Which is better to live and attend schools Eastern Shores, AL or Pensacola/Gulf Breeze, Fl (Mobile: homes, YMCA)

Valnf · 04-24-2007, 08:10 AM

Hi

I am relocating to either Spanish Fort, AL or Gulf Breeze, Fl because husband works in Mobile. Which is better Alabama side or Florida side for schools and quality of life for children. My kids are 12 and 14. Also if in Alabama which Private School do you recommend. It would be nice to hear from someone that have lived on both sides or know someone who has. Thanks for your advise.

Keeper · 04-24-2007, 07:15 PM

The schools in Baldwin county are pretty good. I can't tell you about Gulf Breeze but FL schools overall are terrible. They only teach the FCAT so they can get more money from the state which limits the learning to only FCAT. Travel time from Gulf Breeze to Mobile would be really long. Spanish Fort, Daphne areas are nice and not nearly as far as Gulf Breeze. Hope this helps, I am sure there are others on here that can tell you more about the area.

backstreets · 04-24-2007, 07:17 PM

I am employed as a teacher for the state of Alabama. I can't tell you about Florida schools per se, but I believe Florida's educational systems benefit from money obtained from lotteries. In other words, Florida, more than likely, spends more dollars on education. That, in a nutshell, counts for a LOT! I hate to say it, but I would lean towards Florida schools.

Keeper · 04-24-2007, 07:49 PM

Hate to tell you but the lottery didn't help FL schools at all. It was suppose to be additional money for the schools but instead they took away the original money and left the lottery money. The schools teach the state test and that is about it since it means money for their school. Bad grade on the test, no money for the school. Now tell me that makes sense.

Valnf · 04-24-2007, 08:33 PM

I will research the schools. I know that Florida has a Bright Student Scholarship that if you have at least a 3.0 average you are eligible for free college coming from a Florida high school.

wildchildboutique · 05-02-2007, 04:24 PM

I live in SPanish Fort and I can offer you whatever information you might need for this area. If he will be working in Mobile he would want to live on the Eastern Shore(of the bay of Mobile). Exit 38 is Daphne, exit 41 is SPanish Fort/Malbis exit. We have a new mall, Eastern Shore Centre, there is an outdoor fountain for kids to play in and tons of upper middle class type shops like Talbots, Victoria Secrets, Barnes & Noble, etc.

In my opinion Gulf Breeze would be totally out of the question, a good 50 minute/1 hr drive from here would easily be over 1 hr 15 min from Mobile. If you wanted to move to Pensacola you would need to be right off the interstate like Cantonment/Pace/Milton, etc. but your drive would be an additional 30 minutes from here. We are about 20-25-30 min from Mobile, depending which part, so again over an hour.

No doubt you need to be in Spanish Fort, Daphne, or Fairhope area. Christ the King is the most popular private school in the area, also Bayside Academy, but very pricey. Those are both downtown Daphne(about 10 min drive from Spanish Fort). Personally if you live in the SPanish Fort school district the public schools will be just as good. I recommend North of I-10 Spanish Fort area. My daughter attends Rockwell Elementary and from what I've heard it is the most popular around, people move to our area just to get their kids in the school here. Everyone knows the principal and staff at the school. My daughter started reading on her own about half way through the Kindergarten school year....and I've run across a lot of children from Christ the King that were still not reading at her age....and she is reading on a 2-3 grade level, so I've been very impressed. Hope this helps.

Valnf · 05-11-2007, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildchildboutique

I live in SPanish Fort and I can offer you whatever information you might need for this area. If he will be working in Mobile he would want to live on the Eastern Shore(of the bay of Mobile). Exit 38 is Daphne, exit 41 is SPanish Fort/Malbis exit. We have a new mall, Eastern Shore Centre, there is an outdoor fountain for kids to play in and tons of upper middle class type shops like Talbots, Victoria Secrets, Barnes & Noble, etc.

In my opinion Gulf Breeze would be totally out of the question, a good 50 minute/1 hr drive from here would easily be over 1 hr 15 min from Mobile. If you wanted to move to Pensacola you would need to be right off the interstate like Cantonment/Pace/Milton, etc. but your drive would be an additional 30 minutes from here. We are about 20-25-30 min from Mobile, depending which part, so again over an hour.

No doubt you need to be in Spanish Fort, Daphne, or Fairhope area. Christ the King is the most popular private school in the area, also Bayside Academy, but very pricey. Those are both downtown Daphne(about 10 min drive from Spanish Fort). Personally if you live in the SPanish Fort school district the public schools will be just as good. I recommend North of I-10 Spanish Fort area. My daughter attends Rockwell Elementary and from what I've heard it is the most popular around, people move to our area just to get their kids in the school here. Everyone knows the principal and staff at the school. My daughter started reading on her own about half way through the Kindergarten school year....and I've run across a lot of children from Christ the King that were still not reading at her age....and she is reading on a 2-3 grade level, so I've been very impressed. Hope this helps.

I have visited the area and it is very nice. I know alot of families are moving there too. I am undecided about sending my children to either private or public school. Do you anyone that didn't like the public school and moved to private? Have you heard anything about UMS-Wright or McGill Toolen? How are the youth's sports?

wildchildboutique · 05-12-2007, 08:46 AM

I replied to your email also, but I wanted post for others.

I recommend Spanish Fort if you can afford to live here. We have 3 schools right now and I have not heard a bad thing about any of them. Our high school is 2 years old I believe? The elementary schools are great, people move into our area to be in our school district. I've only met a few really snobby people that send their kids down to Daphne to private school, but honestly most people go private here. There is no reason not to.

I've never heard of UMS/McGill ever. There are a lot of sports to choose from here and in Daphne which is less than 10/15 minutes away. Spanish Fort has an organized sports group but does not yet have a facility so you will only find out about events by watching for banners around the community. The majority of their activities run about $100 for the season. If you go to Daphne you can do the recreation center sports for about $55-65 per season or the YMCA for usually $45-50. We've done sports with all 3 including softball, tball, tiny tot basketball, cheerleading for football, etc. Spanish Fort has a new football field(no bleachers yet) and softball field.

Pricing on homes in the area is going to vary, let me know what price range and i can recommend some areas for you.

Valnf · 05-12-2007, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildchildboutique

I replied to your email also, but I wanted post for others.

I recommend Spanish Fort if you can afford to live here. We have 3 schools right now and I have not heard a bad thing about any of them. Our high school is 2 years old I believe? The elementary schools are great, people move into our area to be in our school district. I've only met a few really snobby people that send their kids down to Daphne to private school, but honestly most people go private here. There is no reason not to.

I've never heard of UMS/McGill ever. There are a lot of sports to choose from here and in Daphne which is less than 10/15 minutes away. Spanish Fort has an organized sports group but does not yet have a facility so you will only find out about events by watching for banners around the community. The majority of their activities run about $100 for the season. If you go to Daphne you can do the recreation center sports for about $55-65 per season or the YMCA for usually $45-50. We've done sports with all 3 including softball, tball, tiny tot basketball, cheerleading for football, etc. Spanish Fort has a new football field(no bleachers yet) and softball field.

Pricing on homes in the area is going to vary, let me know what price range and i can recommend some areas for you.

Thank you I appreciate your information and it sounds good.

Keeper · 05-13-2007, 06:02 AM

UMS/Wright won the state football championship 3 out of the last 5 years. McGill/Toolen is the catholic HS and always had good athletics. Both schools in Mobile and have been around for many many many years and are well known for the academics as well. Anyone who is interested in youth sports can tell you more. UMS/Wright would be a long trip from Spanish Fort and depending on if your children are going to drive or if your husband is going to drive them could make it even a longer day and trip. Tutition for UMS is almost $8,000 a year for HS. McGill is closer to downtown but is your husbands works near the interstate it would still be out of the way. McGill tutition depends on if you are catholic. Non-catholics starts at 6,280 a year. If you haven't done so already you might want to check out their websites.