We moved to Florida almost 9 years ago. We knew when we moved, the school system would be drastically different from what we came from. Northern schools just don’t compare to what Florida offers. It was a sacrifice we were willing to make. This just goes to show you how shitty the weather is in Pittsburgh if we were trading the top schools in the country for sunshine.
While I knew the education level wouldn’t be the same, I wasn’t quite prepared for another difference between the school systems – dealing with a lack of school belonging and spirit. You might say this is trivial compared to the education-level, and you’re right. But it was a difference I just wasn’t aware of so I’m writing about it.
We are the Colts, the mighty mighty Colts
Where I’m from, you pretty much grew up in one school district. Your parents likely went to the same school (or nearby). There was a legacy aspect. You didn’t get to choose where you went to school unless your parents shelled out cash for catholic school. That inability to go elsewhere meant, for many, there was a huge sense of school pride. Your school was YOUR school. You had your school colors and your mascot throughout your 12 years of being stuck in buildings learning crap you don’t need to survive adulthood. You didn’t have a choice.
That school sucks. I don’t want to go there
This doesn’t seem to be the same in Florida. At least in the area I live in. While your house is zoned for a particular school, we have school choice. You can request to send your kid to another school for any reason (better ratings, its closer to your home, it has programs that meet your kids’ interests or needs). And as long as the school isn’t over capacity, you can send your kid to that school. But every school in my area is at capacity now because of the huge influx of people moving here. There’s literally no room in the schools for the kids that live here and more keep coming. Let’s stop thinking about that though or it will give you anxiety too.
Anyways, school choice still happens somehow. Kids get school-choiced into overcapacity schools all the time. Rules aren’t really rules here in Florida. Just suggestions. [That’s why you always pause when the light turns green at an intersection because opposing traffic sometimes just decides that their now red light is just for the cars behind them.]
As I was saying, in my own neighborhood, there are kids that go to at least 5 different schools across “districts”. And this is just middle school too. If there are kids in your neighborhood your age, you might not ever see them. There’s just a strange disconnectedness to all of that. Split neighborhoods. Trying out schools. In my experience, this didn’t happen up north. You went to your zoned school. You stayed with your neighborhood. Sure, this could suck. But it also brought a sense of association and, for many, school pride.
Why are we talking about this Kristina?
I’m writing about all of this because I was put into such an odd position the other night due to our ability to choose schools. This particular event compelled me to write since my mind wouldn’t stop mulling over it. [if you’ve followed me for a while, you know that Nancy does shut TF up unless I make her and Nancy kept on ranting about this so I’m writing to end her tirade.]
As my kids would say, here’s the tea:
My 13-year-old daughter Scarlett goes to a middle school that is about 25 minutes away from our house. She is not “zoned” for this school and it’s at capacity of course, but we were fortunate enough to get school choice for it. Our zoned middle school apparently sucks ass according to what I’ve read/heard, and I wasn’t chancing it.
Alternatively, my 17-year-old daughter Gianna goes to a rival high school that is also about 20 minutes away. We were zoned for this school at our old house, but when we moved, she technically should have switched to a different high school. But that school sucks also and I didn’t want to shake up her HS experience. So, we kept her at her high school. You technically aren’t supposed to do this, but we did. Remember, in Florida, rules are suggestions. You can be annoyed by my rule-breaking, but where’s the harm folks? I’m not running red lights. Let’s find bigger problems to care about.
Anyways, we couldn’t school choice Scarlett into Gianna’s school because of boring reasons I won’t write about here. So, we chose a different school for Scar. She loves it. She is pretty involved in her middle school. She is a cheerleader and plays soccer. She is slowly collecting various pieces of clothing that represent her new school. The colors green and gold are becoming HER colors. Conversely, Gianna (who is now a senior) has been in blue and white for almost 7 years, going through middle and high school in the same “district”. We have been cheering for her school for way longer than Scarlett’s. We had built a school identity there. Collected our own school shirts and made sure we had blue to wear when supporting Gianna on the field.
Now we are split. Green and gold. Blue and White. Rival schools. This would be like being a fan of both the Steelers AND the Browns. Like….who I am?
I just cheered for the wrong team
Last week, Scar had a soccer game. We went to her school’s stadium and screamed on green and gold. We cheered each time her team had an awesome play in the home stadium. Then, the very next day, Gianna had a soccer game AGAINST Scarlett’s feeder high school. We went to the same stadium as the night before. But this time we were the away team. We were cheering for the blue and white, not the green and gold. At one point though, the “opposing” team scored, I forgot where I was, and cheered.
Girl, move on. There are bigger things to worry about
I know I overanalyze things. But this was just strange to me. This flip-flopping of school support. I was prepared for the education level to drop. I was prepared to deal with the fact that my kids might not be receiving the most top-notch teachers or that they would function in a facility without AC during the first 2 weeks of school. But I wasn’t prepared for the need to have bi-school pride. I just feel confused. My brain wants to latch on to a school and support it full force, but I can’t because there’s no consistency or guaranteed commitment.
Luckily(?), Gianna is graduating this year so we can soon drop the blue and white. We can donate all the apparel we’ve amassed, erase the cheers for her school, and replace it all with green and gold…. for now. Because we have two other kids slowly approaching their school-age years and lord knows where they will go or what colors will be theirs. Because I have options, I have uncertainty.
Ok, despite my lengthy rant on this topic, I am going to just roll with it. Really there are bigger things to worry about. Like my kids driving in a place where red lights are suggestions. But I just miss the school legacy, pride, and consistency of what I had up north.