Shot in the dark

[flippydidit]

Hello fellow Objectivists,

I'm trying to find a great public or charter school to send my children to in the Seminole, Florida area. I would love to send them to private school or homeschool them, and while that might become my next option, I was hoping to find a public or charter school first. This is a shot in the dark, I'm sure. If anyone has ideas, please let me know. Thank you in advance.

Nathan

[CNA]

Hello fellow Objectivists,

I'm trying to find a great public or charter school to send my children to in the Seminole, Florida area. I would love to send them to private school or homeschool them, and while that might become my next option, I was hoping to find a public or charter school first. This is a shot in the dark, I'm sure. If anyone has ideas, please let me know. Thank you in advance.

Nathan

Hi Nathan,

Here are some links to get you started in hopes of finding a halfway decent school to send your child(ren). I'm unsure of your educational circumstances and why you are trying to find a better school or ultimately choosing to homeschool if you can, for instance, if your child has a disability, etc., as this is the most common reason for parents to find a half way decent school district and/or school within the district. Don't let it overwhelm you and the amount of information and the seemingly complex red tape that has to be sorted through in attempting to find a school. It can be overwhelming at first. But the more you dig and the more you learn about the educational laws and options to parents, it's not so overwhelming anymore. I've been there and done that and my view of our public school system is to say the least absolutely horrendous for our kids and even more so if your child is special needs. But I'm not hear to talk about that. I just want to offer you a few sites to help begin your search.

First place you can check is the Florida Dept of Ed

Florida Dept of Education

Always look at their accountability reports as it gives a good idea as to how well the students overall are doing at each school and the quality of the teachers that are there.

Florida Dept of Ed accountability

Florida Dept of Ed quality

If your child is special education, check the due process hearing filings in Florida and check the district to see how many lawsuits are filed in regards to that district. Of course, if there are numerous lawsuits, then it gives you a very good idea that that district is NOT the place to move to for your special needs child as you are going to run into potential problems that may ultimately force you in a direction of having to hire a lawyer, etc. If you do hire a lawyer and/or child advocate, always always thoroughly check their backgrounds. Make sure they "specialize" in this area of the law as it can be quite complex. And with so much at stake, you want to make sure they know what they're doing.

Florida Dept of Ed Exceptional Education and Student Services Due Process Hearings

Florida Dept of Ed Dispute Resolution, Mediation, and so forth

Website where there are parental reviews of each school and district can also be helpful in narrowing down where you may want to send your children.

Great Schools Florida

If you choose to homeschool which I am all for and if you can do it, most definitely go for it, you can check this website or you can check the county that you live in department of education, what forms to fill out to enroll in home schooling, resources and how to get started, etc. Also checking your local library should be able to provide numerous resources, other parents who have chosen this option as well for their kids.

Homeschooling in Florida

If your child is special needs, you can also call around to any local advocacy groups in your area to get some advice and input. They may be able to tell you their statistics and the number of complaint calls they receive about specific districts from parents who have special kids

Angie

Edited March 14, 2010 by CNA

[clayton25]

Hello fellow Objectivists,

I'm trying to find a great public or charter school to send my children to in the Seminole, Florida area. I would love to send them to private school or homeschool them, and while that might become my next option, I was hoping to find a public or charter school first. This is a shot in the dark, I'm sure. If anyone has ideas, please let me know. Thank you in advance.

Nathan

This seems to be the closest Charter school to your area. I checked google.

Collegiate High School

6605 5th Ave

Saint Petersburg, FL 33710-6899

(727) 341-4610

[Chris Grieb]

Nathan; Charter schools should be looked into carefully. Does anyone know of any more rationlly based group who looks at schools all over the country?

[Brant Gaede]

For home schooling investigate what the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine has to offer. It's a successful system requiring minimal parental involvement developed by a scientific genius for his own children.

http://www.oism.org

click on Robinson Curriculum

--Brant

Edited April 4, 2010 by Brant Gaede