Considering relocating family of 5 to NWA due to a recent job offer

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by sickofsnow67

Identifying the schools I want does not come with a guarantee. It is not uncommon for a buyer to purchase a home in a specific area that is zoned for their preferred school, and not be able to attend because of crowding. I did not gain this information from a realtor. A realtor will not tell you that. A realtor will tell you what a house is zoned for and omit that your child has a snowballs chance of attending. I found out that nugget by myself. So did some other sad sacks on this forum.

btw, what is a de-racinated member? It's freaks me out a little.

A realtor will tell you what he/she knows, but no one can control things like the sudden realization a school is going to be overcrowed in fall. They can estimate, but there are never any guarantees. I am sure, if your children are bright, which they probably are, they will do fine in almost any schooll enviornment. yes, we all want our kids to attend schools with high test scores, but remember in the worst schools there are kids who are high achievers and visa versa. BTW, Shiloh has a great reputation, which it sounds like you already know.

[sickofsnow67]

I can only speak on my experience. A realtor doesn't tell you what she knows. Unless you ask -- and even then it is often difficult to get a straight answer. It usually comes in the form of "look at greatschools.com", "tour the schools" "check with the police department" "a home inspector could tell you that" "call the village" "google it" and so on...

And coming into a new town, you don't know what you don't know. I want to find a realtor who will give me the insight that an aunt, sister or girl friend would -- because I don't have an aunt, sister or girl friend in NWA. Instead, I turn to city-data forum .

nmnita -- I agree about your school assessment. My daughter will thrive anywhere I put her. My son, while a great kid, is a lackluster student. For some students, they might fall to the lowest common denominator. How do you think those kids do in the "worst school"? Choosing the right environment goes a long way to setting up our kids for success.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by sickofsnow67

I can only speak on my experience. A realtor doesn't tell you what she knows. Unless you ask -- and even then it is often difficult to get a straight answer. It usually comes in the form of "look at greatschools.com", "tour the schools" "check with the police department" "a home inspector could tell you that" "call the village" "google it" and so on...

And coming into a new town, you don't know what you don't know. I want to find a realtor who will give me the insight that an aunt, sister or girl friend would -- because I don't have an aunt, sister or girl friend in NWA. Instead, I turn to city-data forum .

nmnita -- I agree about your school assessment. My daughter will thrive anywhere I put her. My son, while a great kid, is a lackluster student. For some students, they might fall to the lowest common denominator. How do you think those kids do in the "worst school"? Choosing the right environment goes a long way to setting up our kids for success.

You are right, the best schools will help the kids that are struggling or just not motivated...Bentonville, as you know, is a great high school, but like DC said, it is really over crowded. They are working on plans for a new school but that isn't going to help you in the near future..Shiloh might be an option if you want to invest the money and if it is in your budget...

Oh and btw, I don't think you will find the Christain atmosphere here much different that other places. This will depend on what type of church you will attend. The reputation we have for wearing our religion on our sleeve really is a little overdone. That refers more to a little further south, more like Ft Smith. We do have some holier than though people running around and yes, the first question (even in the liquor store) might be "do you have a church family or have you found a church yet? But most people do not dwell on the subject. I mention the liqour store cause it actually happened to us when we first moved here. I was in the wine dept of a very large liqour store and they had a small wine tasting table. I decided to indulge, was talking to a couple of women who were also enjoy a sip of free wine and yes, they did ask me if I had found a church home?

[chiefs fan]

sickofsnow67,

You might already be aware of this, but thought I would mention just in case. Bentonville is adding classrooms to four of the elementary schools, which will be ready for the 2013-2014 school year (Centerton-Gamble, Cooper, Central Park, and Willowbrook). The school website has links to the approved school zone maps:

2013-2014 Approved School Zones