Specific questions for a long distance move to Indianapolis

[McLaren]

Originally Posted by grmasterb

In Broad Ripple, I believe the areas north of Broad Ripple Ave./62nd Street lie within the Washington Township school boundaries. One of my friends used to live behind Glendale Mall on Oxford, and that was in Washington Township schools as well, so don't totally discount those areas.

It's always so hard to tell where Washington Twp schools begin and IPS ends in that area. Especially in Broad Ripple because the IPS boundaries basically follow the old Indianapolis city limits boundaries.

As I look at Washington Twp's school boundaries it would appear that anything south of the river in Broad Ripple is in IPS. Glendale is a different story...it appears almost everything to the north, east and southeast of the mall is Washington Twp schools with anything west and southwest being served by IPS. Yikes!

[JMMH]

Random thoughts from this thread:
-I get the "mentally discordant" comment that sebwab made. Basically saying it would be weird being around medicaid patients all day then driving home and passing a Bentley dealer in downtown Zionsville.

-The people I know who live in Merdian Kessler love the area, but it is zoned for IPS so be aware. They all send their kids to private school as a result.

-I agree with ephil70001's post. I live in the Pike area and am glad it is only for a few more months. I wouldn't live here on a long term basis, 3 years has been enough The areas I would live long-term in the Pike district would be near Eagle Creek or close to 86th street in the northwest area.

-mama2LS: If your husband will be working near Speedway, I would look at the western part of the city. Avon would be west of the area, and going north would be the Washington, Pike townships then Carmel and Zionsville. I think at least for preschool/elementary school those school systems would be fine.

[mama2LS]

How are the public schools (size, safety, and quality of education) in Avon and Brownsburg areas? We found out that Carmel has thousands of students in their high school, and that is just way too big for our taste, so we'd like to stay in a smaller town but still get a very good school system. We also visited Zionsville and did love the town! In fact, we liked the city of Indy a lot overall!

[grmasterb]

Originally Posted by mama2LS

How are the public schools (size, safety, and quality of education) in Avon and Brownsburg areas? We found out that Carmel has thousands of students in their high school, and that is just way too big for our taste, so we'd like to stay in a smaller town but still get a very good school system. We also visited Zionsville and did love the town! In fact, we liked the city of Indy a lot overall!

You'll find that most of the high schools in the metro area have at least 2,000 students. How large of a high school is acceptable to you?

[mama2LS]

Originally Posted by grmasterb

You'll find that most of the high schools in the metro area have at least 2,000 students. How large of a high school is acceptable to you?

Wow!! I guess we are used to more like around 200 or so in a graduating class, so probably something like 1000 at the most in a high school total! We live 20 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh in a well known suburb, but now I almost feel like we are in farm country & don't even realize it! haha!! hmmmmm.... guess we'll need to do some more looking around. Thanks for the info.

[grmasterb]

Originally Posted by mama2LS

Wow!! I guess we are used to more like around 200 or so in a graduating class, so probably something like 1000 at the most in a high school total! We live 20 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh in a well known suburb, but now I almost feel like we are in farm country & don't even realize it! haha!! hmmmmm.... guess we'll need to do some more looking around. Thanks for the info.

If your husband is going to be working close to IMS, you could consider living in Speedway. Speedway is a tidy little community with a good school system, although there have been issues with many of the new apartment dwellers there. Also, Speedway is completely surrounded by Indy, and some of the Indy neighborhoods around Speedway are less than desirable.

If you want a suburban community on the outskirts of the Indy city limits that has a school close to the size you're looking for, you might consider Greenwood. Be careful when looking there, however, as many homes in the Greenwood area are in the Center Grove school district, which is large. Greenwood Community High School however, appears to have around 1200 students: http://compass.doe.in.gov/Dashboard....unity+High+Sch

[mama2LS]

We appreciate everyone's feedback. We are still struggling with where to land. Although Zionsville seems to be our first choice based on our limited exposure, we are finding out that it may not be in the budget. We are now considering the west side; Avon, Brownsburg, Danville, Plainfield. Feedback on these towns and school systems would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and thanks for the link to the Dept. of Education, grmasterb!! Great info on there.

[BigTy0406]

Originally Posted by mama2LS

We appreciate everyone's feedback. We are still struggling with where to land. Although Zionsville seems to be our first choice based on our limited exposure, we are finding out that it may not be in the budget. We are now considering the west side; Avon, Brownsburg, Danville, Plainfield. Feedback on these towns and school systems would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and thanks for the link to the Dept. of Education, grmasterb!! Great info on there.

I've lived in Plainfield, Avon and I currently live in Danville. I've lived my whole life in Hendricks County. As far as the old town feel, Danville and Plainfield have both of those. However, if your husband works in Speedway, it would be at least a 30 minute commute from Danville, however from Plainfield it may be 20-25 minutes. Danville has your small town feel and has about 802 students in the high school. I believe Plainfield has around 1200 students or so in their high school. Avon, however is growing rapidly and doesn't really have a downtown or a square. So, I would say Plainfield or Danville would be your best bet in the county.