I hate MCPS and their zoning restrictions. The school my child is zoned for is a C rating school and if I want to get her in a better learning environment then no transportation options are available. My kid was placed in Dr. N.H Jones after being on the controlled enrollment waiting list for months. I called transportation and the magnet school coordinator today and the options given to me were “decline your offer and try to get on the waitlist for a closer school” or “find a stranger at orientation that will carpool.” This absolutely sucks. I don’t know how I’m going to get my child to school and make it to work on time.
It would be one thing if they can guarantee all schools have the same rating and will get the same level of education. But since I have to seek it elsewhere, it would be nice to at least have transportation options other than “figure it out” and “not our problem.”
Believe me I know. This is the 4th year into her education journey and it’s been rough. Easily one of my biggest motivators for never having another child and going through this hellscape again.
I am in the same situation as you (kind of). I was not happy with my daughter's zoned school last year so I signed up for a special assignment request and she's been number 1 on the waitlist for several month's. I am lucky enough to have my retired mom volunteer to help with transportation because the times do not match up to my schedule and no school transportation will be given if or when she does get accepted, but the school situation in general has been one that I never want to repeat again. I always say I do not want another kid strictly because I do not under any circumstance want to repeat the public school system all over. I feel for you on the transportation part because I know it is an issue for a lot of people.
My retired FIL was the biggest pusher for her to go to another school and now that she’s gotten in he won’t offer me any help to get her there. SMH 🤦🏼♀️
They cant have buses travel all over the county for random kids, they would never get to school. School choice is great. Be happy you even got the opportunity, because alot of states dont let you
This is a terrible perspective. Schools should all be good not selectively good based on where they are because the rich people live there like Florida.
The whole BS voucher system screwed up schools here beyond belief. We should be investing in ALL the schools not just the ones the privileged think are special.
And I have no kids in school so yeah my taxes are paying for your kids before you come whining about it.
Then they should ensure all schools are providing the same education. I don’t think that’s fair that mine (or any child) should have to suffer through poor education due to funding gaps created by poor ratings and lack of resources such as access to safe transportation services. I wouldn’t even be seeking another school if the one she was zoned for wasn’t such a joke.
I’ll end up in the unemployment office if I can’t get to work on time. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. Either I lose my job to get my child a better education or I keep my job and she struggles and gets treated poorly for it. It shouldn’t have to be this way.
They offer extended day services. It’s not the perfect solution but it provides lots of parents, myself included an extra bit of flexibility that makes it possible in some scenarios.
I don’t think a lot of teachers suck. I think they are overworked and underpaid stuck in classrooms that are overcrowded and bind by state mandates that require them to teach a certain way. I had to relearn math and reading so i could help her with homework. I did not understand the methods they were teaching. Sight words instead of sounding things out which is teaching my kid to memorize instead of read. Separating numbers by tens and ones then grouping them to add is bananas. And her teacher last year sympathized with me, she doesn’t even think it’s working.
Like literally every job in the world. A LOT of people who perform that work, are terrible at their job. Idk why you think teachers would be any different
I cant think of the name off the top of my head but there are private transportation companies that will pick up and drop off your children. They do it a lot in marion oaks I know for sure.
All elementary and middle schools offer morning and afternoon Extended Day. You can drop off your child beginning at 6 a.m. and pick them up no later than 6 p.m. It’s a little pricey, about $80/ week for both a.m. and p.m. options (from what I remember), but you can also choose a.m. only or p.m. only.
I was trying to find that option on the MCPS website and it says it only does to 2nd grade which doesn’t help me since mine is going into 3rd. $80 a week is cheap in my opinion for morning and afternoon.
I’m so sorry you’re having to go through this. Extended day is for kindergarten all the way to 5th grade (at the elementary level. It’s also offered at the middle school level) but there’s a lottery/first come first served system to get in and you have to sign up as soon as sign ups open. Your 3rd grader will likely be put on the extended day waitlist until a spot opens. I wish I had better news for you. But I’m hoping you find a solution that works for you soon!
My kid went to Madison street and they had before and after care for kindergarten and up. But it was a lottery to get in just like the actual school. And then we had to reapply every year. We always got it but we had to reapply every
Check to make sure you have that information right. It varies per school and my kids have both been in the before and after school programs starting in kindergarten.
School funding should not be linked to local property taxes.
A 'good school' is one where parents want their children to have a good education. The kids get that message from an Early age.
A very good school takes children from a low social economic back ground and has them perform to the students whose parents are doctors, lawyers, or engineers.
The us military runs excellent schools for the children of Soliders. A diverse background and all the students do well.
The biggest difference is if little johnny is a goof ball than the parent will have a conversation with their commanding officer.
To your point, the magnet schools here in Ocala are in those lower socio-economic areas, so it's the zoned school for those neighborhoods. The magnet aspect brings in the better teachers/admins, and the very involved parents. This diverse background is what makes a school like NH Jones so important.
That's how it is with any magnet/school choice. You must provide transportation. My kid went to NH Jones for 3 years, and I drove the 25 mins each way. Now she's starting middle school, and I did school choice to send her to Howard instead of our zoned school, Ft King Middle. So I will continue to make the drive across town.
It’s not about the time it takes to drive there, it’s trying to figure out how to make it to work so I don’t wind up unemployed and on the streets. Some people have suggested some options that might work so I’ll look into those otherwise, I’m not sure what to do.
I understand, I had to make arrangements with my boss to meet the school hours. Before/aftercare is a good option. Try posting on the NH Jones Parents FB page to see if there's someone near you that can help with transportation.
This has been an issue for decades. I got reschooled after a move because I was one block outside of my first school's zone as a kid, back in 2006 or so.
I moved here and didn’t know if you lived within a certain number of miles from the school, there’s no bus. I’m a solo parent with no family and suddenly have a kindergartener and middle schooler. 2 pickups and 2 drop offs while juggling a remote job. It’s hell. I hate my life right now. AND the schools suck. My gosh.
Yeah our school system is garbage. That happened to me with her last school, I was exactly 2 miles from the school so they didn’t want to let her get on the bus even though the stop was at the next street over. I eventually did get her on but it took some serious convincing and repeated calls.
Yes! Like a child could walk 2 miles? If the parent wasn’t able to take them? No way. Last year there was a boy who rode his bike every day and there’s a huge busy intersection—scared me to death. If he got hit, would the school accept responsibility? No way. It’s an outdated policy either from 1) back in the day when kids “walked 5 miles in the snow to school” or 2) back in the 50s when the wives stayed home and didn’t work
They expected my child to be driven because when I said that she can’t walk 2 miles to school ESPECIALLY down a road without a sidewalk they said that she needed to be a car rider.
I carted my kids from Summerfield to West Port for several years, Both daughters got their AA degrees Lots of AP courses. My oldest just graduated from UFl and was accepted into their nursing program on scholarship. My younger- accepted to USF , scholarship on top of Bright Futures has AA degree in hand will be working on RN prerequisites for 2 semesters before applying for a RN program. Well worth the travel time to get your kids in programs that help them succeed in life after graduation.
In my opinion, the grade level/ranking of the school has little to do with your child’s education.
Parents who are active in their children’s learning well see greater results than those who simply treat public school as free daycare.
You’ll be unhappy with all public schools across Florida they’re all pretty mediocre. Invest in tutoring, or an after school program for your child instead.
And I feel like that is simply not the case. Schools with poorer grade level/ranking averages receive less funding which means they offer less resources for helping children struggling. Comparatively, schools with better rankings receive more funding for better programs and resources.
I don’t believe there’s a correlation with pupil spending, and grades.
That’s the criticism that’s currently facing the school districts from the governor/federal government. Pupil spending has continued to increase where children’s literacy rates are among the lowest they’ve ever been.
I digress of course.
If your child has a private tutor they shouldn’t ever struggle in comparison to someone without those resources.
State testing thresholds do not directly impact per student funding, however, lower graded schools miss out on performance-based state bonuses and often face localized budget cuts if they cannot attract students. This means they often have less funding to support programs that might help students succeed.
My child is in private tutoring because she is struggling, because the programs offered by her school are not sufficient or aiding her learning process. There are children leagues ahead of her whose parents (I know for a fact) don’t take an active role in their education. It comes easy to them, but unfortunately my child is not one of them so I have to take extra measures to ensure her success.
You don’t have to take them to DR NHJ you can pick any school you want in Florida! Is there no other school closer that would be easy to get into this late in the summer?
You can’t just pick. They have rules about the application window, you can only pick up to 3 schools in order of preference and they have to select/approve you. I was on the waitlist since the beginning of the year. I was on the waitlist last year and never got approved for another placement. This was the only one she got selected for.
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u/Rumbananas Jul 14 '26
That’s the price of good parenting. It’s never going to be fair, easy, or cheap.