West Salem Oregon school (apartments, homes, transfer) - (OR) - City-Data Forum

SoonOregonSoon · 01-12-2015, 11:48 AM

HI. I will be moving to Salem this summer and my children will be attending elementary school there next year. I'm hoping that someone can answer a question specifically about Brush College. I hope I do not offend any parents of children that attend this school as I know that it is also the parents who have an influence on how well a young student does. It does not appear to have very good academic statistics at this school. The school seems out of place. It is surrounded schools with average to excellent marks. Is there anything that someone may have heard as to why this might be?

The reason this is irritating me is that there are several homes in the area that I like at the right price.

Any input would greatly be appreciated.

Silverfall · 01-12-2015, 01:44 PM

There are a lot of apartments that feed into Brush College so while there are some nice subdivisions that do too, they can't make up for the apartments. That is why the test scores aren't as high as some other schools. 55% of the kids are on free lunch programs compared to Kalapuya, for example, which only has 34%.

Phillipdani · 01-13-2015, 11:35 AM

Which districts seem to be the best int he area.. I have the same issue as well...

the1heat4u · 03-13-2015, 04:17 AM

Last year and then two years prior to that, they had moved the boundaries. What was happening in west, was that there was a very clear division in class levels at the schools. The boundary shift came when Kalapuya was set to open. At that time my son who was going into Kinder was slotted for Meyers. It is the closest school to us. Only to find out a week prior that he was going to be shipped across West to Kalapuya. It was initially annoying, but a new school was cool by me.

My friends son had been attending Chapman, and they were in a lower income area.. and it seemed that there was a small pocket of lower income families attending that school. What was evident through time was how kids who were not as well off, did not fit it. There was a clear division. So they mixed up the boundaries to make sure there was a somewhat equal displacement of all class levels between the schools.

Many found it very frustrating to be blocks away from a school but then have their child needing to attend a different school. However people could have their child transferred to the nearest school, they would not get bus services (regardless of distance).

Quite honestly, it is mess. As for Brush, I know a few people who have kids that go there. They claim to love it. As far as its older and friendly. When it comes to scores, that is a result of what was mentioned previous about the demographics.

I believe online there is a boundary map, that shows where and what for schools. So if you are wanting to choose a specific school. Like my kids being at Kalapuya... you may be surprised what area's you can live in, and have your kid still attend the school of your choice.

As far as preference, we love Kalapuya. It is brand new, great teachers, and feels clean. Tho, if you are looking for diversity, it does seem to be lacking that. I have heard from lower income families that they are not getting the same treatment as other families. But this is not exclusive to just Kalapuya from what I understand.

We are slotted for Walker as our middle school, and I don't want my kids going there. Something about it just feels gross. Hopefully we wont be living in Oregon when that time comes tho!

hawaiian by heart · 03-13-2015, 11:17 AM

Yeah they really messed things up along time ago when they built West Salem high and redrew the maps. Back in the 80-90s Walker and South Salem High were one of the best public schools in the country for academics. A prime example of what gentrafication can do to communities.

Silverfall · 03-13-2015, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hawaiian by heart

Yeah they really messed things up along time ago when they built West Salem high and redrew the maps. Back in the 80-90s Walker and South Salem High were one of the best public schools in the country for academics. A prime example of what gentrafication can do to communities.

No. Oregon's school woes have to do with Measure 5 which happened in the 1990's. Nothing to do with gentrification.

Drivingmenuts32 · 07-06-2015, 05:03 PM

So, I'm just wondering, if we ended up moving here with our 3 young kids, would we know what schools they could go to? You said there are boundary maps at the district website? It sounds similar to SF where they have a lottery and bus the kids all around town so the rich kids would end up at the ghetto schools and vice versa. All that happens is the rich kids all go private and the public schools get worse. Just my opinion. And what someone said earlier is true also, the kids will still separate themselves based on who has A&F backpacks or whatever.

Silverfall · 07-06-2015, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drivingmenuts32

So, I'm just wondering, if we ended up moving here with our 3 young kids, would we know what schools they could go to? You said there are boundary maps at the district website? It sounds similar to SF where they have a lottery and bus the kids all around town so the rich kids would end up at the ghetto schools and vice versa. All that happens is the rich kids all go private and the public schools get worse. Just my opinion. And what someone said earlier is true also, the kids will still separate themselves based on who has A&F backpacks or whatever.

No lottery. If your address is within that boundary you go to that school. If you don't like that school, you have to request a district transfer. There is no obligation for the other school to accept it. The only lotteries are for the charter schools.