High School Wars: Perception Versus Academic Reality

As a St. Louis native, I know that choosing a high school is a big deal. So the pressure is on when an eighth-grader is in the house. I thought it would get easier to decide, but now that my third child is looking for schools, there are still as many questions as there are answers. 

Our family policy was to allow an "A"  student to choose a private or public school. My son opted for a Catholic school, St. John Vianney, where he is now a senior. My older daughter had little interest in private schools, and enrolled in Kirkwood High, which seems to have been a very good fit. 

In this economy, private school really isn't an option now for our "A" student.  The choices for my middle daughter, Elizabeth, are public schools—Kirkwood and high schools. 

Because my kids split their time between two households just a half-mile apart—mine in and their father's in Kirkwood—Elizabeth has options.

As part of the decision-making process, Elizabeth spent one day at Lindbergh and seemed to enjoy it, but didn't talk much about the experience at first. After visiting Kirkwood, she took me by surprise and opened up about both schools.

"I like Lindbergh better, but I'm not sure that I want to go there," Elizabeth said. She thought Lindbergh's classes seemed more engaging and students appeared to get along better—and were happier to be there.

The downside was that she didn't have classmates going to Lindbergh. Any 14-year-old is going to be drawn to a school where the majority of her friends plan to attend.

However, the fact that she was seriously considering Lindbergh was a major endorsement in my mind. So I started asking around about the districts and was intrigued by the responses.

To the person, teachers and administrators sang the praises of Lindbergh, saying it is outstanding in the region and an excellent choice. 

Outside of the educational community, there was a strong bias in favor of Kirkwood. Interestingly, I don't believe the numbers back up that bias when comparing the two high schools.

According to City-Data.com, both have ACT score averages over 23 and separated by mere tenths of a point. More of Lindbergh's students took the ACT.

Kirkwood's Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) score index was 767.6 compared to Lindbergh's slightly higher 769.7. The state average was 742.

Although we've been happy with Kirkwood, so far, for my older daughter, Lindbergh seems under-rated in my admittedly small sampling. After all, it was the first district in Missouri to offer the International Baccalaureate program—a challenging course of study. 

I wonder if Lindbergh seems underrated because of how we residents identify as a neighborhood? has been my home now for several years, but I've noticed neither my neighbors nor I beam with pride about this city in the way I hear about the city of Kirkwood. 

Not to knock Kirkwood in the least, but how much of the bias about the schools is based on the brand name—the community's identity?

Now, I'm thinking about how we might bolster Lindbergh's reputation and use our wonderful community to better promote our schools. November's victory for Proposition L was an exciting step in the right direction.

The measure is expected to bring $8 million annually into the district for education.

We still don't know where Elizabeth will enroll next school year. With the big decision looming, looking into Lindbergh High School has left me feeling much better about our choices.