School Choice in Alachua County

Picture this:  Your child is in 8th grade and doing very well in school.  Your home is in the Buchholz school zone and your child is likely qualified for every magnet program in Alachua County, including the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Eastside and the Cambridge program at Gainesville High.  Your child is on a waiting list to get into P. K. Yonge too. 

Additionally, you can afford to send your child to Oak Hall, St. Francis, The Rock or any other private school. What would you do?

There are many families that are wrestling with some version of this decision right now.  The application deadline for magnet programs is February 8 and the commitment deadline is March 8.   There are 15 magnet programs for high school students (plus another prestigious program), three magnet programs for middle school students (plus some other options) and four magnet programs for elementary students. 

Families decide on which magnets to apply to and which school to attend based on many factors.  Here are some of them:

Rigor

There are many people who think that you need to attend the right high school in order to get into the right college and the right graduate school.  There are many families that want their children challenged in school.  Other families want a challenge, but worry that their child won’t have time for other important things.

Zoned school/Proximity of school

There is something to be said for proximity of the school to your home.  Getting your child to and from school or the magnet bus stop can be a practical consideration.   For some people, School A and B are options while School C is just too far away.

Extracurricular Activities

Should you base a school decision on a performing arts program, band program, or sports program?  If those programs are important to your child and you feel like your child can get a quality education at more than one school, many people let co-curricular (a better term when an activity requires true commitment) considerations play a role in a school choice decision. 

Peer Group

Will your 13 or 14 year old child be swayed by the decisions of their closest friends?  Of course.  The real question is whether or not the parents will be swayed by the decisions of their child’s preferred peers and the parents they respect.   

Community Advice

Raising children and helping children make important decisions isn’t easy.  As parents, we often rely on the advice of the people we like who happen to have slightly older children than we do.  If you don’t have people like this in your life, you might settle for the advice of an acquaintance you run into at Publix. 

Would it help to sit down with an Educational Consultant to discuss the decision and learn more about the schools and programs your child is interested in?  Student First Educational Consulting would be glad to consult with you on school choice decisions for FREE.   Call or send a message if you are interested.