So with all this talk about St. George I thought I would share my family's experience with EBR Schools.

When my 1st daughter was 3 we had plans to move out to Zachary or Ascension. Due to several factors we ended up staying in Baton Rouge and attempting to send our daughter to a magnet school. We were given a shot during the first round but she choked during the testing and refused to take part of it. We had prepared her as best we could but she just got really nervous and did not pass to get in.

We were pretty upset and not sure what our next move would be but we stayed calm and looked at the local elementary school in Magnolia Woods. Its 97% minority enrolled and was a B rated school. I'm not a racist individual but I was concerned about her being feeling isolated, making friends, the obvious concerns.

It did have an accelerated learning STEM class(kinda like gifted an talented) that she had to test to get into. They let her mom be present during the test and not being so nervous she passed just fine. It was a small class of only 12 kids and a fantastic kindergarten teacher.

The school was run like a well oiled machine. It was almost too disciplined for my taste but those kids stayed in line and they did not tolerate any non-sense. All the kids were very nice to my little girl. I never saw anything that concerned me in the two years she was there. She made friends went to birthday parties and although we were sometimes the only white family there every one was friendly and gracious. It was a unique experience for sure. There were regular after school activities for students and families. One thing that was lacking was extra curriculars but I not sure how common that is in elementary schools. There was the after care program which was run by Girls Club.The young group of counselors really worked with those kids. They helped with homework everyday, did field trips, had dances, learned gardening, bought presents at Christmas time(which for some of these kids may have been the best they got). Its a great program. My daughter did very well academically and socially there and when we mentioned trying again for the magnet program she said she was happy at Mag Woods.

Now fast forward to this past summer and our second daughter received a crack at testing at our first choice magnet school for kindergarten. She passed and got in no problem. The school called and said they also have a spot for her sister if we would like to test. She passed and since her sister and few friends from the neighborhood were going to the same school she was down to give it a try.
We moved on from Magnolia Woods to Mayfair Lab but I look back at our experience with Magnolia Woods as an thought provoking experience. I was expecting the absolute worst and was prepared to do whatever was necessary to move her to a different school if I felt she was uncomfortable or not being challenged but in the end I'm glad we gave the school a chance.

When we lived in the proposed city of St George I supported it. I still think the citizens of the area have the right to chart their own destiny. I do wonder now if it doesnt pass or even if it does how could we engage those that dismiss EBR schools out right. Mag Wood Elem is an example of a good neighborhood school in a good area that could be great if families in the areas sent their kids there and became involved in it. Are there more out there? Has too much time passed and a fresh start through St George the only way to go for public schools to come back in BR?

This post was edited on 9/23/19 at 2:26 pm