LETTER: Many of these Choice schools require that students pass difficult entrance exams and provide teacher referrals before students are even allowed to apply to the schools. The schools then hold lotteries because the number of students who qualify ALWAYS exceeds the number of spaces available. The wait lists for these schools can be very long, and students are not allowed to put their names on more than one wait list.
Once a student is admitted, the requirement that "parents must arrange their own transportation" can become an immense burden if the student lives far from the school or bus drop-off point and especially if a family has an additional child or children who attend their home school. My family had a child in a choice school for several years and even with carpooling, I still drove 100+ miles every week just getting our kids to and from school.
There are only enough spaces in the choice schools for 15-20% of the students in any given grade. So for every 15-20 students who get a coveted admission to one of these schools, there are 80-85 who don't. But because the school district offers enrichment in the choice schools that supposedly any child could apply to, they don't bother to offer much enrichment in the home schools, especially at the elementary level. There are also higher administrative costs in the choice schools since the school enrollments are much lower while each school still has its own principal, support staff and facility.
When our children were just entering elementary school, we read about the choice schools such as ICS and Environmental and Adventure School and they sounded like they would be great learning opportunities, but the reality has been that between limited enrollment and excessive travel distance, they were not a choice for our children and may not be for many of the children in the district.
by Anonymous on 1/23/2010
If your family is "green-oriented" would you reconsider applying for the Environmental Adventure School (or any other Choice school) owing to the larger carbon footprint from commuting? BY
