Seeking your reviews of elementary schools in Brevard. We have the choice of our district school--Longleaf elementary--or a magnet/ "choice" school. My 1st grader is accelerated / gifted-track. Your observations, experiences, opinions would be very, very much appreciated!!!
My son attends Riviera Magnet and it is a great school. I do know that the student in the gifted program gets bused to Palm Bay Elem. to attend a gifted program.
There are several good schools here in Brevard and most get good scores (based mostly on test scores, which I don't give much stock to). I have heard good things about Longleaf, but there are several good charter and magnet schools available as well. I put my child in Odyssey Charter school because I had done some volunteering and observation there and was very impressed with the camaraderie amongst staff and teachers, the use of Montessori in the early grades, positive attitudes toward the students, and the many positive programs and good stuff being planned or already in place at Odyssey. It has been a very good school for her, and they continue to plan more good things for the future.
My advice is to research the schools available and chose the best or most fitting school. If you go to the Brevard schools website they have links to all the school sites and maps for each school. This is the website http://www.brevard.k12.fl.us/
Just click the link that says schools on the left side of the page, then click the link for Elementary schools. That takes you to a listing for all the Brevard schools and their sites. You can find information on the schools scores, curriculum, some of the things they consider important, some of the schools future planning, and sometimes some of the teachers individual web-pages. After you find the ones that seam to be a possible match try to make a visit to each one you or your child likes. Try to schedule it with the school so they are ready to show you around. Bring your child so you can see how they interact at each school. Ask for a tour and information about the school, and ask anything you can think of that is important to you or your child in making a decision. That's a good way to see how the school is laid out, find out how they are with the kids, staff and teachers, what kind of curriculum they use, and what kinds of programs and extracurricular activities they are involved in. Also be sure to ask parents, students, and teachers that have experience with the schools.
My niece and nephew both went to Longleaf and were in the gifted program there and for them, Longleaf was fantastic. My niece is now a junior in high school and is taking mostly AP courses while my nephew is an 8th grader doing very well in his schools gifted program. Their mom (my sister) was very, very active in the school as a volunteer and was always extremely happy with the education her kids received in the gifted program there.
Anyway, just wanted to share my experience with Longleaf. Hope that helps and good luck with your decision!
Odyssey Charter!!!!! They have a gifted program, it's a small school, everyone knows everyone, they are big on parent involvement and they wear UNIFORMS!!! I have three children there, so glad they are there
