Where are all the good schools and towns in Kansas? (Topeka: 2009, to rent)

[judybug04]

Hello all,
My husband is considering a job change that would either put us in Topeka or Ellsworth. I have been doing some research and am frankly bummed. I am a teacher and we have 2 children, one of whom will be starting Kindergarted in the fall. It is essential to me that she attend a good school, so far most of the ratings (provided on this site) have been sub par to say the least. I know there are good schools and good towns here...please help. In Texas (where we live now) there is a state website that gives you the accountability ratings and statstics of every school. Do y'all have anything like that here? I really appreciate any and all help. Thanks so much.
Judy

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by judybug04

Hello all,
My husband is considering a job change that would either put us in Topeka or Ellsworth. I have been doing some research and am frankly bummed. I am a teacher and we have 2 children, one of whom will be starting Kindergarted in the fall. It is essential to me that she attend a good school, so far most of the ratings (provided on this site) have been sub par to say the least. I know there are good schools and good towns here...please help. In Texas (where we live now) there is a state website that gives you the accountability ratings and statstics of every school. Do y'all have anything like that here? I really appreciate any and all help. Thanks so much.
Judy

I used to live in Johnson County, Kansas- on top of the KC metro area. The school districts that were ranked the highest there include: Blue Valley and Shawnee Mission. I also have heard good things about Free State in Lawrence. Many commute between Topeka and Lawrence.

[geekychick]

The Catholic schools in Topeka rate very well and the above poster is correct about Shawnee Mission.

[quesera]

Welcome to KSDE


I don't know if the information you're looking for is in the above site, or not. If you don't mind my asking, why are your options either Topeka or Ellsworth (corrections jobs?)? They are about as different as any two towns/cities can be.

[pioneer88]

I don't know much about Topeka schools, but I do know that Kansas public schools are top notch as a whole. You can't go wrong with any school districts in Joco. (Shawnee Mission, Blue Valley, Olathe, DeSoto, Gardner-Edgerton) Isn't Washburn Rural supposed to be a good school in Topeka? I think Silver Lake is in the area as well and I've heard good things from some of my teacher friends who grew up there. Sorry I don't know much about Topeka. In regards to Lawrence, Free State is the newer of the two but both are good schools. Like I said, as a whole Kansas does education pretty well. Good Luck and welcome to Kansas!

[KSUgrad]

Check out Manhattan, Kansas: Manhattan-Ogden USD 383

www.Manhattan.org

[judybug04]

You guessed it, he is thinking about a correctional officer job. Do you know much about that?

[judybug04]

Originally Posted by quesera

Welcome to KSDE


I don't know if the information you're looking for is in the above site, or not. If you don't mind my asking, why are your options either Topeka or Ellsworth (corrections jobs?)? They are about as different as any two towns/cities can be.

This was EXACTLY what I was looking for. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Judy

[quesera]

Judy, I know that some corrections facilities are shutting down, that means the inmates who were housed there, are being moved to other facilities. Those facilities are understaffed as it is, now adding more inmates will just make it more difficult. I'm not sure there are really any openings in that line of work.

Look at the civil service job site. Civil Service Job Search For the locations you're asking about, you'll want to look at Ellsworth County and Shawnee County openings. If any other county posting sparks your husband's interest, please don't hesitate to ask about that county on this site. Folks would be happy to answer any specific questions you may have.

Good luck!

http://cjonline.com/news/state/2009-...ce_prison_cuts

[judybug04]

Originally Posted by quesera

Judy, I know that some corrections facilities are shutting down, that means the inmates who were housed there, are being moved to other facilities. Those facilities are understaffed as it is, now adding more inmates will just make it more difficult. I'm not sure there are really any openings in that line of work.

Look at the civil service job site. Civil Service Job Search For the locations you're asking about, you'll want to look at Ellsworth County and Shawnee County openings. If any other county posting sparks your husband's interest, please don't hesitate to ask about that county on this site. Folks would be happy to answer any specific questions you may have.

Good luck!

http://cjonline.com/news/state/2009-...ce_prison_cuts

Thank you once again for your helpful information. I couldn't get the newspaper article to pull up. I think we are most interested in Ellsworth. It seems to have good schools and essentialy not the crime rate of Topeka. I am a little concerned with the pay. I understand that the cost of living there is lower. We would want to rent a house (since we are not sure about the area or the job, we don't want to commit to buying) do you have any idea what a nice 3+ bedroom runs for? I searched the local paper's classifieds and it was not very helpful.

Thanks,
Judy