Hello. Today on the show, we're going to talk
about something that is incredibly important
and often talked about in listings, in conversations
people have when buying or selling homes. It's
always talked about, it's always mentioned, but
it's frequently misunderstood. And it's one of
the most important things, especially if you
have kids or are planning to have kids, and that's
schools and the quality of schools, but specifically
school ratings. Now, What if I told you that
the school ratings that a lot of people depend
on to choose what is a good school versus a not
good school are complete BS and can even be potentially
harmful for your child? You would say, oh, my
goodness, what's going on? So I'm going to let
you know about school rating systems and why
you need to do some different research before
deciding on whether a school is good or bad.
Let's get into it. Hello. If we haven't met yet,
my name is Doug Varinas. I'm a licensed realtor.
estate agent here in Vancouver, Washington, and
in Oregon as well. And if you're looking to buy,
sell, or invest in Vancouver or PDX, I'm your
guy. I can help you find a place that you're
going to love at a price you're going to love
with terms you're going to love. So you can click
the link in the description to schedule a chat
with me. 100 % no pressure, no biggie. Let's
talk real estate. I love doing it. So let's get
into school ratings and why they are a complete
BS way to actually determine whether a school
is going to be right for your child. Now, recently,
I had a client talk about the schools. They're
frequently talking about schools. They have young
kids approaching school age, and this is a big
factor for them. And so it was frequently mentioned.
when we were looking at homes. And finally, I
said, you know, what is a good school to you?
And this question really kind of threw them for
a loop because I'm not sure they actually thought
about it. And it came out more as a question.
And it was like, the kids are safe and they do
well on tests, question mark. And I said, OK,
well, the thing is. With and school ratings,
especially sites like, you know, great schools
dot org, you know, people hop on that and they're
like, look at the number and then they just go
on. Well, I mean, when you're talking about something
as important as a school, that's going to be
a great fit for your family. I don't recommend
just looking at a school rating and going from
there or going by reputation. You know, Camas
is a great school district. Well, is it? Yeah.
For some people, it can be. For other people,
it could be a complete nightmare. And so frequently
what happens with average real estate agents
is that they point to these ratings, too, or
they go by reputation. They're like, this is
a great school. It's a great school district.
That's great schools. And they write it and they
use that just parroting whatever they hear. And
they'll put that in the listing description,
highly rated schools. And you go, that's great.
And then you move on and you find out, like,
I'm not a big fan of this school. Because the
truth is about. sites like greatschools .org
and all of them is that they're primarily driven
by test results and people who bothered to put
in a comment. And we all know that the people
who tend to put in comments in those ratings,
they either had a really great experience or
a really bad experience. There's no nuance about
it. The school's either on fire or it's the best
thing since sliced bread. So they're incredibly
inaccurate because You know, would you like your
kid to be judged solely on their test scores?
Is that the only thing that's important to you
and your family? In most cases, I think the answer
to that is going to be no. But that's all the
data that these school rating sites have and
that they use and prioritize. So when your average
realtor starts talking about schools and how
they're great, do they have children? Do they
know what a great school is? Have they been to
a school? I have pretty extensive experience
working in the Vancouver school district and
almost all of the schools in the district. And
so what I can tell you about school ratings are
not only are they not accurate and that they're
just based solely on test scores. They could
be they're not accurate from year to year. Like
schools can have quite a bit of turnover in staff
and teachers and administration. People are moving
around quite a bit. And so really, you know,
even if a school is good one year, it might not
be good the next year. And so really what I recommend
that people do. or that they determine what is
a good school for them and for their child potentially.
So I'm going to give you an example, just a personal
example for me and my kids who goes to a low
rated school. So the school, if you go up on
great, I just did this. I went on the great schools
.org, typed in their school. It came out of five
out of 10. So I don't know, an average school.
It's, you know, maybe it's terrible. I don't
know. Or maybe it's maybe it's OK. It's average.
But what I know about that school is that it
has an incredibly active PTA that does a lot
of fundraising for extra events. It's one it's
the only elementary school that has a Mandarin
immersion program. And the PTA also holds some
very significant cultural events there that are
a lot of fun. I know that the counselor there
has been one like counselor of the year for I
don't know if it was nationally, but the state
of Washington, they won a pretty. prestigious
award as a great counselor. I know her personally.
She does a great job. I know the principal personally,
and his sort of viewpoint on education aligns
with mine and my family's a little bit more.
And so I have a lot more on the ground information.
I know that the school is one of the smaller
ones in the district. So the class sizes are
around 20. And so I have a lot of information
about this school and how it relates to my family
and what I'm looking for in a good school that
goes well beyond the great school's rating. So
if I'm looking for a home and maybe I'm looking
in this area and I see that school rating, you
know, maybe I'll give that home a pass because
it has a 5 out of 10. Well, that would be a huge
mistake. Again, this is depending on what I'm
looking for. So I think really what the what
you need to do is determine what a good school
is going to look like for you and your kid, because
it's going to look different because all kids
are different. But the truth is with public schools
is they're sort of they can be a, you know, one
size fits all. So, you know, is your kid do they
learn differently? Are they neurodivergent? Are
they on an IEP? Maybe they need some more support.
what you think is going to be a good education
is going to look different from another family.
So I believe that every children, every child
is different and has a different way of learning,
of course, and every family has different needs
for their children as relates to education. And
so what I recommend instead of just looking at
these ratings or taking the word of your real
estate agent who doesn't know anything about
schools, most likely, is determine what a good
school or a good education is for you. What does
that look like? Like, ideally, if you're going
to public school or private school, but I'm talking
public schools because that's what I'm seeing.
You know, people want good schools or bad schools
or high rated schools. And that's, you know,
that's related to the public schools in this
example. So I want you to determine what a good
school is. Is it the community more important?
Are the academics more important? Maybe those
test scores are very important to you. And so
they're not important to me. Maybe they're important
to you. And so, you know, you have to determine
what makes a good school for you. And then you
have to do some groundwork. So I recommend joining
like the PTA Facebook page, going to a PTA meeting,
meeting with the principal, trying to arrange
maybe a tour of the school. You know, you have
to do your due diligence. Like it is not as easy
as as relying on the ratings at all, especially
if your kid might have some different needs,
because I can tell you that. You know, if I have
a kid who has pretty significant special education
needs, I don't know if Camas is going to be the
right school district. I'm just saying that the
highly rated Camas school district that everybody
points out to is based on, you know, kids sitting
in their seat, not getting in trouble, doing
pretty well on the tests. And so if your kid's
good at that and that's kind of what you're looking
for, it's a very like. vanilla straight edge
school district so if your kid does not fit in
that box you could have some struggles because
a lot of times like these good schools are in
neighborhoods where you know to be honest like
conformity is valued and so if you kind of stick
out or you do things differently you know your
kid might be labeled the weird kid or they don't
wear the the latest brand shoes or whatever you
know they could be ostracized and unfortunately
you know that can happen anywhere And I don't
mean to paint with such a broad brush, but I'm
just trying to give some nuance to like these
great, highly rated schools that are so great
versus these ones that are, you know, regarded
less because of their rating. Because a lot of
times, like even these Title I schools where
the majority of the kids are on free and reduced.
school lunch and they've had troubles with test
scores. I can tell you I've worked at these Title
I schools and a lot of times like they get extra
funding for programs that kind of think outside
the box. The community can be pretty strong.
And so even though that they don't do as well
on test scores, like the community is doing a
lot of cool stuff and the school staff is really
engaged. And if your kid is going to do well
on a test anyway, it doesn't matter what the
other test scores are. Your child will do well
on those tests, if that makes sense. There could
be some kids that they're struggling in their
own way and they don't do well on tests. And
again, does that mean they're not intelligent?
Of course not. It just means maybe they don't
do well on tests. But because the test scores
are lower, it doesn't mean your kid's test scores
are going to be lower because they're most likely
going to be... doing well on the test, you know,
according to their ability. Oh, again, this is
a lot more complicated than people make it out,
especially like your average real estate agent
who's not plugged into any of that. So if you
are looking for a home and you're looking for
a school district and you're looking for a school
that's going to fit you and not just be blanket
recommended because of ratings that aren't accurate
again. Hit that button in the description and
schedule a call with me and I can help you find
a school that's going to fit in for you. I hope
this has been helpful. If it has, it really helps
if you hit the like button, do the subscribe
-y thing if you're so inclined. And I'm looking
forward to seeing you in the next show. If you
have an experience that you've had with a school
or school rating versus what the reality was,
I'd love to hear that in the comments too. Like
definitely comment about your experience with...
a school that might have been especially if it
was like a lower rated school that you found
was like really cool. I'd love to hear why that
was for you specifically. Take care, everybody
out there. See you next time.