What 'Top-Rated' School Systems Actually Could Be Lacking

I live in a suburb outside of New York City that is supposed to have top-rated schools, which is why so many new families are moving here every month. I'm not complaining about our area's popularity — I love meeting and talking to new neighbors, I swear.

But I wonder what’s attracting these new, young families to the area. It’s easy to hear “top-rated school” and think you’re giving your child the best opportunities in education — but what does this really mean? I wonder how these schools get their ratings and if those “scores” translate into good overall environments for your kids.

“School rankings are almost always based on a combination of standardized test scores and college acceptance stats," says education advocate Hannah Grieco. "They rarely consider the things that I find most important, such as the following: teacher retention, staff development, efforts to close the achievement gap, implementation of well-supported inclusion opportunities for students with disabilities, choice school options, diverse student body, volunteer and internship options, strong arts programs, a focus on the health and well-being of students, etc.”

This makes sense to me. The closer my kid gets to public school, the more I see our top-rated school differently. Now, I question what I once thought was an amazing school system. I see young kids so focused on reading and math that they have little time to play and explore subjects that interest them.

I also see older kids in our high school dealing with anxiety and stress instead of enjoying their teen years because they are too worried about AP classes and getting into college. Why are kids stressing so much in high school? High school for me was basically all about boys and rebelling — clearly times have changed!

When I ask fellow parents if their kids love our school, I always get a big, resounding "Yes!" But when I ask kids, I get responses like, "It’s boring," or "I like gym the best." I'm sure most of us might shrug that off, chalk it up to kids being kids, and say something like, "Well, life isn't all fireworks and circus tricks!" Or maybe I'm just hearing something my mother would say to me as a kid.

Mom Holly used to live in Fairfax, Va., a county known for some of the best schools in the state, but she still saw some aspects of their education system that could be improved. “I opted to keep my son home for kindergarten and first grade and enrolled him in online schools because I didn't like the long hours, which was until 4:15 p.m. for kindergartners," she says. "Kids also had ridiculously short recesses (one recess period, which was 20 minutes). Everyone around me raved about how great the schools were, but I worried that they were pushing academics too hard from the very start of a child's school career and not giving the kids enough time for outdoors and free play.”

This sounds like a similar situation in our public school. It might work for some families and kids, but I think we can do better. However, I'm not sure I can chip away at our huge school system and make sweeping changes by next year when my child turns 5! So what are my options?

Grieco recommends that parents sit down first and make three lists:

1. What do I need for my child(ren)?

2. What do I want?

3. What is not acceptable?

"From there, dive into the stats. For example, when I was looking at schools, I needed a diverse school, good communication, good staff development, and a focus on inclusion," Greico says. "I wanted really good arts programs, small class sizes, choice school options, gifted support. And I would not accept segregated classrooms based on different types of learners, high teacher turnover, an overly rigid focus on testing or a lack of warmth and kindness in the overall 'feel' of the school."

Holly adds, "I don't think my 'perfect' school exists near me." Still, I thought her school wish list — which includes small class sizes, climate literacy, healthy cafeteria food and adequate outdoor play — is a good jumping-off point.

All these "wants" are amazing, but how do we create them in our top-rated schools?

Many would suggest that you get on your school's board and fight against (or with) a system, which isn't a bad idea but will take time. I think the first step is to get clear with what we want in a school and stay open to all possibilities. I'll also be chatting up those new neighbors coming to town to see if this is something we can tackle together. I'll keep you posted on our progress!

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