Omaha Area Schools

NDizona · Post by **NDizona** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:12 pm

I think you undercut the importance of finance class...but I deal with financing daily so maybe I am biased. The single largest investment people generally make is in their home - you would think it would be nice to understand why.

History - I enjoy reading and learning but I can't really think of how it has helped my make any money.

Math - Math skills basically make good people in business even better. Once you can understand a make/buy analysis or interpret statistics - you will become much better at whatever you are doing. Again - amazingly biased as I use math everyday...(actually I use Excel

)

Keyboard - if we change keyboards - I am going to protest.

As for Prep - as a graduate with a solid 3.5 GPA - I honestly thought I was smarter than most kids coming out of other high schools until I got to college. I found out that there are actually pretty smart kids from other high schools... The only real difference between me and other students with my level of intelligence was writing. We had to write so many frikking papers in high school that it was an easy transition to college. I had friends in my class that had never written a paper on a computer in their life...or written more than 2 pages.

Generally - the students at public high schools that are trying and care - they are generally as well educated as kids that spend $7k/year.

I went to Catholic school my entire life - I am sending my daughter to Millard Public Schools.

joeglow · Post by **joeglow** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:24 pm

NDizona wrote: As for Prep - as a graduate with a solid 3.5 GPA - I honestly thought I was smarter than most kids coming out of other high schools until I got to college. I found out that there are actually pretty smart kids from other high schools... The only real difference between me and other students with my level of intelligence was writing. We had to write so many frikking papers in high school that it was an easy transition to college. I had friends in my class that had never written a paper on a computer in their life...or written more than 2 pages.

-I have always said the exact same thing regarding the writing (especially after the papers Beckman made us write in AP US History). In my experience, the biggest difference is discipline. I went to Ralston for 9 years and was a complete discipline case that the majority of teachers just wrote off. One quarter at Prep and I had zero discipline problems and graduated with a 4.0.

What year did you graduate?

NDizona · Post by **NDizona** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:44 pm

'96

Beckman .... oh that name brings bad writers cramp...

oh man

I had his wife in AP science...

it almost ended me.

joeglow · Post by **joeglow** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:50 pm

NDizona wrote:'96

Beckman .... oh that name brings bad writers cramp...

oh man

I had his wife in AP science...

it almost ended me.

No ****. I graduated in '95, so I am sure I know you! Yeah, I had Mr. and Mrs. Beckman back to back for AP Biology and AP US History. The real pisser was when they had tests the same day. You KNEW they planned it that way.

Asten · Post by **Asten** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:25 pm

art-lover67 wrote:Hi everyone! I am moving to the Omaha area with 3 boys. Two are in High School. I really like the curriculum and course offerings at North, but I'm worried about safety because there were mentions of gang activity. Does anyone have 1st hand knowledge of North who can speak to the safety issue?

Also, is it true they offer an international baccalaureate program there?

Millard North is the only Nebraska HS to offer the International Baccalaureate Program, says their website (and http://www.ibo.org)

NDizona · Post by **NDizona** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 7:56 pm

Im Nick Dizona

I wrestled with Ben Perkins, Joe Anania (SP), Justin Evens...

David Astusto was a childhood friend...

You remember how Ben skipped Mrs Petersen's class daily? and she would flip whenever she saw him..

and his line was - |expletive| - its her fault for having her class too |expletive| early...

Swift · Post by **Swift** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 12:41 pm

Ah, that explains the pungent stench of Pat Buchanan-esque holier-than-thou stank that I often find wafting just below the surface of both of your posts: you're both Prep grads! :P

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 12:55 pm

Hey! I am a freaking liberal grad of Prep from 1979 so don't place a Buchananism tag there

NDizona · Post by **NDizona** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 2:12 pm

You are the only one then...

and I am a Libertarian...

Vote Ron Paul

Swift · Post by **Swift** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:39 pm

It probably only applies to the Reagan Babies, then.

NDizona · Post by **NDizona** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:59 pm

I wouldn't mind that label.

certainly better than Carter.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:09 am

I came aware of politics during the Nixon era. Enough said.

Omababe · Post by **Omababe** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 8:44 am

Coyote wrote:I came aware of politics during the Nixon era.

I came aware that politics were so nasty during the Nixon era. Not to show my real age, but the first time I was able to vote (the age was just lowered to 18) I voted against Nixon for the second term. Nixon won -- and shortly after showed his true colors.

Politics have gotten much worse since.

Swift · Post by **Swift** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 11:15 am

NDizona wrote:I wouldn't mind that label.

certainly better than Carter.

Here's an interesting chart on party affiliation base on age, then showing who was president when those people were first able to vote.

Paul Bunyan · Post by **Paul Bunyan** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 7:04 am

Omaha North is a fantastic High School. It's not in a beautiful area of the city, but it's a top-end Magnet School that excels in technology, engineering, etc. There are kids from out west driving past the Millard Schools to come to North. In fact, the reputation of North has become known, and its enrollment is rapidly growing. Regarding AP Courses, my kid will be able to graduate from North High with almost 2 full years of college completed. And unless my memory fails me, there were either 4 or 5 North High kids, last year, who got a perfect 36 on their ACTs.

Also, honestly, don't be fooled by the nice facade presented by some of the schools in the western suburbs. While this doesn't make them bad schools in itself, they do have a lot of drug & alcohol related problems. It's just that most of the kids there have rich parents, who are able to keep these things quiet (think Rod Kush).

joeglow · Post by **joeglow** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:20 pm

I just re-read this thread and....good times.

As I said before, I think a lot of it depends on which classes your children will be in. A friend of my wife's teaches at Omaha Burke. When we asked her is she would send her kids there, her response was yes if the were going to be in gifted or remedial programs. A definite no if they were going to be regular classes. Her reason was the issue of disruptive students who had no desire to be there. Granted this is going to be the case in EVERY school, but more of an issue in some schools than others.

Uffda · Post by **Uffda** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:40 pm

Burke is also very packed (read overcrowded)

thenewguy · Post by **thenewguy** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:51 am

what happened to ndizona

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 2:40 am

The papers at Prep are freaking ridiculous, I had to write more papers my senior year of high school then I had to write my freshman year of college.

As for the best high school in Omaha its easy, THE OMAHA CREIGHTON PREP. The best in Academics, and Athletics. But seriously Central is a great school from what I hear but I don't think you can go wrong at Prep, your son will leave with memories to last a lifetime, friends that will last a lifetime and a top notch education.

Just don't let your son or daughter go to Westside :lol:

TechnicalDisaster · Post by **TechnicalDisaster** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 11:21 am

Just don't let your son or daughter go to Westside

Can't really let your daughter go to Creighton Prep either.

Post by **Brad** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 11:25 am

Westside was Awesome! Why would you never let your kid go there? I hope to move back in to the district before I have kids.

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 12:20 pm

Me goed 2 OpS. Grat scool, lern lotts

thenewguy · Post by **thenewguy** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 5:28 pm

Werd.

snishivophy · Post by **snishivophy** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 6:02 pm

I have emailed a few UNO people listed on their web site, but I have not heard back from anyone. Does anyone know of an instructor they could recommend in the Omaha area? I am an hour away from there to the east.

Post by **Admin** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 6:23 pm

snishivophy wrote:I have emailed a few UNO people listed on their web site, but I have not heard back from anyone. Does anyone know of an instructor they could recommend in the Omaha area? I am an hour away from there to the east.

In China? Please.

joeglow · Post by **joeglow** » Tue May 11, 2010 12:34 pm

Interesting article on how many high schools in Texas appear to be classifying drop-outs as children being pulled out for home schooling. I wonder if this is something that is harder to do here.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 99109.html

Big E · Post by **Big E** » Tue May 11, 2010 12:39 pm

Can't have Texas looking bad in the eyes of No Child Left Behind, now can we?

DeWalt · Post by **DeWalt** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 12:29 pm

art-lover67 wrote:Hi everyone! I am moving to the Omaha area with 3 boys. Two are in High School. I really like the curriculum and course offerings at North, but I'm worried about safety because there were mentions of gang activity. Does anyone have 1st hand knowledge of North who can speak to the safety issue?

Also, is it true they offer an international baccalaureate program there?

All the fear-mongering about North High School is a bunch of |expletive|.

It is an EXCELLENT magnet high school, with extremely high level education available.

Yes, there are a lot of kids that drop out. But schools can't cater to the drop-outs. Schools have to cater to the needs of those who are there. And that's what North High does.

DeWalt · Post by **DeWalt** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 12:30 pm

cutiger89 wrote:Thanks for all of the additional opinions. For now we are putting aside the question of whether Central High is sufficient (not going to get in the middle of that discussion) and focus on whether Harrison or Dundee elementary would work for us. We are very interested in the Dundee/Memorial Park area so for the moment we are focusing our efforts on learning more about that part of town.

That is an EXCELLENT and BEAUTIFUL part of town!

joeglow · Post by **joeglow** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 1:21 pm

In Honor of Father O'Leary retiring after decades teaching at Prep, they are sharing some of his quotes each day on Facebook. Tuesday was one of my favorites:

"Tuck that shirt tail in, do you want to look like you go to Westside?"

DeWalt · Post by **DeWalt** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 3:36 pm

DTO Luv wrote:It's not about the ones who drop out but about the ones who stay in school.

You are absolutely right!

DeWalt · Post by **DeWalt** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 3:38 pm

art-lover67 wrote:Hi everyone! I am moving to the Omaha area with 3 boys. Two are in High School. I really like the curriculum and course offerings at North, but I'm worried about safety because there were mentions of gang activity. Does anyone have 1st hand knowledge of North who can speak to the safety issue?

Also, is it true they offer an international baccalaureate program there?

One of my kids graduated from North. Absolutely no problems of any kind. It's an excellent school.

I know I'm responding to a 2-year old comment, but true is still true.

Garrett · Post by **Garrett** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:12 pm

Lets just face it, all of Omaha's schools are great. Each has it's own unique advantage over others.

Big E · Post by **Big E** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:51 pm

DeWalt wrote:One of my kids graduated from North.

Others couldn't cut it?

cdub · Post by **cdub** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 8:53 am

Big E wrote:
DeWalt wrote:One of my kids graduated from North.
Others couldn't cut it?

They ended up in a gang and got suspended and then thrown in jail for robbery...

My kids are in Papio and we like it. I have to admit I wasn't too excited about being in OPS when we moved but in the end my wife decided on the neighborhood and we loved the fact that all 3 schools are within about 5 blocks. If we'd have found that in OPS (we didnt look) we may have just as well ended up there.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 1:10 pm

Brad wrote:Westside was Awesome! Why would you never let your kid go there? I hope to move back in to the district before I have kids.

Why all the Westside hate?

I think Westside is the best high school in Omaha, but Millard North or Millard West may take over that position as suburban Omaha, west of 120th, grows.

There is certainly a "gangsta" segment of the student body, as well as a "white trash" segment, but statistically they are not a very significant %age of the student body. They are just very...noticeable. Loud and intrusive in the hallways, and sit around in public spaces all the time because they have nothing better to do. However, it is very easy to avoid and ignore them.

On the other hand, WHS is extremely strong, academically. In my graduating year (2010) we had 11 National Merit Finalists. No other Omaha school reached double digits, I believe. In addition, WHS's ACT scores are consistently over 4 points higher than the national average. And in just 2010, kids got accepted to top colleges including Yale (2 from 2010), Dartmouth, Duke (2 from 2010), UC Berkeley, Carnegie-Mellon, UPenn, and Emory. Next year, there will be 5 WHS graduates attending Northwestern U (1 from 2008, me and a classmate from 2010, and 2 new acceptances from the class of 2011).

Multiple students getting into top colleges is a better indicator of academic strength than percentage of students who attend college. A private school saying that 95-98% of each class attends college only proves what we already know, which is that most private school students want to go to college. On the other hand, although not everyone at a public school like WHS wants to go to college, the fact that several students get into top colleges year after year proves that WHS successfully prepares students for college, if they choose to go that path.

It's easy to judge a school based on the worst parts, but the truth is, WHS is mainly compromised of modest and respectful kids from good families who put effort into their studies, stay involved in activities & enjoy hobbies, and don't plan on getting a criminal record soon. And don't sag their pants.

HuskerDave · Post by **HuskerDave** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 2:32 pm

Axel wrote:Lets just face it, all of Omaha's schools are great. Each has it's own unique advantage over others.

I agree! When I was high school age, I was more inclined to believe that anyone coming out of North or Central was one degree of separation from significant criminal activity. Years later I know there isn't necessarily any more correlation to that than there is for any other school.

As for the 'gangsta' element or drug use - there's some of that in every public school, and to some extent the private ones too (though the faculty at a private school typically has the option of booting a kid out for such behavior).

OmahaBen · Post by **OmahaBen** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 3:04 pm

DeWalt wrote:
art-lover67 wrote:Hi everyone! I am moving to the Omaha area with 3 boys. Two are in High School. I really like the curriculum and course offerings at North, but I'm worried about safety because there were mentions of gang activity. Does anyone have 1st hand knowledge of North who can speak to the safety issue?

Also, is it true they offer an international baccalaureate program there?
All the fear-mongering about North High School is a bunch of |expletive|.

As a Norf High grad turned Ivy Leaguer turned lawyer, it's not totally a bunch of ****. It's way overblown, yes, but there are some kernels of truth to it. If you drove to school, you took your car into your own hands if you didn't land a spot in the school lot, the YMCA-lot, or on a street contiguous with the school. Multiple friends had windows busted when they got there "late" (which meant only 10 minutes before school started rather than 40) and had to park farther from the school.

North is essentially two schools in one - there's the honors/AP track that is almost entirely made up of the kids bussed in under the magnet school program, and then the non-honors track with the local kids. About the only time the two groups meet are in gym class (if the honors kid doesn't do ROTC or marching band in lieu of p.e.), lunch periods, passing periods between classes, and on the sports teams. That said, there was never really any issue if you didn't instigate trouble yourself - the "live and let live" philosophy worked wonders in the hallways.

I personally saw North decline a bit during my four years there once Mr. Harvey left for the superintendant's office and Ms. Nared took his place as principal. She would've been a fine principal in many schools, but North was not a good fit for her. Mr. Harvey had a commanding presence that demanded discipline; Ms. Nared did not and the number of fights I saw in the hallways definitely increased under her tenure. I expect Gene "Brother-Man" Haynes has likely restored some of that now that he's moved up to the head role.

And all that said, Norf is nothing like Benson, despite their relative locations. My senior year was the first time we played Benson in football in 25-30 years, and there were at least a half dozen fights in the stands, mostly on the Benson side of the field.

OmahaBen · Post by **OmahaBen** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 3:18 pm

Anonymous wrote:
Brad wrote:Westside was Awesome! Why would you never let your kid go there? I hope to move back in to the district before I have kids.
Why all the Westside hate?

Because the existence of District 66 as a separate entity from OPS isn't exactly 100% kosher. Especially given how D66's reach is somewhat gerrymandered to include lots of industrial and commercial land at the edges of its borders; thereby increasing its property tax base at the expense of OPS's.

It's a bit suspect, at the least.

DeWalt · Post by **DeWalt** » Sat Jun 11, 2011 8:59 am

Big E wrote:
DeWalt wrote:One of my kids graduated from North.
Others couldn't cut it?

Yeah, exactly.

Well, that or the fact that we lived in a different state at the time.