Here you go, @manch,
Talk to THE MAN with the Golden Tower…
You can always rent out your basement in Sunset. Rent can cover private school and then some. South Bay houses don’t really have that flexibility…
OMG, did you not know our Fearless Leader is totally against inlaws in the Fab 7x7 since that would render his home (pick one: the Bayview, the Ocean District, Mission Terrace, etc etc etc) subject to rent control? Bite your tongue, Man!!!
What??? What kind of logic is that? Rent control is there whether or not there’s inlaws. Makes no difference.
Agreed, but not exactly (SFH is exempt). Let’s hear from our Commander In Chief himself…
And besides, let’s face it, it’s not like @manch is living in a posh SF neighborhood. If I had to subject my family to a subprime neighborhood like Bayview I would be tempted to move regardless of the school system.
Which again is why my money was never really on Bayview as his place of residence. It is not like he is poor, he just wants to make it on the come (future appreciation). It is good idea, someday… but I wouldn’t subject my beautiful wife (nor she would agree to it anyway) to it. Remember, in order to get to that pot of gold one must wade in feces first…
Two choices: stay put in SF and go privates, or escape to Millbrae.
Deep thinking… 
If you tell us where your house is, we could find a buyer for ya…
Rule No.1: Never sell.
Rule No.2: Don’t forget Rule No.1.
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Look, if you’re really concerned about your kids’ math education in SF, you should just send them to Proof School. No public school is going to do better than that.
Manch, what ages are your girls? Proof School is having a Math festival for girls, grades 4th through 9th on October 21.
I’m not sure how US middle/high school system works. Does the grade you get in school matter for college application? Or is it purely SAT based? If former, isn’t it better if everyone around you is dumber than you? (Relatively, since you’ll be top in the class)
Growing up, I’ve learned all my math thru tutoring (classes, tutors, what have you). It wasn’t just because schools were bad - I had an aptitude in math, so I just wanted to go quicker. Not for any other subjects though: I wasn’t particularly good at other sciences, so I just stuck to school classes. Yes, the tutors were costly but that’s what I chose over other activities (soccer, musical instruments, …) And (I think) I turned out fine…
This is my understanding (I could be wrong):
Depends on the college, but in general, highly competitive colleges weight grades from AP/Honors courses more heavily than regular courses. They also want to see that you took the most challenging courses you could take. They know which schools are more challenging than others, and they know which schools send kids who graduate successfully from the college in 4 years (so a student’s admission may rely on your alumni’s performance). You could be the valedictorian at an average school and not get in to an Ivy league college. In fact, I knew someone like that–he applied to MIT. But he was a white male who hadn’t taken calculus. He would never have stood a chance against many students from Gunn or Cupertino.
Obviously state and UCs may have different criteria. Some state colleges might only require a certain SAT level and that you graduated high school or got your GED.
My oldest girl is only at 2nd grade. I am just trying to look ahead. If we decided to move to Millbrae I need some time to plan.
Proof school is great. But isn’t it for math nerds? I am not sure my kids are at the top 10% in terms math talents, but I am certain they can handle algebra at 8th grade. There is no excuse any kids of normal intelligence can’t handle something as simple as Algebra 1.
In fact that’s the thing that most pisses me off. The whole school district decided to shy away from the challenge. Kids can grow to handle almost anything you throw at them. We should encourage kids to take challenging subjects, not to admit defeat without even trying.
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Have your daughter jump a couple grades if she really were that talented. When I was in high school there was a math whiz from Taiwan. He seemed to be way ahead of all of us so the counselor put him in a special program. He went to community college to take calculus courses when he was in 11th grade.
I wonder how he is doing now… has he made more money than I have?..
It’s not about kids having special talents. Any kid can handle Algebra I. C’mon! It’s about average kids taking average classes. We are not talking about learning quantum mechanics in middle school.
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I think you are too agitated. Calm down! One decision made by the school district should not make a world of difference to your family. And like I said there are always special programs for the math whizes. The system is flexible, works and works well!!!
The school’s going to change as time goes on, but it was founded “for kids who love math…” not “for kids who are gifted at math.” That said, there are definitely some off-the-charts kids there whose parents literally didn’t know what else to do with them–kids who were homeschooling studying math multiple years ahead of their public school peers, kids who were taking math classes at Berkeley, and kids who breathe and live math. But there are some well-rounded regular kids there too, and the current aim is to meet the needs of all of them. And by the time someone’s been there for a couple years, they’re going to look like they’re gifted in math simply because they spend so much time doing it.
I don’t think it would be a good match for a kid who picks up math concepts really slowly, can’t handle Algebra in their first year there (if you go in 6th grade, you’ll take Algebra I), or thinks it would be torture to have to do math for 2.5 hours a day. If a kid likes puzzles or board gaming, they should be fine–anything that shows that they like to think through possibilities and solutions.
All that said, the school is not looking for tiger parents. Maybe things will change, but right now, they try to keep a low-stress, fun environment and they want kids who generally want to be there, not parents who are pushing their kids to be there because they think it’s the path to getting into Caltech or MIT.
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