Thanks for the info -- I have passed it on to Emily and her Dad. Emily was REALLY impressed with Central's open house night last week, she went to Como's too. Her predicament is, among other things the size and a lot of her friends are leaning toward Como.
I like that Central has both the AP AND IB options, and the way it seems they cluster those types of classes on one level. It is a big school, no getting around that. I worry about her getting lost in the system.
We live super close to Swede Hollow - Yarusso's...that neck of the woods. The neighborhood school would be Johnson. The kids have always ridden the bus across town, so that's not really a worry.
I could have gone to Central, but chose to go to Highland because Central didn't have that great of a reputation in the 80's.....Highland was a good school though, but I do think I got "lost in the system" there too.
Good idea to look around. I was happy with Central for my kids. They had opportunities there they wouldn't have had elsewhere. But that's now been about 12 or 13 years ago now since they graduated.
For as big as that school is, they never felt lost in the system. Of course, they had spent 6 years at Webster which was big for it's time and acted much like a junior high.
Central did have, and I believe still does, have a whole part of their curriculum devoted to gifted kids. Emily would do well with that.
And post-secondary! What a deal that is for high school kids aiming for college.
All of my kids did time at Webster. It was good when they started out there, but got to be less and less of a sure thing. It was when Emily was in 5th grade that we began to explore other options.
We looked at other public schools, private schools....some of the less expensive ones might have been possible, but the classical education charter school that we found I can't say enough good things about. They will have a high school in the fall, but I don't know that it would be a good fit for Emily. I think it would be hard for any student to jump in to that type of education at 9th grade.
Hannah can continue going there next year for 7th, but she is going to do a "shadow" day at Emily's junior high next week -- just to see what it's like.
It's so hard to hope you're making the right choices. I don't think Hannah would EVER learn more than by staying at the school she's in. BUT chances are, she wouldn't be in band, the extracurricular sports are difficult to put it mildly....she'd definitely miss out on some of the opportunities that are out there in the regular schools.
at the time I was in highschool you HAD to go to the school that was closest to you. So I had to go to Como (only 2 blocks away). I would have chosen Central and never looked back but I feel left back in education because the opportunities of what I wanted to persue were not there. Find the school that best fits her. What ever her interests are ...go for that school. Whitney is in 7th grade at Ramsey...she wanted to go to Highland Jr (because more of her friends were going there) and I wouldn't let her because you don't easily go from Highland Jr to Central Sr and thats where I would want her to go for more opportunities that I never had.
I have been in Johnson and I do have respect for the quality of people and their grand accomplishments who have come out of there as well as Central. You really don't hear much of anyone coming out of Highland or Como or Humboldt.
Yeah, it was the same for me....but the "attendance area" was literally a matter of which side of the street you were on. Since I had no history in the St. Paul schools, I would have been able to go to either Central or Highland....wouldn't have been able to go across town though.
Thanks to all for your input! Probably will make decision making even more difficult, but it's good to see other people's experiences.
Yeah.....well sort of. DT St. Paul, I guess you'd call it an "alley" where the dumpster for a building was kept. Might've been Galtier plaza.
We took a bunch inside the World Trade center too....we felt like such rebels - wandering around downtown after hours. I have the originals, probably in a box buried somewhere. Forget now "why" we were taking pictures in the first place - I think my friend wanted a headshot to try to get into modeling, but wasn't wanting to spend $$ for a "real" photographer.
I like that Central has both the AP AND IB options, and the way it seems they cluster those types of classes on one level. It is a big school, no getting around that. I worry about her getting lost in the system.
We live super close to Swede Hollow - Yarusso's...that neck of the woods. The neighborhood school would be Johnson. The kids have always ridden the bus across town, so that's not really a worry.
I could have gone to Central, but chose to go to Highland because Central didn't have that great of a reputation in the 80's.....Highland was a good school though, but I do think I got "lost in the system" there too.
nick would agree with me.
For as big as that school is, they never felt lost in the system. Of course, they had spent 6 years at Webster which was big for it's time and acted much like a junior high.
Central did have, and I believe still does, have a whole part of their curriculum devoted to gifted kids. Emily would do well with that.
And post-secondary! What a deal that is for high school kids aiming for college.
We looked at other public schools, private schools....some of the less expensive ones might have been possible, but the classical education charter school that we found I can't say enough good things about. They will have a high school in the fall, but I don't know that it would be a good fit for Emily. I think it would be hard for any student to jump in to that type of education at 9th grade.
Hannah can continue going there next year for 7th, but she is going to do a "shadow" day at Emily's junior high next week -- just to see what it's like.
It's so hard to hope you're making the right choices. I don't think Hannah would EVER learn more than by staying at the school she's in. BUT chances are, she wouldn't be in band, the extracurricular sports are difficult to put it mildly....she'd definitely miss out on some of the opportunities that are out there in the regular schools.
I have been in Johnson and I do have respect for the quality of people and their grand accomplishments who have come out of there as well as Central. You really don't hear much of anyone coming out of Highland or Como or Humboldt.
I would have picked a different school but I am happy I did what I did!!!
I still visit once in a while, for the theater dept.
The school gets a bad rap because of the "area" sometimes, but the teachers are great, as are the courses and extra curriculars offered...
cept theres no German, anymore... Svanoe retired...
 :frown:
Thanks to all for your input! Probably will make decision making even more difficult, but it's good to see other people's experiences.
love the 80's
Do you know where that picture was taken?
We took a bunch inside the World Trade center too....we felt like such rebels - wandering around downtown after hours. I have the originals, probably in a box buried somewhere. Forget now "why" we were taking pictures in the first place - I think my friend wanted a headshot to try to get into modeling, but wasn't wanting to spend $$ for a "real" photographer.