Moving to Bowling Green in three weeks....help!

[dixiegirl7]

Thanks llgator for your input. I didn't want this family to think they were moving to a dangerous environment with guns hanging in kids truck windows...at school...sheesh. I think some people want to keep others out of Kentucky by perpetuating the usual stereotypes about us that (for the most part) are not true.

[Leaving_NY]

Thanks for the info on the doctors......I have a lot of experience with things being blown out of proportion...being from NY we have quite a reputation up here too, alot of which is completely false. My family is quite excited about the move to BG. We currently live on the Canadian border way up at the northern most point in NY in a town of about 9,000 people......Our average temp in January is around -10 and temps of -30 degrees below zero are common, and this past winter has done me in! We recieved ove 150" of snow this year. Most of my family relocated to NC 10 years ago, and we have been wanting to move south for a very long time. It is a good move for us.........thanks for the info and anything else you feel we should know about the area would be appreciated.

[KYHummingbird]

The Fairways at Hartland are very nice. My son & daughter in law lived there for awhile on Wilkinson Trace. Last year they finally bought a home and they are expecting MY FIRST GRANDCHILD! I love Bowling Green and you will too. All kinds of stores, restaurants, and things to do. GOOD LUCK!
I hope you have a blessed day!
KYHummingbird
katd@apex.net

[emmie3g]

I actually live in the Fairways apartments. They are very nice, the staff is friendly and responsive, and there a diverse group of people who live here. Singles, college students, and families.

Briarwood as well as Cumberland Trace and Natcher are top rated excellent elementary schools in the county district. All county schools feed into the same middle and high school.

I highly recommend Graves Gilbert Clinic for all your doctors. They are well trained and it is one stop shopping. The clinic has its own lab, physical therapy, pharmacy, and shot room. All of the pediatricans are excellent. Get your forms mailed to you and make your appointments. It is a pretty standard form.

Emmie

[llgator]

Actually, there are multiple middle schools and high schools in the Warren County district. There are 3 high schools....Greenwood, Warren Central, and Warren East. There are 3 middle schools. Drakes feeds Greenwood, Moss Middle feeds Warren Central, and Warren East Middle feeds into Warren East High. There has been a great deal of growth in the county and the Warren County district has more schools under construction and on the drawing boards. This results in periodic re-districting and shifts to new schools for some students.

The Bowling Green City district has one high school and one middle school fed by elementaries all over the city. Both districts are actively engaged in building new buildings and renovating older schools.

The Kentucky Department of Education has lots of information about districts online and each district also has a website with lots of information. Also, the city of Bowling Green has an excellent website.

I must admit that I'm a bit prejudiced in favor of living within the city and the Bowling Green City Schools. We value the convenience of living closer to the center of town and also the smaller schools and diversity that the City Schools represent. But that is truly a personal decision when you factor in your own preferences. When you get to Bowling Green, I trust you will be able to sort this all out!

There is an outstanding City elementary adjacent to the Briarwood Elementary area called Potter-Gray. There is quite a bit of student overlap between the districts, especially in this part of town. In fact, Potter-Gray is closer to the Fairways than Briarwood Elementary! It is possible to pay nominal tuition to attend schools outside your residential "district". However, those numbers are limited by a formula so if you were inclined to do this, you would need to contact the school board for details about that.

[llgator]

Leaving NY....
I also forgot to mention that it's a LOT warmer here than you are describing in your post. Not much you can do about it, but the heat and humidity of southcentral Kentucky may come as a shock to your family. There is a great municipal swimming pool called the Russell Sims Waterpark as well as 3 country clubs and at least one private swim club. If your kids are sporty, there are lots of youth leagues and school teams to get involved in.

When you arrive, a nice family activity to look into are the Bowling Green Concerts in the Park...weekly concerts held downtown in Fountain Square Park (Wed. at noon until July, then shifting to evening for the rest of the summer). You can pack a picnic (or buy lunch from a vendor on the Square) and bring lawn chairs or blankets and take an hour to enjoy local musicians. They are very popular! There are also evening concerts in the amphitheatre at Basil Griffin Park several times during the summer on Thursdays, I believe. If you'll be here for the 4th of July, there is an especially nice community celebration held on the WKU campus with patriotic music by the Bowling Green Chamber Orchestra followed by fireworks. This is another lawn chair/picnic type event. These are nice events that a family new to Bowling Green can participate in to get out and get a feel for the community, even if you haven't really had time to get to know many people yet! And they are all free too. (You should be able to Google these to get the details if any of them sound interesting!)

I hope you like Bowling Green. I think there's a lot to like!

[jennyann]

I transferred to BG from Northern IL...found myself disgusted with the school system..don't know anything about Briarwood, but my kids go to William Natcher... the 6th grader rarely had home work and the 4th grader had only spelling homework...no math, no reading requirements...ridiculous. The petty discipline was aggravating...I get discipline reports to sign because my 4th grader talked excessively at lunch.
My 6th grader had the same type of trouble...but I would hear nothing from the school when my 6th grader was on the verge of failing math. Warren county added a few days onto the year due to snow...they days were spent watching movies and moving desks...I would stay away from Natcher.
I live in a fairly affluent neighborhood and find it cold and cliquish...possibly because I'm not from here...do yourself a favor and go with a less expensive neighborhood...it should be much more friendly..in my area the kids aren't outside at all like they were in Northern IL...what kids are around... are too involved in expensive travel teams to play in the neighborhood, or they are at camps...my kids were shocked that there wasn't anyone playing outside. We have an in ground pool and in the two years we've been here one neighbor boy has been in it a total of 4 times...
I will say that the youth sports in Warren County is very well organized, but I have found boys baseball and football to be highly political...We are moving to Kansas City as soon as my house sells, I can hardly wait.

[blue_eyedgirl]

Congratulations on your move to BG. Its a beautiful place and a lovely city to live in. I lived there during my time at Western and loved it. I'm from an hour outside of Bowling Green and currently live out of state but trying to move back home. When I do I'm looking to move back to BG. There is alot to do but it still has a sort of small town charm. The people are very friendly. Plus you are a little less than an hour from Nashville if you want a more big city environment. Welcome to the south. You're gonna love it!

[Lgroez]

to Jennyann, I am sorry that your experience here was awful.My daughter attended Natcher and we had a wonderful experience.When she went into the 7th grade over at Drakes Creek she was offered to test for Duke under the gifted and talented program.Most of the kids that took the ACT in 7th grade had come from Natcher.She had tons of homework when she was there, I wonder what has changed there?? She is at Greenwood now and doing well academically.