Any Bloomington parents here? (Ellettsville: low income, daycare, neighborhoods)

[gimme it]

I was wondering what the culture was like for school-aged children and their families. Are there lots of playdates or do kids just go outside and play? Are parents welcoming to newcomers? Also, does northerner Bloomington and it's schools have a different feel than southern Bloomington and it's schools. Thanks.

[rrah]

gimme it, I'm a parent in Bloomington, but my children are teens now. Because we live in a rural neighborhood with no children my son's age when we moved in 6 years ago, playdates were a necessity. My daughter had a friend nearby at the time.

My sister lives in a more traditional neighborhood. Her children just go out and play unless they want to have a special friend over.

I don't know that the different feel is so much north versus south as it is rural versus city schools. (It's all the same district though) Schools I would consider more rural, because VERY few students walk and they are farthest from the "city," are Lakeview, Marlin, and Unionville. For those most part children in those schools live in fewer suburban like neighborhoods.

I think for the most part parents are welcoming. At least in my experience it also depended upon the age of my child at the time. We moved here when son was a second grader. Parents were welcoming. Our daughter was a fifth grader (sixth grade is the end of elementary here) As a whole I felt those parents were less friendly to me to the point that I almost thought one lady was ready to ask me who the heck I thought I was volunteering at the school. Weird, territorial woman it turns out, but that is another story.

[gimme it]

Thank you so much for responding. Would you happen to know if the schools in Bloomington are overcrowded at this time?

[rrah]

No, not really any overcrowding. (but, then we moved here from a district that had to use trailers until new schools were built.) Within the past 7 years the grade schools and secondary schools were redistricted to eliminate any current or future potential for overcrowding. A small, older elem was closed down when a new larger building was constructed so that was part of the reason for the redistricting as well.

[McKendan]

I'm a parent in Bloomington of a 6 yr old and a 3 yr old. I work full time, so there isn't a lot of time for playdates for us. My daughter is in kindergarten in Ellettsville and my son attends daycare full time. We live in a pretty good neighborhood with a lot of kids and in the warmer weather, they play together outside with adult supervision.

I also grew up here and most of what we did was play outside with friends, go to the park, or go swimming in the summer. I went to South HS and at that time, that was the better area of town and the better school. However, it seems like North and South are becoming more equal as time goes on. It use to be that the low income housing and poverty was more predominant on the northside of town.

If you are looking for structured play time, you might look at the libraries or the community centers. They tend to have story time, etc. for kids of certain ages.