Hi all,
new member here, long-time lurker, very interesting and informative forum. I've been reading many of your posts because I used to live in Irvine, moved to FL, and now finally after 6 long years moving back to Irvine. I have school aged kids now, and I plan on moving close to one of the K-8 schools, in fact already found a decent house so all ready to pack, very excited! I'm very involved in my kids' education (kind of an Eastern European version of the tiger mom!!), so schools are a big issue for me (one of the reasons I'm running away from FL). So you'll probably see lots of questions and comments from me in this sub-section!
Q1: where can I purchase textbooks, especially math? I see what the schools use on the IUSD website, and I know they can be accessed once the kids are registered, but they are not just yet, and I'd like to compare the math curriculum with what they do here in FL. Do students bring their math textbooks home everyday, can I get a copy for home and one for school?
Q2: my kids are in accelerated subject programs in math, in their school, where they work at a level of one grade above (during their Math class they go to a different class one grade higher). They would be completely bored in their grade level. Is this offered in IUSD? I assume kids in Irvine are super gifted, and many work at higher levels outside the schools, but is there an official way to accelerate them in certain subjects during school?
Q3: is P.E. mandatory in middle school? My pre-teen son is not the athletic type, and he wouldn't do well in an environment where the PE coach times the kids' one mile laps and does class rankings. It would really undermine his self confidence (and I'm sure those of you with middle school age kids know what I mean!). I actually wanted to ask this question when I called the school I have in mind, but I felt kind of like a wuss!
Q4: can parents come in and have lunch with their kids? I would love to do that on maybe a weekly basis, my kids love it here in FL (oh, well, my middle schooler not anymore!!)
Sorry for the long post. Thank you for listening, and I'm so excited to get there and end my miserable hours-long carpool nightmare! (Trust me, I've done a lot of research, there are very few places in this country where I can live in a great city, in great weather, and WALK to a great K-8 school!)
new member here, long-time lurker, very interesting and informative forum. I've been reading many of your posts because I used to live in Irvine, moved to FL, and now finally after 6 long years moving back to Irvine. I have school aged kids now, and I plan on moving close to one of the K-8 schools, in fact already found a decent house so all ready to pack, very excited! I'm very involved in my kids' education (kind of an Eastern European version of the tiger mom!!), so schools are a big issue for me (one of the reasons I'm running away from FL). So you'll probably see lots of questions and comments from me in this sub-section!
Q1: where can I purchase textbooks, especially math? I see what the schools use on the IUSD website, and I know they can be accessed once the kids are registered, but they are not just yet, and I'd like to compare the math curriculum with what they do here in FL. Do students bring their math textbooks home everyday, can I get a copy for home and one for school?
Q2: my kids are in accelerated subject programs in math, in their school, where they work at a level of one grade above (during their Math class they go to a different class one grade higher). They would be completely bored in their grade level. Is this offered in IUSD? I assume kids in Irvine are super gifted, and many work at higher levels outside the schools, but is there an official way to accelerate them in certain subjects during school?
Q3: is P.E. mandatory in middle school? My pre-teen son is not the athletic type, and he wouldn't do well in an environment where the PE coach times the kids' one mile laps and does class rankings. It would really undermine his self confidence (and I'm sure those of you with middle school age kids know what I mean!). I actually wanted to ask this question when I called the school I have in mind, but I felt kind of like a wuss!
Q4: can parents come in and have lunch with their kids? I would love to do that on maybe a weekly basis, my kids love it here in FL (oh, well, my middle schooler not anymore!!)
Sorry for the long post. Thank you for listening, and I'm so excited to get there and end my miserable hours-long carpool nightmare! (Trust me, I've done a lot of research, there are very few places in this country where I can live in a great city, in great weather, and WALK to a great K-8 school!)