Schools in Madison

[legatissimo]

I don't have any kids, but one day I might. What are the schools like here in Madison? Elementary, Middle, High, the works...

I'd love the perspectives of parents and townies alike. Just interested in thoughts that transcend the test-scores and district statistics.

Comments

[deverwhatever]

Um.. That's a very broad question; some specifics might be helpful to elicit more responses.

That said, I grew up here, went to a private k-8 and graduated from West High in the aughts. West is probably lucky from a socioeconomic stand point, having a lot of upper middle class and kids of university people. When I was there (and probably still?) it had a lot of focus on academic achievement and extracurriculars, less emphasis on mainstream sports (we had them, but ... lets just say football wasn't our strong suit). Compared to some other schools, there were more elective possibilities for interesting Social Studies or Science or English courses (semesters courses I remember included Shakespeare, Film Studies, Biotechnology, Philosophy, Social Psychology, History if Middle East or China or Africa or South America...) I remember there being a kerfuffle about that more recently, though, so you'd have to check the course catalog to see if that's still the case.

[nidea]

Memorial has a planetarium.

[shallnotfalter]

I made it through the public schools here, and perhaps I'm biased, but I remember enjoying going to Emerson Elementary. Sherman Middle School was okay, but I hear O'Keefe has their crap together (and I know one of the principals there, Kay Enright, personally from high school - she was my guidance counselor at East High and is a fabulous person). Also, East High school is a great school, with some really talented driven teachers who really do care about the students.

Overall I think the schools are great