(13) Valpo vs. (4) Maryland NCAA 'Second' Rd Fri 3/20 4:40 PM EDT TNT

[StlVUFan]

Yes, BF's the more affluent school (19.3% to TJ Middle's 35.5%).

To me this is hilarious, because my alma mater was consistently frowned on and derided by rich parents.  even teachers zoned for BF sent their kids to TJ to avoid the "undesirables".

Also, Northview, woot!  My other alma mater.  1990 STATE CHAMPS

BF was bad memories for me until it moved to where the old high school was.  I lived across the street

I think I left Immanuel too early, to tell you the truth.  I was not confident in myself to begin with, and BF was a culture shock to me.  Boy was I an easy target.

[agibson]

until it moved to where the old high school was. 

Ah, I knew the high school used to be there.  But, I hadn't thought about the middle school.  Where was the old BF?

[agibson]

that took a test on Ye Olde 5.25" Floppy

It was some sort of computer science/computer literacy test?

[humbleopinion]

until it moved to where the old high school was.

Ah, I knew the high school used to be there.  But, I hadn't thought about the middle school.  Where was the old BF?

The building that is now Central Elementary used to be BF Junior High (that is, it housed grades 7 - 9).  At that time, any student who rode the bus went to TJ.  Everyone at BF walked or rode their bike to school. 

As indicated, school grades (and other measures of school performance) are a measure of the the socio-economic background of the students (note: socio and economic).  East Porter has small schools and almost no rental properties in their districts.  Morgan has no apartments in the township.  While over all students meet the minima measured by school grades, Valpo is much more likely to have National Merit semi-finalists and kids going off to Ivy League schools.  Is that because of the superior education?  No, it's because of the advantages they had due to their parents, their relatives, and their social group.  Valpo has the advantage of having a high tax base and can pay their teachers (and all of their employees) more than any other district in the county.  A good student can get a good education at any school in the county. 

[LaPorteAveApostle]

It was some sort of computer science/computer literacy test?

no, general knowledge.  multiple choice on the test, then the finals were a team-style quiz show format.

my 5th grade teacher says he'll always remember that somehow I knew the two family members that accompanied marco polo to china.  random.

[agibson]

that somehow I knew the two family members that accompanied marco polo to china. 

Not bad!

I couldn't touch those two - didn't know they existed. 

I have somewhat distinct memories of such a contest, involving a Great Auk.  Google suggests it was called Knowledge Master. Not sure in what grades it started.  It _may_ have been around in middle school, which for me would have been... Yeah, I guess right around the period you mention.  I think it continued in high school, but was not the main focus of our Scholastic Bowl activities (IL State Champs - woot!) at that point.

[agibson]

East Porter has small schools and almost no rental properties in their districts.  Morgan has no apartments in the township.  While over all students meet the minima measured by school grades, Valpo is much more likely to have National Merit semi-finalists and kids going off to Ivy League schools. 

Yeah, don't get me stared on minima.  It's absolutely critical that we get the vast majority of our students above a reasonable minimum bar.  But, we need to push _all_ of our students to achieve at the level of their abilities.  And, I worry that some of the latest round of testing  - and the huge amount of focus there - distracts from this goal.

As for economic levels (obviously F/R lunch levels aren't a perfect metric here, certainly not for social/cultural issues, but they're the numbers I have handy), Morgan's at Hayes Leonard (very low! 11-12%) levels.  And all of East Porter would be in the bottom tier of the Valpo schools, so relatively affluent.  About 20% for the district overall.  Somehow Kouts and Washington both have a split between the elementary and the mid/high with the elementary ~27% (close to the Valpo average), and the mid/high ~20%.

Valpo has the advantage of having a high tax base

I've never had a good grasp of the current funding formula.  With the sales tax regime, shouldn't it depend not-so-strongly on the housing prices in the area?

Two important referenda coming up in Valparaiso on that question (one for infrastructure, one to raise operating funds for X years).

A good student can get a good education at any school in the county. 

That may well be true - and is a good place to start.  Opportunities for particular students may depend more on school size, or particular peers, student-teacher fits, interests, etc, etc, than on these broad-based (and obvious very particular/skewed) metrics.

[agibson]

I have somewhat distinct memories of such a contest, involving a Great Auk.  Google suggests it was called Knowledge Master. Not sure in what grades it started.  It _may_ have been around in middle school, which for me would have been... Yeah, I guess right around the period you mention.  I think it continued in high school, but was not the main focus of our Scholastic Bowl activities (IL State Champs - woot!) at that point.

Here we go, for the contest I'm talking about
http://www.greatauk.com/halloffame.html

National champs, at least.  Didn't easily find a state-by-state listing.

I don't remember if I was involved in the HS contest in 93-94, or not.  I suppose I'd probably remember if I was.  I do recall feeling edged-out by Montgomery Blair and Thomas Jefferson (who I knew more about - even visited once).

[StlVUFan]

The building that is now Central Elementary used to be BF Junior High (that is, it housed grades 7 - 9).  At that time, any student who rode the bus went to TJ.  Everyone at BF walked or rode their bike to school. 

I can't remember for sure, but I think I rode the bus to BF in 7th and 8th grades.  I remember I wore white socks a few times and other kids started calling me "bus driver" as a derogatory name.  I know I didn't walk to school until 9th grade as mentioned, then rode the bus to high school, of course.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Great Auk.  Google suggests it was called Knowledge Master

I never did that as a player, but coached St. Paul's teams for a year.  Infinitely worse to watch them miss things...like a Cassandra...that you already know :/