Is valwood school shutting down?

I hear that roughly half of the valwood students are returning this year? Does valwood have the same fate as westbrook in brooks county?

Um no Valwood is doing just fine.

Ron wrote:

Um no Valwood is doing just fine.

After reading the Valdosta Daily Times Sports section about the coach being let go due to financial problems (along with another employee). Plus the statement that the student population was down 5-10 percent in relation to the past years. It does not sound like Valwood is "just fine".....

They are in trouble. only 45 students at the middle school. several grades are down to 1 classroom. atleast 4 or 5 teachers have been let go. headmaster is also the IT person this year. all deans have taken pay cuts. NOT just fine

Ron, valwood is not doing just fine.
you do the math. Approx. 100 less students.
$10 000 x 100 less students =$1 000 000 less.

I can not imagine that Valwood would close.
I am sure they will make it. It is one beautiful school. Wishing them the best.

I heard today that this will be headmaster cobb atkinson's last year. maybe valwood can recover once he leaves. others agree. see ga varsity sports vent website.

I would think Valwood would be fine because they have a student population that has a good bit of wealth. Also, I am sure some wealthy alumni that would support it to help it stay open.
I would think that Valwood will always be a positive fixture in Valdosta. I hope for them anyway.

Valwood's board of "directors" was duped by the slick-talking Cobb Atkinson. He is an Ivy-league BSer. They expanded facilities to a degree that could NEVER be supported longterm by their "general" student population and $$ from parents and alumni. This is a school that existed so that certain families in Valdosta might never be forced into having their precious children rub elbows with all of the "lowlife" and less-than-white folk. The headmaster appointed an unqualified school-marm as interim dean of lower school and then kept her on because she was easily controlled -- by him and the monied parents.

Academics and curriculum in the lower school was a J.O.K.E.

Valwood needs to close. The protected children need to be part of the real world AKA integrated with folks of darker skin color, less money, and BIGGER PICTURES.

Good Riddance.

amen sister.

insider wrote:

I heard today that this will be headmaster cobb atkinson's last year. maybe valwood can recover once he leaves. others agree. see ga varsity sports vent website.

Can you post a link to this discussion. We might find it interesting.

The economy is hurting many independent schools and apparently some of you are bitter that your finances can no longer support tuition at Valwood. I am sorry for you. My children still attend independent schools and the ones that have graduated have done well in college and gone on to professional careers. As for curriculum, Valwood does an excellent job of preparing 100% of their students for college....that's 100%. As for diversity, you obviously haven't been on campus lately.

Given the situation in the public schools of south Georgia, Valwood is an excellent choice for those who continue have the means and are seeking a college prep program for their children. Private independent schools are not for everyone just as parochial or Christian schools are not for everyone. Special needs students, vocational students, and even some gifted students are better served in the public system where their strengths will be developed with targeted programs. Also, it is always a difficult choice to pay tuition when you are already paying school taxes, but in my experience it is a road well taken.

I pulled my kids out last year. Money was not the issue. The lord has blessed me and my family and the tuition was not the problem. Sure, some kids did not return because of financial reasons. However, I know that money was not a factor in thirty or forty kids that did not return.Some of these kids have buildings,fields etc. named for their families because their families made large contributions toward the physical plant.
The reason I pulled my kids out of Valwood is because the quality of the Valwood experience has declined each year that cobb atkinson has been headmaster.VALWOOD SIMPLY IS NOT THE SCHOOL IT WAS SIX OR SEVEN YEARS AGO!.
I am confident that I am just as well off financially as Alumnus. I am sure my kids are just as gifted as well. My point is that Valwood has rested on its laurels long enough. It is time for a knew Headmaster.

Valwood is getting along wonderfully this year. It is sad to think that anyone would want a school to be closed, whether your children attend the school or not. That would mean many adults would lose their jobs and many children would lose their beloved school. It would also mean the loss of a private school option for Valdosta. Valdosta is teetering on the verge of becoming just another south Georgia city with nothing to offer but public schools, chain restaurants, a trashy mall and a whole lot of drunks. I can hazard a guess that those most vocal about Valwood needing to close so the "protected" will have to face "reality" can not afford Valwood tuition.

The true reality is that there are private schools all over the country with kids that are wealthier, smarter and better educated than yours. Those same private school children will go on to Ivy League schools, take over the largest corporations in America and HOPEFULLY provide a job for your undereducated community college graduate of a child. Your child will have the advantage on the street, however. I bet they will be WAY more educated on underage drinking, teen pregnancy and gangs. You do have that going for you.

Check out the fine new Valwood website this morning....www.valwood.org.
Good things are going on there and I am proud of the faculty, students, and alumnae.
Doc is correct. It is institutions like Valwood that help make Valdosta a progressive community. It is part of the solution that will help rise from its "below the line" location in Georgia.

Alumnus wrote:

The economy is hurting many independent schools and apparently some of you are bitter that your finances can no longer support tuition at Valwood. I am sorry for you. My children still attend independent schools and the ones that have graduated have done well in college and gone on to professional careers. As for curriculum, Valwood does an excellent job of preparing 100% of their students for college....that's 100%. As for diversity, you obviously haven't been on campus lately.
Given the situation in the public schools of south Georgia, Valwood is an excellent choice for those who continue have the means and are seeking a college prep program for their children. Private independent schools are not for everyone just as parochial or Christian schools are not for everyone. Special needs students, vocational students, and even some gifted students are better served in the public system where their strengths will be developed with targeted programs. Also, it is always a difficult choice to pay tuition when you are already paying school taxes, but in my experience it is a road well taken.

i say, from your narrow views, that you are indeed a special needs person. remember, it only takes a few seconds to go from normal to brain-damaged because of an accident. lay off special needs kids.

You are correct "give it up" . I would be a special needs kid if I were in school today. After my tours in Iraq I have lost about 90% of my hearing--technically deaf. One of the perils of doing ROTC and choosing to serve my country. Very insightful of you to recognize that.

I recently received a teaching certificate to teach the deaf--and after completing my master degree expect to teach in a public school situation, obviously special needs children.

My personal situation does not change my belief that there needs to be diversity in education that meets the needs of all families.

Give it up people. If nothing else this is a private school and it will exist or not exist because of the efforts of the parents and the board of directors. You can chat all you want....but you are blowing smoke into the wind.

And if you are wondering, I was having lunch with "Alumnus" and saw your posts. I know nothing about this particular school, but my own children graduated from a parochial school here in Florida.

Didn't know there was a "Morven Forem" but I am familiar Valwood.