Dang...that article is behind a paywall....I would have loved to read it. The advisor behind all this is a legend. I've not met him, but I've been told he is a bit quirky. Can't argue with the results though. 4 out of 5 of my children are graduates of BHS, but they didn't participate on the Math team. Sadly, Alachua county schools as a whole which were once some of the best in the State have really fallen off lately, and since I still have one Daughter in HS, its bothersome. Although they certainly aren't the worst, I can't imagine being ten points behind one of the poorest school districts in the State (Gilchrist). FSA English Scores in NCFL COUNTY 2022 2021 ALACHUA 52% 53% BRADFORD 38% 40% COLUMBIA 52% 53% DIXIE 46% 49% GILCHRIST 61% 60% LEVY 42% 42% MARION 43% 43% UNION 50% 53% FSA Math Scores in NCFL COUNTY 2022 2021 ALACHUA 52% 51% BRADFORD 45% 44% COLUMBIA 59% 58% DIXIE 58% 54% GILCHRIST 66% 68% LEVY 47% 57% MARION 47% 45% UNION 55% 62%
Alachua county was never one of the best for schools. Always a big poverty divide they never wanted to address. That and hiring back retired folks led to more inbreeding than Kentucky. There was a story back in early 80’s (or 70’s) about how Gainesville mimicked several Texas border towns for percentages of poverty and educational woes.
Sometimes you can get around WSJ paywall by copying the title, going to privacy mode on your browser, go to google in privacy mode, then paste and search the title in search. Sometimes the google link will not be paywalled.
Buccholz and the IB program have always been great, but outside of that, Alachua county hasn't been so good. Similar to St Johns county. The northern schools are among the best in the state, but the other schools are below average. Even with the other schools dragging them down, the county's numbers overall are at the top of the list, but that average hides some serious problems.
I'm not going to disagree with the economic differences...for all of the SJW types elected here and the strong blue demographic, it is one of the biggest gaps in the entire State. However, you are incorrect about the Schools here once being among the best in the State, because in 1990 when I moved my family here they were ranked right up there with the top counties.....now, not so much.
I would suggest that every county's overall score "hides" some under-performing schools. However, if you are looking for a strong school district overall, then the rolled up rankings are meaningful.
I doubt that all those kids are rich...more like middle class, but I bet a big percentage of them are children of UF profs, grad students, etc.
Damn, lost the formatting, but during that time, the overall graduation rate was in the 60’s and below the state average. I helped my wife with her thesis data analysis when we were there in the 80’s. I do admit to rampant old timers, so This data doesn’t go back that far, but….. Lot of number games now with school graduation rates, “enrolled” students and IEP’s …. they wash the numbers of the dropouts. But I shouldn’t have derailed the thread. The Bucholtz math team has been very good for a long time. Go Gators
Yes, there is a big wealth divide in the county and it shows up in these ratings. However, the BHS math team has been a juggernaut for a long while and the IB program at EHS is phenomenal- or was when one of mine was in it. UF has been a magnet for the types of professionals who produce high achieving kids as well as a tangential class of professionals who do likewise. I was a science fair judge at 1-2 schools per year for over a decade and those 6th graders were exceedingly sharp and mind blowing (taking into account it was my mind being blown).
Glad it worked. Funny thing after I typed the above, I tried it and it didn’t work. But I tried again later and it did. I think the article has to be out there long enough for google to cache the unblocked link. I’m not exactly sure how it works.
Having read the article a few observations: 1. It’s incredible how there is an option out there that is far superior to anything we do yet only now does it surface. 2. It’s not exactly the same thing, but I think smart kids scan excel to a degree on their own with some assistance, especially from peers. I’m not a math genius but in first grade our teacher let some of us work ahead and I (and another kid) was done with 2nd grade math by end of first grade. Then we helped some other students work way ahead. What was striking and sad is 2 of those others kids by the 4th grade either flunked 4th grade or had other issues that slowed them down, both were from modest or low income families. It was sad to see that potential just go down the drain. My daughter has various psych issues and got way behind in math during elementary school and one year at a private school was a disaster. By middle school she was 2 to 3 years behind. However the school had an online supplemental math program that was part required and part extra credit. She would do it at home, and I’d help her. In the whole class there was only one other person who made as much progress as she did. (Thus the competitive aspect of being second place). By the end of the year she had mostly caught up and from that point on took normal math classes and did ok (with some occasional tutoring). During the pandemic my autistic son had to do some math and he progressed more with me working with him on online programs that were somewhat - you advanced based upon a kind of competitive scoring system. There are just different and better ways to educate kids.
AndyGator graduated from Buchholz. AndyGator has two degrees in Math. Hmmmmm. (not sure about this Bucholz school in the OP, though)
