I was reading in the news about how an 8th grade student was claiming she'd been bullied. She'd had to change schools. She got into a fight. I'm not going to judge her, the student to knocked her out, or Shawnee Mission Schools. That's up to individual parents. What I do know is that some parents want options beyond the traditional public school, and my kids attend one of those optional schools in Johnson County.
Hope Lutheran School in Shawnee is where my kids go. My wife teaches there, and I have taught there as a substitute a few times. Compared to the schools I've attended or taught at, there is very little in the way of bullying or taunting of others. The kids are still kids, but fighting and swearing (as described in the article about the Shawnee Mission Schools) are not really issues.
As I drive my kids home from a school that goes through 8th grade and see a SMSD middle school, I always use my favorite line for the school: "Middle school kids in trouble!" And there's the Walgreen's Gang--all the kids who cross Quivera and climb the hill to Walgreen's for some much-needed candy. This stuff isn't bad, exactly, and I'm sure most of the kids aren't in any kind of trouble, but it's certainly a different atmosphere than at Hope.
If you're cool with the Walgreen's Gang and a large school where your kid could do some great things or get lost in the cracks, then Shawnee Mission Schools are probably a good fit. If you're looking for something a little more personalized, then Hope Lutheran School might be more your style. You don't have to be Lutheran, you don't have to live in Shawnee (we're in Lenexa), and you don't even have to live in Johnson County or Kansas, since we have kids from Missouri and sometimes overseas. No matter where the kids are from, however, it's more of a family than other schools I've taught at or attended, and there's something to be said for that.
If you look into Hope Lutheran, be sure to mention this article. We don't get any bonuses for our kids or anything, but I think the school likes to know how folks find it.
