Sarasota Schools

Sarasota schools are the BEST!

Sarasota Schools (both private & public) offer the best well-rounded experience available!

Why am I qualified to answer this question? I’m glad you asked

• I was a high school ACADEMIC teacher (remediation to honors English) for 16 years.

• I was a high school coach as well, coaching many different sports.

• My own kids attend Sarasota public schools.

• My wife and I have friends whose kids attend private and charter schools in Sarasota.

If you want an objective review of any school (K-12) in the US (not just Sarasota), Click Here Now. Of all the sites on the Internet, I go to Great Schools. It also shows the letter grade of every public school.

Don't take my word for how good Sarasota's schools are - see for yourself!

Another wonderful site for researching schools is www.schoolmatters.com.

NOTE: Beginning December 11st, School Matters will no longer be available. After this date, refer to SchoolDataDirect for school information or to U.S. News & World Report for school information.

My wife, friends and I are very pleased with the educational opportunities our children receive from Sarasota public schools.

What are “good” schools?

Good schools are not just letter grades issued by a State Department of Education or a Principal’s School Report.

My experience (16 years) as an educator absolutely, unequivocally convinces me the children who get the BEST education are the children whose parents are INVOLVED in their kids’ lives. Big surprise, huh?

Show me children whose parents are involved, and I’ll show you kids who (typically) ACHIEVE above state standards.

Often, I hear people ask me the question about “best” schools. They believe a good school is defined by a state’s letter grade.

You don’t have to believe me, but I can tell you that criteria determining a school’s letter grades is skewed.

Talk to MANY parents whose kids have attended the schools in the district where you’re considering buying.

How to find good schools?

The best criteria for defining a school is to talk with parents whose kids attend (or have recently attended) the school. At my kids’ school, teacher turnover is non-existent.

I want to know about specific teachers and determine which teacher’s personality BEST matches my daughter’s needs. I know my daughter better than any school. Teachers are people too. One teacher’s personality might be more conducive to your child’s personality than another teacher’s personality.

Please don’t expect guidance counselors to get this right, regardless of how hard they try. Therefore, you can find out about certain teachers whose teaching style best matches your son’s or daughter’s.

Please talk with the teachers:

• Get their school email address.
• Ask questions. Find out what you can do to help your child at home.
• How is your child doing socially as well?

What if you can’t personally evaluate the schools?

In that case, you should start with the websites I’ve listed. On paper,  I look at percent of school population on:

• Free & Reduced Lunch Program
• Class Size
• Teacher-Student Ratio (per school and district)
• Amount allocated for each student

The greater the number of kids on free & reduced lunch, the LOWER the scores. The lower the scores, the LESS academic focus.

Of course, this is NOT iron-clad 100% accurate in ALL cases. If you’re not able to go into the schools to talk with teachers and parents, you do what you have to do.

I believe: Now more than ever I believe PARENTS (not teachers) ARE *and should be* a child’s BEST TEACHERS! Who knows the child better than the parent?