[The Fabachers]

At the end of January my husband and I moved to the Little Rock area from a nice Dallas suburb. We are renting, until we choose a home to buy.
Census results in 2000 showed Maumelle to be the best-educated city in Arkansas. Kroger is planning to build its second largest food store in the South (including the megastores in Texas) - a sign that much growth is anticipated in this suburb of 15,000. That could be good for resale value, if you stay only for a few years.
You will love the real estate prices here, if you are from Minneapolis. I would avoid living near the water. Arkansas has alligators and water moccasins ("cottonmouths")!! You will find exquisite views of the Arkansas River, however, from hilltop neighborhoods.
Wish you the best!

[watts]

Thank you for all these responses! It has been a whirlwind since I first posted.

We are moving to Mayflower, AR. My husband has been to Little Rock for work several times this year and loves Mayflower. As for the schools, I'm a little nervous. Actually, I'm REALLY nervous!

I was not aware that kids wore uniforms in public schools. That will be different!

I'm off to read more of the forum. If you know anything about Mayflower, feel free to hollar back.

[retjamrivera]

Hi there! I noticed your post was from December 2006, so I'm sure you've probably moved to Arkansas by now.
But I wanted to let anyone else who may be thinking of moving to Mayflower, AR know what to expect and give some info on the schools.
I'll start with the fact that I moved to Arkansas from Wisconsin 19yrs ago. I was a high school student at the time. We moved to Little Rock and I went to school at McClellan High School. I would NOT recommend McClellan to my worst enemy. The horror stories I could tell you would blow your mind and fill up way too much space here. Has it changed in 19yrs you ask? NO.
I moved to Mayflower with my husband and daughter in 2004. I love our little community. It is quiet, small and everyone waves to everyone else. There are several communities like mine in Mayflower. There are also some very run down areas that you have to overlook and some you should stay away from completely. I think it is like that in any city in the United States though. I was worried about moving my daughter from a private school to this public school district. The district here is very small so it was difficult for me to find out by word of mouth what it was like. I will tell you that I can't think of another district in the Central Arkansas area that I would rather have my daughter in. The classrooms are small enough for teachers to focus on individual students, the whole district is focused on a challenging educational curriculum. (the school dist. website needs a major overhaul, however!) So far, I have enjoyed all of the teachers my daughter has had contact with. Also, as of right now, there are no uniforms, though it was discussed at one point...I think they just dropped it. I could go on about the city itself and how much I've enjoyed living here, but I think you get the picture.

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by The Fabachers

Arkansas has alligators and water moccasins ("cottonmouths")!!

Alligators in Arkansas are restricted to the extreme southern portions and they are very uncommon. Cottonmouths are not a very dangerous snake as venemous go. You're much more likely to encounter to copperheads which also are not extremely dangerous unless you're in the middle of one of the national forests and you'll probably only be bitten if you step on it or try to pick it up without proper equipment. Just to be complete on snake information, Arkansas is also home to a couple species of rattlesnakes but those are very uncommon and herp enthusiasts often spend several years just trying to find one. In other words...don't worry about snakes and definitely don't worry about 'gators. A GREAT place for info on herpetofauna is Snakes of Arkansas: HomePage

[gonzotg]

Having grown up in Minnesota and then living in the Midwest until four years ago (in Southern NC now), I would suggest that you look at websites like greatschools.net for general research. Everyone on this forum will have a bias as to what schools are good based of where they or their kids, friends, etc went. You can at least compare the school district you’re in now against other prospects on line. We will be moving to AR around the end of the year and will be making location decisions based on schools, and although I can’t speak for Arkansas, as I am not there yet, I can tell you that public vs. private eduction in the SE as a region is looked upon differently then in MN. In this area private school is less expensive and has higher enrollments then Minnesota. We will be giving this serious consideration when moving that we may not have if this was our first foray into the South from the Midwest. I am not sure if Arkansas has an open enrollment policy like MN so you will want to check into that too. Minnesota generally ranks in the top third for education, Arkansas does not, so despite all who would brush that aside be sure to do your research, stay involved and you will be happy with the outcome. Good luck in your transition.

[gonzotg]

On a positive note remember that no matter how hot it gets in AR you don't have to scrape it off your windshield.

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by gonzotg

Having grown up in Minnesota and then living in the Midwest until four years ago (in Southern NC now), I would suggest that you look at websites like greatschools.net for general research. Everyone on this forum will have a bias as to what schools are good based of where they or their kids, friends, etc went. You can at least compare the school district you’re in now against other prospects on line. We will be moving to AR around the end of the year and will be making location decisions based on schools, and although I can’t speak for Arkansas, as I am not there yet, I can tell you that public vs. private eduction in the SE as a region is looked upon differently then in MN. In this area private school is less expensive and has higher enrollments then Minnesota. We will be giving this serious consideration when moving that we may not have if this was our first foray into the South from the Midwest. I am not sure if Arkansas has an open enrollment policy like MN so you will want to check into that too. Minnesota generally ranks in the top third for education, Arkansas does not, so despite all who would brush that aside be sure to do your research, stay involved and you will be happy with the outcome. Good luck in your transition.

While sites like greatschools.net are a good place to start, no one should totally rely on those for you decision. I'll speak firsthand for our experiences in Maryland: teaching the test is extremely common as is cooking the books by some classes or even schools in the district "not having time" to take the required standardized tests. Happened to our son's class last year. They somehow failed to take the required state assessment test because they were behind in something else. So, some of these supposedly fabulous schools may not be all you think they are. Likewise, you can't go by the parent reviews either as you will almost always get polar opposites and the sampling renders this completely useless. My son's middle school looks pretty darn good on greatschools...but I certainly would NOT recommend it.

So, how do you get a good feeling for how the school really will be? Give the school a call, talk to as many members of the staff as they'll let you and find out directly what you want to know. In our recent efforts, that's exactly what we've done and we feel pretty confident about where we plan on putting our son when we come back to AR. Obviously, you have to have a bit of wits about you to pull out the real information and separate that from the marketing. I'm sure all of the high level staff at every school is pretty gung-ho on their own place so a lot of what they'll tell you is just what you want to hear.

[Karry]

I remember many fond visits with my cousins who lived in Clarendon Ark. They taught me to water ski on the White River. I know we had to keep an outlook on cottonmouth snakes. Nothing was said about, gators! WOW! I remember seeing razorbacks on an island in the White River. That was a few moons ago like the late 50's. Even though I live in Florida I still rut for the Arkansas Razorbacks. I always found nothing but Southern hospitality, and grew up in the north most of my life. Most I met were soft spoken and a little shy.

[Tasham77]

Originally Posted by Check123

Little Rock also has a high crime rate in comparison to other cities of similar size. All categories of crime in Little Rock are two to three times higher than the national average, per 100,000 people.

Also, Litte Rock is not considered a medium sized city. It's actually small, with only about 186,000 people. Access to cultural activities is limited.

Actually Little Rock has over 200,000 people. All cities now days have crime, but if you choose someplace that is not in a high crime neighborhood then you should be ok.

I moved here from Chicago and am amazed at the non-main stream opportunities. There are two farmers markets in the metroplex, several non-western grocery stores, and even a growing permaculture movement. If you are wanting someplace a little more laid back then Arkansas is a good place to be.

Also, you are only 5 hours away from Dallas, 3 from Memphis 3 1/2 from Branson, MO, and 3 1/2 from Tulsa. Not as big as Chicago, but still a nice getaway

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Tasham77

Actually Little Rock has over 200,000 people. All cities now days have crime, but if you choose someplace that is not in a high crime neighborhood then you should be ok.

I moved here from Chicago and am amazed at the non-main stream opportunities. There are two farmers markets in the metroplex, several non-western grocery stores, and even a growing permaculture movement. If you are wanting someplace a little more laid back then Arkansas is a good place to be.

Also, you are only 5 hours away from Dallas, 3 from Memphis 3 1/2 from Branson, MO, and 3 1/2 from Tulsa. Not as big as Chicago, but still a nice getaway

Don't think this post is worth too much anymore: it is 3 years old.

Nita