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I have a small situation. I have my sights on some waterfront properties in James and Johns Island but the wife refuses to leave Mt P. based on the schools and their scores. Unfortunately waterfront property in Mt. P out of reach. My meager paycheck can manage something with a dock in another area, but schools are not highly rated. Like a 3 in Johns Island vs 10 where we live now. I have a strong desire to raise my kids the low country way fishing off the dock from home and exploring the creeks and sounds by boat. But wife won't move. Any suggestions?
Any advice is helpful.
In addition, our oldest just started kindergarten and his sister is following in 2 years. Want to provide them with the best education. Informed our school in MT. P was funded $2,000,000 less than the average of other elementary schools in Charleston County. Yet still rated a 10. At the rate they are destroying the green spaces and building cheap townhomes around here, I'm not sure how much longer the school scores will last when there's 25+ students per class and growing.
I have a small situation. I have my sights on some waterfront properties in James and Johns Island but the wife refuses to leave Mt P. based on the schools and their scores. Unfortunately waterfront property in Mt. P out of reach. My meager paycheck can manage something with a dock in another area, but schools are not highly rated. Like a 3 in Johns Island vs 10 where we live now. I have a strong desire to raise my kids the low country way fishing off the dock from home and exploring the creeks and sounds by boat. But wife won't move. Any suggestions?
Any advice is helpful.
You could still raise kids exploring creeks and fishing off docks without being on the waterfront, it's just not as convenient. Mount Pleasant is surrounded by creeks and marshes so you're in a prime spot for both Low Country living and good schools.
[quote=KindFisherman;45197689]In addition, our oldest just started kindergarten and his sister is following in 2 years. Want to provide them with the best education. Informed our school in MT. P was funded $2,000,000 less than the average of other elementary schools in Charleston County. Yet still rated a 10. At the rate they are destroying the green spaces and building cheap townhomes around here, I'm not sure how much longer the school scores will last when there's 25+ students per class and growing.[/QUOTE
Seems to me you've got a simple choice ... provide your kids an excellent education to insure a fair shot of succeeding in life ... or a dock to fish off of ...and a borderline failing school.
You can find highly rated schools on James Island and while waterfront property won't be as inexpensive as on Johns Island, it will still be cheaper than Mt Pleasant. If you can afford that compromise, go for it. Otherwise, I'd choose the education over the waterfront. As Ziggy said, not living on waterfront doesn't mean you can't get pluff mud between your toes on a regular basis.
I faced a similar dilemma when my daughter (now 33) was 6. She was enrolled at Buist Academic Magnet, a great school, and when Hugo washed me off of Folly Beach, I had a great opportunity to live on Johns Island and work on high end houses on Kiawah and Seabrook. I couldn't see moving my daughter out of Buist or having her ride a bus an hour each way for school so I chose living on James Isl as my "compromise" and don't regret it.
One other option to consider is, if you can save enough money by living on Johns Isl, maybe you could afford private school.
In addition, our oldest just started kindergarten and his sister is following in 2 years. Want to provide them with the best education. Informed our school in MT. P was funded $2,000,000 less than the average of other elementary schools in Charleston County. Yet still rated a 10. At the rate they are destroying the green spaces and building cheap townhomes around here, I'm not sure how much longer the school scores will last when there's 25+ students per class and growing.
Seems to me you've got a simple choice ... provide your kids an excellent education to insure a fair shot of succeeding in life ... or a dock to fish off of ...and a borderline failing school.
This.
The greenspace and population are straw men you're trying to create to boost your argument. They have nothing to do with the effectiveness of the schools. The schools get less money because they do well. The belief is failing schools need more money. The reality is that's only true to a point and you're looking at a prime example in Charleston County. The biggest driver of how well a school does is how important the family and community the school is in values education. One of the larger reasons families move to MtP is because of the schools... that's because they place a value in education.
You can get a good education at a poorly performing school. You just have to work extra hard. You have to be willing to make up the difference. Just like you can raise them on tidal creeks and fishing if you don't live on deep water, you just have to try harder and make up the difference. Where do want to make up the difference? Seems to me that I'd rather put my kids in a good school and drive the extra distance to the water than put them in a poor school and struggle with finding additional education programs to compensate for the schools.
Is this about the kids or about dad wanting something different and the kids getting in the way?
In addition, our oldest just started kindergarten and his sister is following in 2 years. Want to provide them with the best education. Informed our school in MT. P was funded $2,000,000 less than the average of other elementary schools in Charleston County. Yet still rated a 10. At the rate they are destroying the green spaces and building cheap townhomes around here, I'm not sure how much longer the school scores will last when there's 25+ students per class and growing.
"Cheap" townhomes are like $300K and up. I seriously doubt that's going to negatively impact the schools.
It sounds to me like you want to live on a marsh, and you're using Mt Pleasant's growth rate and perceived waterfront living benefits to the kids as a really big stretch of an excuse. Unfortunately your biggest negative against moving to John's Island is that your wife isn't on board. You can get advice from anonymous strangers on the internet to reinforce your desire to move to the marsh, but all that's pointless if you're married to the one person who doesn't agree.
Sadly Johns Island's schools seem hopeless at the moment. But on James Island all the schools are at least good. Stiles Point and Harborview are competitive with any school in the county from what a couple of teachers have told me, James Island is good and Murray Lesaine has gone Montessori magnet and is basically recruiting/accepting transfers that will boost them into higher ratings.
If you do look further into Johns Island you can always try to make use of one of the magnets- Buist downtown, Murray Lesaine on James Island, Orange Grove and St Andrews in West Ashley. At one point you could apply to go out of zone if your school was failing but I'm not sure if that is still the case.
Another thought might be West Ashley. Generally its cheaper than Mt P unless you are in one of the nicest neighborhoods or insist on a true deep water lot (which should still be less than the Mt Pleasant equivalent.) There are many good elementary schools and I think the middle and high schools are going to shoot up in scores/ranking with the influx of more transplants/professionals/trained workers happening. Which goes back to a similar point to what a couple of others are making. As much as it pains my liberal heart to admit this- in terms of test schools are largely a product in, product out endeavor. If you have well educated or successful parents you are very likely to have better performing students. When entire school attendance areas are filled with parents who moved there with that in mind it only multiplies that fact.
Is private school an option? I know it gets expensive especially with 2 kid's.
That's like $2k a month. That would buy a $200k boat.
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