More questions about Lehigh Valley

[julian17033]

Originally Posted by MatildaLoo

I wouldn't advise someone from the Midwest to be cautious because it's hard to make friends. I've had many more issues trying to make friends and find common ground with people here in Carbon County than I have with my friends in the Lehigh Valley immediate area.

I wouldn't advise someone of that either.

A smaller community does not always equate to a friendlier community. When I lived in Lavelle outside Ashland in Schuykill County it was extremely difficult to connect with people who were multi generational residents.

I would think to a certain degree the same could be said about you living in the slate belt and experiencing similar behavior and obstacles as I did in coal country.

This "" leeriness "" of outsiders is common throughout the country and is most reminiscent in
Appalachia which Pennsylvania is a part of.

The behaviors I speak of are the overall faster, get to the point lifestyle that exists here and is only magnified the further east you travel until you apex in NYC.

I have many friends here but I also network thus creating that atmosphere.
In fact last month my next door neighbor baked me an apple pie since she knows that I love it.

Overall the OP will fit right in but like I said in my original post to her, she will most likely feel more of a rushed existence overall comparatively to her current life in the mid west.

[cathyjz]

Thanks for all the input. I am glad to hear that some of you have had good experiences moving into the area. Hopefully we will find the same. I don't think a somewhat faster pace of life would bother me too much - I am currently in metro Detroit, so the difference may not be as extreme as if I were moving from a more rural area in the midwest. I enjoy participating in the kids schools, will be joining a church, etc, so hopefully at least one of those will result in finding a community of friends for our family. And, point taken that we will need to embrace what the new area offers instead of whining about the things we liked better back home.

Thanks for the specific subdivision reccomendations toobusy - if we move forward with the relocation I will definitely ask my realtor about those. Any other reccomendations are welcome as well!

[MatildaLoo]

Originally Posted by cathyjz

Thanks for all the input. I am glad to hear that some of you have had good experiences moving into the area. Hopefully we will find the same. I don't think a somewhat faster pace of life would bother me too much - I am currently in metro Detroit, so the difference may not be as extreme as if I were moving from a more rural area in the midwest. I enjoy participating in the kids schools, will be joining a church, etc, so hopefully at least one of those will result in finding a community of friends for our family. And, point taken that we will need to embrace what the new area offers instead of whining about the things we liked better back home.

Thanks for the specific subdivision reccomendations toobusy - if we move forward with the relocation I will definitely ask my realtor about those. Any other reccomendations are welcome as well!

I think you will enjoy it.

(PS- Julian, I don't live in the Slate Belt )

[karen_s]

Haha Julian, I'm the Slate Belter

[movingtolhv]

I second toobusy's recommendation for Valley Green. It was a cute neighborhood with walking paths and a park nearby and close to things to do.

[julian17033]

Karen and Matilda,

I confused the two concerning the slate belt!! LOL!!!

[lstreeter]

Hi, Cathy! My family and I are also moving to Lehigh Valley this summer from the Midwest. My husband and I visited last week for the first time as well and have the same questions as you do. My main concern is that we also have a daughter who will begin the 4th grade and a son who will be in Kindergarten and are hoping they can make friends quickly. I wanted to tell you that while we were visiting we were able to speak to a young teacher in the area. He absolutely recommended East Penn as well as Southern Lehigh School districts. The main difference seemed to be the size of districts...with East Penn being much larger. East Penn is also K-5..which we are accustomed to. Southern Lehigh District elementary schools are K-3..intermediate 4-6..middle 7-8...etc. I had also heard that sometimes your child may not be able to attend the same school each year within the district. That didn't sit well with me. Have you heard of this? Anyway, I feel better knowing someone is in the same boat. ha!

[johnp292]

Originally Posted by lstreeter

Hi, Cathy! My family and I are also moving to Lehigh Valley this summer from the Midwest. My husband and I visited last week for the first time as well and have the same questions as you do. My main concern is that we also have a daughter who will begin the 4th grade and a son who will be in Kindergarten and are hoping they can make friends quickly. I wanted to tell you that while we were visiting we were able to speak to a young teacher in the area. He absolutely recommended East Penn as well as Southern Lehigh School districts. The main difference seemed to be the size of districts...with East Penn being much larger. East Penn is also K-5..which we are accustomed to. Southern Lehigh District elementary schools are K-3..intermediate 4-6..middle 7-8...etc. I had also heard that sometimes your child may not be able to attend the same school each year within the district. That didn't sit well with me. Have you heard of this? Anyway, I feel better knowing someone is in the same boat. ha!

Someone may have mentioned this already, but Parkland is also a highly rated school district in the same area.

[Jmarieturner]

Originally Posted by lstreeter

I had also heard that sometimes your child may not be able to attend the same school each year within the district. That didn't sit well with me. Have you heard of this? Anyway, I feel better knowing someone is in the same boat. ha!

Is this true of Southern Lehigh School district? We are looking at the same ones, and hadn't heard that. Myson has a medical condition and relies on trained staff and nurses to help keep him safe- I'd hate to have to change schools is each year and need to start over... Is this because of overcrowding?

[toobusytoday]

Let me explain the Southern Lehigh School district. There are three K-3 schools - Lower Milford, Hopewell and Liberty Bell. Students are placed in kindergartens generally by area's, but there is a slim chance (extremely slim) that you could have one child at one school in third grade and another in Kindergarten in another school. This rarely happens anymore since there is now more room in all of the buildings due to the intermediate school being built a few years ago. There is zero overcrowding because of that also. It happened to me years ago when my youngest was entering kindergarten and my oldest was going into fifth grade. I had my oldest in Lower Milford and my youngest in Hopewell. Turned out to be fine and both kids were happy. The next year, my youngest was sent back to LM, but I could have kept him in Hopewell if I wanted. I preferred LM.

One unique thing about Southern Lehigh Schools is that we have a Spanish immersion program that is very popular. This is only done at Liberty Bell elementary school and is in grades 1-3. So your child could do kindergarten at Hopewell or Lower Milford and then go to Liberty Bell for the Spanish Immersion program, but that would be your choice. Selection is done by lottery but once you are in, you stay in.

Students with special needs are treated extremely well. Truly, moving students every year is unheard of, and would be pretty stupid. After elementary school ALL of the children go to the new intermediate school, stay there for three years, then two years at the middle school and four years at the High School.