Moving from Suburbs of New Orleans to suburbs of Detroit.

[Bham1982]

In general - as long as the school is safe and the teachers aren't complete muppets, the pre-existing home situation is really determines where they go after high school. GPA chasing is often cover for polite racism [[not always, not always).

There have been multiple shootings in Ferndale schools in recent years. It has nothing to do with "polite racism"; the schools suck. There was a shooting just a few months ago. There was another a few years ago.

http://oaklandcounty115.com/2012/02/...hool-shooting/

http://www.dailytribune.com/general-...-school-office

In addition, Ferndale High kids have been murdered in incidents outside of school hours in recent years. Middle class parents don't even have Ferndale schools on the radar.

[nain rouge]

See, you're picking on the Digital Learning Center alternative high school. Well, that's great man. Keep tearing down Ferndale for trying to provide solutions. If you have your way, pretty soon you'll be tearing down Birmingham, too.

[Bham1982]

See, you're picking on the Digital Learning Center alternative high school. Well, that's great man. Keep tearing down Ferndale for trying to provide solutions. If you have your way, pretty soon you'll be tearing down Birmingham, too.

No, actually I'm picking on Ferndale schools. Three separate shooting incidents, three separate schools. Can't get much worse than that.

[Rolfsy]

The Ferndale schools are definitely not an 'easy' option, and I'd say for every middle class family that keeps their kids in, there's another that outsources to private schools or moves to get in a more esteemed district. There's been another influx of young families to Ferndale recently so it will be interesting to see how it plays out in the next 5-10 years. Probably more of the same, but things might improve.

But anways, before I waded into the school debate, I wanted to suggest to the OP to keep Ferndale in mind as a decent 2nd choice to the Pointes. It's got a lowkey/inclusive vibe, decent mainstreet and is centrally located to the whole Metro Detroit region. That 'close to everything' aspect is actually one thing I would put over the Pointes [[archicture and commercial districts, not so much....). It's future is not set in stone like the Pointes, but I'd say for a borderburb it's one of the few that is above water with an upward trajectory.

[nain rouge]

You're right, as a parent I am prejudiced against school districts that have multiple shootings, coupled with abysmal school performance.

Hazel Park schools are poor performing too, but I am not aware of shooting incidents. Along with Oak Park, and Pontiac, these are probably the worst districts in the county.

I dare you to go to Hazel Park or Ferndale and tell people they aren't as good of parents as you are because they allow their kids to attend the local schools.

Michigan is so classist and racist. Bottom line, Hazel Park and Ferndale are pretty safe and have solid median incomes. The schools are largely populated by children from average middle class families. Of course, for you, that's probably a horrid thought. Average? Middle Class? Oh my God! Sounds as bad as Warren or Southfield! Ferndale sets up an alternative high school for underperforming children from less financially stable families and you determine that the whole district is done for.

[nain rouge]

But the test scores are a result of Ferndale serving a diverse chunk of humanity. I think this post explains this situation well, if it's a bit boosterish: http://patch.com/michigan/ferndale/b...rndale-schools . You've got Ferndale taking on kids from poor Detroit neighborhoods and impoverished Royal Oak Township [[different from the City of Royal Oak) and whites unduly fleeing the district as a result. If you're scared of an integrated school, by all means Ferndale is to be avoided. But IMO that's an unacceptable attitude in the 21st century.

[nain rouge]

Shoot, I'd even consider Hazel Park a solid working class community. For you to insult Ferndale like this shows your prejudices.

[Bham1982]

Shoot, I'd even consider Hazel Park a solid working class community. For you to insult Ferndale like this shows your prejudices.

You're right, as a parent I am prejudiced against school districts that have multiple shootings, coupled with abysmal school performance.

Hazel Park schools are poor performing too, but I am not aware of shooting incidents. Along with Oak Park, and Pontiac, these are probably the worst districts in the county.

[mwilbert]

There have been multiple shootings in Ferndale schools in recent years. It has nothing to do with "polite racism"; the schools suck. There was a shooting just a few months ago. There was another a few years ago.

http://oaklandcounty115.com/2012/02/...hool-shooting/

http://www.dailytribune.com/general-...-school-office

In addition, Ferndale High kids have been murdered in incidents outside of school hours in recent years. Middle class parents don't even have Ferndale schools on the radar.

That fact that neither of these incidents actually took place at an actual Ferndale public school does kind of reduce the salience of your concern. The adult ed programs serve separate populations and are separate physically and administratively from the regular Ferndale system.

I'm not going to defend the quality of the Ferndale schools because I don't know enough about them, but I'm not enthusiastic about the quality of schools in general. Sometimes you find one that suits your child, and sometimes you don't. I speak as someone who removed his child from a high school district which [[statistically at least) is at least as good any in Metro Detroit because although the elementary school was fine the later grades didn't work well for her. I know another family who recently took a child out of Cranbrook because it wasn't working for him [[although it was great for his sisters) and another who took their kid out of U-D High for the same reason. There isn't some magic number that will tell you that a school is good for you.