how welcoming are teens to newcomers in Zionsville, IN (Indianapolis: fit in, new home)

[mscaeb]

We are considering a move to Zionsville, IN from the NW suburbs of Chicago. Our two younger children will be in 10th and 9th grade when we move. The older is a girl, younger a boy. Both are bright, in honors classes currently and completed freshman algebra in middle school.

Our daughter is very outgoing, has tons of friends and a very busy social life. Our son is a good athlete, though he hasn't had his growth spurt yet, and is social too (though not as outgoing as his older sister)

We live in a very tight knit community, super supportive and friendly. We would like to find something similar in Zionsville under $650,000k.

How is the high school for newcomers? Are there better neighborhoods for community involvement?

Thanks any advice will help make this decision easier.

[Broadrippleguy]

First you would get more responses in the Indianapolis forum since thats part of the Metro area.
2nd i don't see any problems that your kids would face in Zionsville Schools.
also any Suburban School of Indianapolis gets some of the highest grades in the state like Carmel/Fishers etc so you should be in a good atmosphere
So i think youll be fine

[indy_317]

Originally Posted by mscaeb

How is the high school for newcomers? Are there better neighborhoods for community involvement?

The teens in Zionsville know how to party...even in their underwear!

Zionsville: Underage party busted - 13 WTHR

ZPD arrest 29 at underage drinking party » Local News » Zionsville Times Sentinel

[Broadrippleguy]

Originally Posted by indy_317

The teens in Zionsville know how to party...even in their underwear!

Zionsville: Underage party busted - 13 WTHR

ZPD arrest 29 at underage drinking party » Local News » Zionsville Times Sentinel

lol like at most schools always some Morons that want to act older then they are :P
But i don't look at this as a bad thing i look at it as a good thing they were caught

[SunshineAlly]

We moved to Zionsville in August with our daughters who are in high school. My 9th grader is very social and plays a fall sport, which really helped her to meet some girls before the school year started and not feel like such a newbie. My 11th grader is much more shy, but she found a nice, small group of friends who noticed she was new and took her under their wing. They both like ZCHS and seem to fit in well at school. The one thing I have noticed about my girls is that they don't do as much outside of school socially as they used to, especially my 9th grader who always had something going on in our previous location. I think it's been hard for them to break into established friendships in their new high school. It's not that kids are being rude, I just think they don't think about inviting the "new" kid to do things. That said, they both attended homecoming and most football games, so they are gaining momentum socially

Most of the families we have met have lived here for years - so it's not as transitional as say Carmel, which has more families moving in and out every year. Carmel is much bigger than Zionsville, which is why we ultimately did not move there, because we felt their high school was just too large (about twice as big as Zionsville) for a student new to the community.

Zionsville is a nice, quiet community with good schools and involved parents. You should easily be able to find a beautiful house for under $650K. We have found that the high school is the center of the town socially, especially Friday night football games, so we chose a neighborhood very close to the high school, which in turn is not too far from downtown Zionsville. There are many neighborhoods off of Ford Road or Mulberry that are close to the high school and on or near the rail trail, which is heavily used by kids and families for biking and walking when weather permits and will take you to downtown Zionsville. Good luck in your decision and feel free to message me if you have any questions about Zville.

[mscaeb]

Thanks so much for your honest response. Are you pleased with the curriculum at the high school? We have thought about Carmel, but like you are concerned about the size of the student population. Their current school has about 3200 students and even that seems too large sometimes.

Does the school have a poms squad or dance team? Our daughter is very involved in dance. Do you know if it is hard to make it on to the team sports there?

Are there communities close to the high school (I guess subdivisions) that would be good to look at?

Have you found people to be welcoming to you? We have a very busy social life here, and know that this will change but are adults open to new friendships as well?

Thanks again for your input!

[SunshineAlly]

Curriculum is good. I think the student population is smart and high achieving as a whole, so the teachers have decent students to work with.

There is a dance team. It is not hard to make it. Sports teams depends on the sport. Generally cuts are made, but not a lot, especially at the freshman level.

Are there communities close to the high school (I guess subdivisions) that would be good to look at? I like Colony Woods, which is an older subdivision (early 80s maybe) with larger lots and full grown trees. Walking distance to the high school. Houses run anywhere from $300K-$450K.

Other nice subdivisions off of Ford Rd are Buttondown Walk $400K++, Smith Meadows ($400K+) and Spring Knoll ($300k+)

We are building in Cobblestone Lakes which is off of Whitestown Rd (the same street the high school is on, but it is called Mulberry outside the high school) It's about 1 mile from our house to the high school. Houses are being build by Pulte in the $300-$500K range. This is the only subdivision located very close to the high school where there are new homes going in and it's a pool community too, which we wanted for our kids in the summer.

We're still living in temporary housing, so our social life is not too exciting, but we have had some of our soon to be new neighbors where we are building invite us over for holiday parties.


Good luck!

[A2DAC1985]

Originally Posted by indy_317

The teens in Zionsville know how to party...even in their underwear!

Zionsville: Underage party busted - 13 WTHR

"There were no drugs found at the party. Police say they only found alcohol."

Apparently things have changed since I was in D.A.R.E.