Best private school in Jax (Jacksonville, Hudson: oceanfront, for rent, credit)

[hcromer]

I am relocating to Jacksonville from New York and I have 3 year old boy who is in pre-K.
The school he is in now has a great program and I hate to move him to another school, but my husband has a good opportunity for his career and we decided to move.

I've been doing some research about private school in Jacksonville, and two schools seem to have a good reputation.
One is Bolles and the other one is St. Johns Country Day School.
I don't know which one is better yet.

I have to make time to visit both schools and check them out, but before I buy a ticket to fly down there, I want to hear local people's opinion about these two schools.
Anybody has an experience with these schools?

And also if any other great private schools in Jacksonville, I'd like to know.

I am new here, so I am learning how to use this board.

[apvbguy]

Originally Posted by hcromer

I am relocating to Jacksonville from New York and I have 3 year old boy who is in pre-K.
The school he is in now has a great program and I hate to move him to another school, but my husband has a good opportunity for his career and we decided to move.

I've been doing some research about private school in Jacksonville, and two schools seem to have a good reputation.
One is Bolles and the other one is St. Johns Country Day School.
I don't know which one is better yet.

I have to make time to visit both schools and check them out, but before I buy a ticket to fly down there, I want to hear local people's opinion about these two schools.
Anybody has an experience with these schools?

And also if any other great private schools in Jacksonville, I'd like to know.

I am new here, so I am learning how to use this board.

both schools would be a good choice, it might come down to where you choose to live because getting to the schools will be an issue that you'll have to deal with, fwiw: bolles has a lower grade branch in PVB, also many of the public schools in St Johns are very good too

[Karla with a K]

hcromer
Welcome to the boards and a early welcome to Jax
My niece and nephew went to St Johns Country day which is in Orange Park Clay County
There is also Episcopal High School that is also highly rated.
I have also heard good things about Jacksonville Country day.
As PVBguy said you should consider the area in which you want to live.

[hcromer]

Originally Posted by apvbguy

both schools would be a good choice, it might come down to where you choose to live because getting to the schools will be an issue that you'll have to deal with, fwiw: bolles has a lower grade branch in PVB, also many of the public schools in St Johns are very good too

Good point!
I was going to try to find a place after I decide school.
My husband's office will be located in Water Street, Jacksonville, I can find my office space in anywhwere Jacksonville, so once we pick the school, we will pick the area.

From some of threads I read from here, sounds like St.Johns county is nice area.
We like to find a place by the beach or waterfront or country club but we don't know what we're looking for yet.
Commute should be not so painful, area needs to be safe, and we need a big house.

This is really big move for us, so I don't know where should I start...

[Magnolia Bloom]

I hope you will also check out Hendricks Day School. It's located on the southside and I can't say enough good things about it.

Welcome to Hendricks Day School


also, take the time to go to the greastschools site. Lots of good info on all the schools there- public and private.

[Karla with a K]

Originally Posted by hcromer

Good point!
I was going to try to find a place after I decide school.
My husband's office will be located in Water Street, Jacksonville, I can find my office space in anywhwere Jacksonville, so once we pick the school, we will pick the area.

From some of threads I read from here, sounds like St.Johns county is nice area.
We like to find a place by the beach or waterfront or country club but we don't know what we're looking for yet.
Commute should be not so painful, area needs to be safe, and we need a big house.

This is really big move for us, so I don't know where should I start...

You Husband will be downtown. The Southside/ponte vedra/intercostal areas would be at max a 30 min drive.

Orange park(st johns country day) would have you about a 45 min ride to downtown and 40 to 45 mins to the beaches.


Karla

[agreatlife]

HIF listed a great site for you to check out the schools: here is the link:

Jacksonville Schools

And, as others have said, you'll want to check out the prices of homes in whatever community you pinpoint. Home prices vary tremendously.

Welcome to Jax. You'll love it here.

[hcromer]

I have no idea which community we will be. We will fly to Jacksonville this Friday and spend weekend to look at houses for rent.
We are thinking to rent a house for several months - to learn about Jacksonville, and then buy a house. So far, I am just so confused by area names.
Our house in New York is 4,000 Sq, so our new house in Jacksonville should be same or larger, preferably with water view. My husband likes to have a boat deck and I like to be on the beach.
I need a lot of research about this moving. We have to find from doctors to dry cleaner and hair dresser all over again.

School is our first priority for now.

[hcromer]

Originally Posted by Karla with a K

You Husband will be downtown. The Southside/ponte vedra/intercostal areas would be at max a 30 min drive.

Orange park(st johns country day) would have you about a 45 min ride to downtown and 40 to 45 mins to the beaches.


Karla

How is rush hour traffic in Jacksonville?
I will be in charge of drop-off and pick-up my son and my company (AT&T) has several buildings in Jacksonville, so I guess I can pick my office close to school once we pick the school.
The house will have to be in between my office and school.

[riveree]

Both are top-notch schools with the proper accreditation (watch for that, it can bite you back later if the school you choose does not have the proper accreditation and only 6 of the area private schools do as far as I know ).

There is a very big difference in size between the 2 schools - St. John's Country Day is small and intimate, Bolles is a large campus.

The biggest difference of all is their locations. St. John's Country Day is located in Clay county (Doctor's Lake/Orange Park), Bolles is located in Duval county (Jacksonville). So you're talking about 2 different counties with a large river (think Hudson ) between them.

These different locations are no small difference. I personally have a preference for St. John's Country Day (husband is an alumni), but it is located in Clay county where we do not live and never plan to live, therefore, if/when we have children and were to go the private school route, St. John's Country Day will not be considered (too far away from me to send a small child, IMO).

I strongly suggest you chose your location first, then the school. Duval county and Clay county are very different places. If you are coming from NYC or NYC Metro, you will be in for a big adjustment moving to the South as it is, take a good look at both counties, they are quite different, despite their proximity to each other (I myself am from NYC).

As for housing, waterfront property costs big bucks here and if you're looking for navigable waterfront in a good/great area, I'd say expect to easily pay 3/4 million, if you wanted to be riverfront or oceanfront, you could easily double or triple that amount. 4000 sq ft is a big house for Florida (houses are smaller here than in NY), so be prepared that the right house in the right location (water) might be a bit smaller.

Also, there are previous threads on all your questions - the 2 schools, traffic, living near the beach, etc. - lots of good past discussions to check out .

Hope that helps .