Evaluating Schools

Hard to believe that I am having to evaluate schools already. But the fact is that Kwabi will be starting Kindergarden in 3 short years, and where we are living is going to greatly affect if he is privlidged enough to go to a good school or a less-than-good school.

Kwasi and I have been going back and forth about buying a home….should we do it now? Should we wait? Can we even afford it? If we have baby #2, how will we pay for 2 kids in daycare plus a more hefty mortgage?

I wish that someone had a magical answer that made sense from every prospective. But it’s not a decision that anyone else can make for us; it’s one we have to make for ourselves based on what is most important.

School zone is most important to me. Of course, the need for more space….the desire for a backyard for Kwabi to play….a sewing room for me (!)….these are all important. But the most important is, in what school will Kwabena be spending the majority of his day?

Here are the stats for the elementary school zone in which we live………..vs………….the stats for a desireable elementary school zone at a school less than 5 miles away from us:

School Year 2007 – 2008

RACE:

Black
70.0%………….vs…………….31.8%

American

Indian
0.2%……. ……..vs…………….0.4%

Asian
9.6%……………vs……………18.3%

Hispanic
16.3%…………..vs…………….10.4%

White
3.9 %…………..vs…………….39.1%

MD SCHOOL ASSESSMENT PROFICIENCY RATE:

Grade 2 (for blacks only)

Reading
35.4%…………….. vs……………65.2%

Language
40.0%………………vs……………78.3%

Language
Mechanics

48.4%……………….vs…………..73.9%

Math

26.2%………………vs…………..65.2%

Math

Computation

36.9%………………vs…………..82.6%

Composite

30.8%……………….vs…………..78.3%

That’s just a sample of the disparity of proficienty statistics; the trend is the same for Grades 3, 4, and 5.

Oh, and another interesting statistic is………..

ELIGIBLE FOR FREE or REDUCED LUNCH

41% (in my school district)

vs.

11% (better school 5 miles away)

I’m really not trying to act like a stuck-up snob that forgot that I, too, came from free and reduced lunch. But we’re talking 2008…..and it’s only natural for a parent to want more for their child than what they had.

I want Kwabi to be privlidged enough to attend a middle-class, diverse population of students….and living where we live right now, he would not get that.

I’ve also considered private school. I called a nearby private school today for tuition information, and was pleased to hear it would cost this much for a private school elementary education:

8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m……………$746/month

7 a.m. – 6 p.m…………………$919/month

Considering that Kwabi’s current daycare cost $800/month under the age of 2, and $700/month after he turned 2, I think these private school rates are reasonable and wouldn’t provide much financial strain for us if we had to stay in our condo and send him to private school instead.

As you can see, there are many decisions that have to be made regarding Kwabi’s school and our living arrangements.

Three years will go faster than we think….

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