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  1. #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by HankScorpio View Post
    Not really. It's been pretty successful in the district I teach in.
    Happy for you. It was a disaster here. And really fucked with people who wanted to go to college out of the region or to higher tier schools. They couldn't figure out transcripts, GPAs, and class rank in time for some early decision deadlines. My kid did end up getting accepted at some decent schools and went to UVM in the end. But as the first cohort to graduate under PBG, it was a very bumpy and inconsistent ride getting there. My beef is that from a parent's perspective it was an unfunded mandate and each district was left to figure it out on their own. Yes, my district didn't do it smoothly and some of that is on them, and some individual teachers. I contend that they should not have been in that situation in the first place. The state should have provided the A-Z details, implementation, in depth training at an individual teacher level, and any additional funding. And uniformly across all districts. Don't say they did because from where I sit, that was clearly not the case based on the results. And yes, change is hard. But it shouldn't result in some kids not getting into schools they might have otherwise gotten into. I have seen some positives but those could have been implemented without having to change everything so drastically.

  2. #52
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    Quote Originally Posted by riser3 View Post
    Happy for you. It was a disaster here. And really fucked with people who wanted to go to college out of the region or to higher tier schools. They couldn't figure out transcripts, GPAs, and class rank in time for some early decision deadlines. My kid did end up getting accepted at some decent schools and went to UVM in the end. But as the first cohort to graduate under PBG, it was a very bumpy and inconsistent ride getting there. My beef is that from a parent's perspective it was an unfunded mandate and each district was left to figure it out on their own. Yes, my district didn't do it smoothly and some of that is on them, and some individual teachers. I contend that they should not have been in that situation in the first place. The state should have provided the A-Z details, implementation, in depth training at an individual teacher level, and any additional funding. And uniformly across all districts. Don't say they did because from where I sit, that was clearly not the case based on the results. And yes, change is hard. But it shouldn't result in some kids not getting into schools they might have otherwise gotten into. I have seen some positives but those could have been implemented without having to change everything so drastically.
    Sounds like it was a rough transition because your district was stuck doing it early on. I can definitely see it being a hassle in that case. I've heard that some districts did a better job when that change than others. The GPA translation was tricky because it varied from school to school - it's not an objective number like it used to be, We're in the 5th year of the proficiency based grading and we're seeing more kids succeed and going on to better post high school opportunities. Demonstrating skills in other ways besides high pressure testing has been great for the majority of kids. We're seeing better results from students but our district also doesn't send as many kids to 4 year colleges - we have a ton of kids that go into trade schools and community colleges.

    Don't want to sidetrack into a thread about education theories but proficiency based grading was bound to work better in some districts than others.

  3. #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by From_the_NEK View Post
    On being "close to Massachusetts", even though the NEK is technically a closer drive than Burlington from the greater Boston area, it might as well be on Mars since everyone in Southern New England thinks it is soooo far away.
    Have you seen the parking lots at KTA? Barely a green plate to be found.

  4. #54
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    Quote Originally Posted by HankScorpio View Post
    Sounds like it was a rough transition because your district was stuck doing it early on. I can definitely see it being a hassle in that case. I've heard that some districts did a better job when that change than others. The GPA translation was tricky because it varied from school to school - it's not an objective number like it used to be, We're in the 5th year of the proficiency based grading and we're seeing more kids succeed and going on to better post high school opportunities. Demonstrating skills in other ways besides high pressure testing has been great for the majority of kids. We're seeing better results from students but our district also doesn't send as many kids to 4 year colleges - we have a ton of kids that go into trade schools and community colleges.

    Don't want to sidetrack into a thread about education theories but proficiency based grading was bound to work better in some districts than others.
    So easy to get sidetracked.

  5. #55
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peruvian View Post
    Have you seen the parking lots at KTA? Barely a green plate to be found.
    All of the green plates are at Walmart in Littleton.
    Aim for the chopping block. If you aim for the wood, you will have nothing. Aim past the wood, aim through the wood.
    http://tim-kirchoff.pixels.com/

  6. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by From_the_NEK View Post
    All of the green plates are at Walmart in Littleton.
    I'm sure they pay their use tax when they file their tax returns....

  7. #57
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    Quote Originally Posted by MyNameIsAugustWest View Post
    Just fled VT to NH. My property taxes are much lower per $1000 appraised value so don't buy into the myth that NH property taxes are universally higher than in VT. The closer you are to Boston, the higher the taxes but you don't want to be in that area anyway. Upper Valley (near Dartmouth) is a pretty desirable area. On broadband, NH spent a ton of COVID relief $$ on rural access. We live in an area that could not get cable prior to the pandemic (DSL or satellite were our only options) and we now have gig-speed fiber.

    From what I know (friends that are teachers, friends that still have kids in school) in the Burlington area, the best school districts are CVU (Williston and surrounding small towns), Essex/Westford, and South Burlington in that order. Have a close friend that lives in Richmond and coaches baseball at the middle school there. He has kids that are in their early 20s. He does not speak kindly of Mount Mansfield Union HS nowadays although the elementary and middle schools are very good. Biggins teaches in SoVT but is very connected and can offer insights of the overall picture. Waldorf school in Shelburne if you're looking private/non-religious. My former boss sent his kids there and he loves it; his youngest graduated from there in 2020. Certain towns have Waldorf as a school of choice so you don't have to pay tuition. He lives in St. George so his options are CVU or Waldorf...hard to beat that. He used to live in Fletcher if you want to be a little more in the country and still have Waldorf as an option. Parts of Fletcher are 15 minutes to Smuggs but the drive to school and the med center is going to be brutal (that's why he moved to St. George).

    The closer you are to UVM, the higher the housing prices will be and now is not a great time to be looking. PM Fussy Dutchman for info on South Burlington housing costs. Of course, if your frame of reference is the Bay Area, you'll find housing prices in VT very reasonable but the pay isn't going to be comparable. Have a close friend that's a nurse at UVM and she has nothing good to say about the management there. Have another close friend whose wife works as a nurse at Dartmouth-Hitchcock and she loves it there.
    I'd be curious to hear more specific feedback about Mount Mansfield Union HS. Conceptually, I'd rather live in a place like Richmond then a mindless subdivision in south burlington. That being said, we've grown reasonable comfortable being close to things like groceries stores or restaurants but that is more of a byproduct of living in a city vs a rural setting.

  8. #58
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gman View Post
    I'd be curious to hear more specific feedback about Mount Mansfield Union HS. Conceptually, I'd rather live in a place like Richmond then a mindless subdivision in south burlington. That being said, we've grown reasonable comfortable being close to things like groceries stores or restaurants but that is more of a byproduct of living in a city vs a rural setting.
    My uncle taught math and computer science at MMU up thorough the early 90's. I have no idea what it is like there now.
    The box stores of Williston are almost closer than MMU to most of Richmond.
    Aim for the chopping block. If you aim for the wood, you will have nothing. Aim past the wood, aim through the wood.
    http://tim-kirchoff.pixels.com/

  9. #59
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gman View Post
    I'd be curious to hear more specific feedback about Mount Mansfield Union HS. Conceptually, I'd rather live in a place like Richmond then a mindless subdivision in south burlington. That being said, we've grown reasonable comfortable being close to things like groceries stores or restaurants but that is more of a byproduct of living in a city vs a rural setting.
    things may have changed in the last 20 years but SB is anything but a "mindless suburb". By VT standards yea I guess so, but not compared to the endless sameness of a lot of san diego and SLC (lived in both since I moved from VT) and the east and south bay (have spent some time visiting). In my experience that was what was great about it - I could bike to friends houses, drive 5 minutes to my job in high school and my school itself, etc

    But if you want to move to VT to live rurally it's definitely not that.

  10. #60
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    Just remembered that I have a friend that moved from the bay to Charlotte and loves it. Lived in SF, then Berkeley, then further east and decided it wasn't worth it anymore. 3 kids in CVU school district and he works remote.

  11. #61
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gman View Post
    I'd be curious to hear more specific feedback about Mount Mansfield Union HS. Conceptually, I'd rather live in a place like Richmond then a mindless subdivision in south burlington. That being said, we've grown reasonable comfortable being close to things like groceries stores or restaurants but that is more of a byproduct of living in a city vs a rural setting.
    Richmond is definitely rural unless you live in the village but there's not much housing there. It takes about 15 minutes to get to shopping although the Richmond Market is good enough most days and has a killer beer selection. My friend felt like both of his kids got lost in a smallish school (MMU) which should never happen. Limited extracurriculars. I can't remember if you and the Mrs. ever came to our condo in Essex, but we were on the edge of civilization but only 8 minutes from urban niceties and bike paths everywhere.

    Quote Originally Posted by jtran10 View Post
    things may have changed in the last 20 years but SB is anything but a "mindless suburb". By VT standards yea I guess so, but not compared to the endless sameness of a lot of san diego and SLC (lived in both since I moved from VT) and the east and south bay (have spent some time visiting). In my experience that was what was great about it - I could bike to friends houses, drive 5 minutes to my job in high school and my school itself, etc

    But if you want to move to VT to live rurally it's definitely not that.
    Great points...living in Richmond you will be taking your life in your hands if you want to ride a bike on a road...dirt roads are worse than paved. Easy to live in a great school district, be close to amenities and feel like you're living in the country.

  12. #62
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    Yo G make sure you come check out the Sierra foothills before you flee .


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  13. #63
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  14. #64
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    Vermont Mags: School me on School Districts near Burlington?

    Quote Originally Posted by jtran10 View Post
    Just remembered that I have a friend that moved from the bay to Charlotte ……..
    were you a good friend and mentioned how to pronounce it? or just waited for him to figure it out?

    Reminds me of Fred Tuttle’s debate lol
    skid luxury

  15. #65
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    Ol’ Fred - A Man With A Plan!

  16. #66
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    Quote Originally Posted by riser3 View Post
    Give those chopped corn/hay trucks plenty of room. They are shuttling back and forth between the silage bunkers and the fields. If they take too long to make the circuit, the harvester is sitting there waiting for them, which is expensive time. So they push those trucks pretty hard.
    Aim for the chopping block. If you aim for the wood, you will have nothing. Aim past the wood, aim through the wood.
    http://tim-kirchoff.pixels.com/

  17. #67
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    Quote Originally Posted by From_the_NEK View Post
    Give those chopped corn/hay trucks plenty of room. They are shuttling back and forth between the silage bunkers and the fields. If they take too long to make the circuit, the harvester is sitting there waiting for them, which is expensive time. So they push those trucks pretty hard.
    That and the shit trucks. I live in the above city. I'm familiar with them. All up and down the Champlain valley. Franklin and Addison counties have got it off the hook.

  18. #68
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    Quote Originally Posted by babybear View Post
    were you a good friend and mentioned how to pronounce it? or just waited for him to figure it out?

    Reminds me of Fred Tuttle’s debate lol
    Heh. My old stomping grounds.

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