Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Cara on May 24, 2012 at 2:29pm

Hi!  I send my kids to Whittier, and I love it.  The Principle, Cindy Bazner, has done some amazing work with this school.  I remember in the beginning trying to get all my kids transferred to Bandalier because I had heard bad things, too, but the process never got all my kids together.  So we ended up putting them all together at Whittier.  Five years ago when there was a family night or awards ceremony there were very few parents in attendance. Now the school is a buzzing community of families,  from all backgrounds.  Our kids have received extra attention where they needed it, and we are so pleased.  We all love Whittier!

Cara A. Valente-Compton

Candidate for State Representative, District 19

Permalink Reply by Nnett on May 25, 2012 at 2:40pm

Thanks for the response Cara. It's so nice to hear from someone who is actually there. I saw a report on one of the local news stations a couple of years ago about Whittier having a bullying problem and have been uneasy about sending my kids there ever since. But I'm finding that the transfer process in APS is kind of a crap shoot. I'm glad to hear that things seem to be improving.

Permalink Reply by klutch on May 24, 2012 at 3:35pm

Granted it's been 8 years since my daughter went there but I was not impressed. Try for bandelier if you can.

Permalink Reply by evil242 on May 25, 2012 at 10:03am

We do like Bandelier very much.  If you can get in there, request Ms. Lea for Kindergarten.  What's hard is Monte Vista is a magnet school for Science and Math, but Bandelier is a magnet school for Liberal Arts (I bet that will start a feud in your house :P CS Geek vs Theater Geek, its on).  Bandelier did score higher on the standardized tests this year then both Whittier or Monte Vista.  But not sure how much stock to put in standardized testing.  Does Whittier have a magnet for a particular field of study?  That would be good to know and may help your decision.  Really, as Cara has pointed out, it is the parent involvement that makes a school or not.