in there for some of the extras a tiny school may not offer in the way of extracurriculars.

I wouldn't look at the size of the school as much as what the average national testing scores are for each district. It doesn't matter what size the school is as long as they are getting the material across to the children. You usually find better overall scores in the small to medium schools. Also, what do they offer in the way of extracurricular activities. Some schools are all sports and no art or music programs. You can alway supplement these with after school classes that you pay for, but if you can find a school that has a little of everything, take advantage of it. Good luck.
J.

I don't know if someone else suggested this, but we used www.greatschools.com to decide where to live when my husband was recently relocated with work. We have been pleased with the accuracy of the site. Although his school in TX was rated 6/10 and his current school in OK was rated 9/10 but I feel they were both a 9 for me. It is based on test results and parent satisfaction among other things.