Family moving to KC in August (Kansas City, Raytown: credit, homes, neighborhoods)

[AmaFlores]

We are a family moving to KC this August. Apart from my husband's interview visit we have no knowledge about the area. My husband will be working near the Brookside area and I have learned through reading other threads here and from other sources that this is a great area for living. i myself would really really love to live here but for the public schools.


I have a high school aged son who needs to settle in to a new school this coming fall. He currently goes to a really great charter school which was designated in our current District as a school for college bound students. So he would love to find a school similar to this there in KC.


I also have 2 kids who are preschool aged and so I don't quite have to worry about them in the beginning and actually was favorably inclined toward Academie Lafayette. I really like the idea of French immersion.

But as things stand now I can't really see any high school options for my son except in other areas of the metro. I have looked at different areas and well it's hard to judge just from webpages and such but thank goodness for this tremendous tool of online maps and Google street view, etc. So from my judgment at this time it seems that our ideal place to live might be North Kansas City (I love the older homes near Macken Park between Burlington St. and Armour Rd.) or the Kansas side (i.e. Prairie Village, Westwood Hills) just across State Line Road.


We are interested in urban living more than suburban and walkability is something I want to have. I am not a big fan of driving--its not something I enjoy at all so I would ideally like to be able to use alternative transportation as well as driving.


And to add to this I am interested in places where cultural diversity is the norm---where anyone of any background "fits in". Our family is a blend of Asian and Latin American descent. Which areas of KC stand out as culturally diverse? Schools where there is a mix of all backgrounds are most desirable for us.

Are other areas perhaps favorable for us that I don't know about?

Thanks,
AmaFlores

[kcmo]

You might check into Lincoln Prep. I don't think they are affiliated with the kcmo school accreditation issues, but maybe somebody else knows better?

Lincoln College Preparatory Academy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I would try REAL hard to make Brookside work. I think it's so much better than Prarie Village or NKC and well worth the trouble to make it work.

[aragx6]

I don't know enough about the school options to make specific suggestions, but if you can make it work obviously Brookside would be ideal for you.

If you aren't able to make that happen, however, I'd recommend hopping over the state line to the near-in 'burbs of Westwood, Fairway or Mission Hills if you can afford it. These areas aren't urban by any stretch of the imgination, but the homes are lovely and you'll be about as close to the city proper as you can get with schools considered. Best of luck!

[WiseOwlSaysHoot]

I agree with the recommendations of trying to make Brookside work. Or, if you want somewhere even more urban and diverse, you may want to check out some Midtown neighborhoods like Roanoke, Volker, Hyde Park, Coleman Highlands, etc.

Unfortunately, the Public High School options don't seem to be quite as good in the KCMO district as the elementary and middle school options (such as Acadamie Lafayette). Like kcmo said, Lincoln Prep is probably the best option.

Most Brooksiders send their kids to private high schools such as Miege (Catholic school just across the state line into Kansas. It's fairly diverse for a private school with a sizable Latin American population) Rockhurst or St. Theresea's (all-boys, all-girls respectively) Pembroke Hill (non-religous, quite expensive) or O'Hara (in SE KCMO near Raytown. Not as common for Brooksiders. More working-class than the others).

[ykamom]

I completely agree with aragx6 on this. I made this same move just a year ago with school aged kids, one in high school. We chose Brookside and I would do it again, but the public schools are pretty much unusable, and getting worse at the moment. Lincoln might be a possibility, but I have heard families who had their kids in LaFayette reject it after looking into it. I don't think it is what it once was, but I don't know much about it.
Fairview and Prairie Village are really lovely. The Shawnee Mission schools, from what I can see, are very good. I went to a play at SM North recently that blew me away... they have terrific performing arts there.
On the other hand, we love Brookside and it offers lots of great things. If you decide to go that route I really recommend you investigate Bishop Miege. We have been extremely happy with it in every way. They have great programs, great kids, relative diversity for a private school and wonderful academics.
Good luck! Moving with high schoolers isn't easy, but it is an adventure. ENJOY!

[AmaFlores]

Thanks for all of your input. We have in fact looked at Lincoln Prep academy---my son was interested in this school because it has shown itself to be an excellent school not only compared to Missouri schools but nationally. So I contacted the school and learned that classes are full for fall with some psossibility of a space becoming available. However admission requires certain test results. Well my son has yet to take any ACT or PSAT/SAT tests. So we signed him up for SAT. Well we'll see how that goes. So this option might not pan out by September.

And while we are not so sold on the idea of private school we are willing to certainly look into it. Especially if it is not too exclusive or too pricey. Thanks ykamom, I will look into Bishop Miege---my son in fact attended a Catholic elementary school (it was tuition free in Canada).

Thanks for the advice !