La Texican, one thing I learned the most regarding Montessori is that they're not all created equal. They all use the name but alot of the school's character etc. depends upon the director and the majority of the people who go there. So you have to go on a tour, take a good long look at how the kids interact with each other and how they "look". That’s really true of any school tour. One Montessori I went to, the projects and stuff on the walls for the primary room were fantastic and amazing, but most of the kids seemed kind of hollowed out, I was a little disturbed.
Cricket2’s advice and insight about the higher ranking schools is...amazing to see in “black and white”...It’s super advice. Also with higher incomes (such as goes with some high ranking suburbany schools) comes more likelihood that certain kids will “get away” with things like bullying, influencing teachers (and those kids will know exactly where they stand) and substance abuse, since they have the money to pay for it and do what it takes to cover things up nice and smoothly. Not things that people really like to admit or talk about, but this can be the reality nonetheless.
The lottery issue is very true. When we moved here we had a choice of moving within city limits but the basically one G/T magnet and a couple of charters with great reputations are so hard to get into it was really taking a huge gamble. (And the charters don’t have bussing service, and I’ve since heard nightmare stories about the city bussing that supports that one G/T magnet. )
With hindsight, I guess we should have rented again like the last place we lived and taken a “wait and see” attitude. But we just wanted to get settled and caved into all the enthusiasm for the higher ranking school outside the city limits. You’d think they’d be so excited to have a student, who if educated appropriately, could really make them look good! But maybe going outside the tried-and-true formula is just too much for them.
Getting a decent education for your child seems to be pretty hit-and-miss. Private schools are sooo expensive and faith-based schools aren’t for everyone. Everyone has to carve out a system that works for them.
