Lehigh or Bucks- insights on best schools with diversity? (Philadelphia: house, employment)

[Kalisetsi]

Hi PA lovers and others- I am looking for some local insight and expert advice on PA and appreciate your help.

Here's what I'm looking for: very good to great schools (need not be "the best of the best,") in a school district that is relatively diverse and where its possible to buy an acre (or more) in the $200-280K range.

My husband is a native NY'er from Eastern Long Island, I'm a West Coast girl who lived in NYC & LI for 10 years. We have a 4 y/o and 2 y/o and currently live in eastern KY (I know its an odd choice, my mom lives here) and love the landscape but just can't adjust to the local mentality (sum it up as: unhealthy, poor work ethic/lower standards across the board, very polarized black/white, etc....)

So we are looking at PA. I run my business from home and employment / commute is not an issue. We love the outdoors and forest or rural "feel" over suburbs but we would compromise on that as well as the quality of the house for the right schools, as our kids are most important. My children are Native American and brown and have been excluded here (which just kills me as parent to see) although that is the way of the world, but I'm really trying to find a situation where they can thrive and not be isolated. So, when I say diversity, international or a mix of backgrounds is vastly preferable. I also don't want my kids to be in an educationally substandard environment just so they can be in a school with some diversity. And I'm not super enthusiastic with the idea of them being in a very urban school district, for the same reasons as many other parents; I'd like to shelter them from some of the urban problems.

I'm pretty familiar with the housing prices and school scores and understand which are better performers on paper (and I've also read many other threads on here). Just curious whether anyone has insight as to which school districts and/or towns I might want to focus on for what I'm looking for? I'm thinking anything between Scranton/Wilkes Barre, Reading, Allentown/Bethlehem and Philly, but have started to focus more on the outer Philly suburbs (Bucks, maybe So. Lehigh?) due to there being potentially greater diversity in the schools there. Would love some local insights from those who live in these communities and know what the schools are like.

If PA is not a good match, we'll be looking at Washington state....

Thanks!

[Gettingouttahere]

Take Scranton/W-B and Reading off your list. Philly too.
For the urban problems you mentioned and also generally depressed areas/dangerous/bad economy/government incompetence.

Allentown/Bethlehem public school districts are pretty bad. But there are surrounding districts that are comparable with the best in the state: Parkland and East Penn (big districts), Southern Lehigh (one of the smaller top-notch districts) and Saucon Valley, bigger, not as top-notch, but definitely a contender.

All of these districts will give you the rural atmosphere you want. I can't tell from your post whether you expected to get an acre of LAND for $200k or an acre with a house on it for $200k. If it's the latter, that is still doable but you will compromise on the house, whether in location, size, amenities, quality or age.

Bucks has excellent school districts -- Central Bucks South/West (?) are considered great, though I'm not very familiar at all -- post in the Philly section of the forums, I think, for better details. But you will not find your rural place, with land/house for $200k, in the top-tier districts there. You might also find less diversity; I'm not certain of that, though.

I don't send my kids to any of these districts; we live in the Poconos (much worse districts) and I send one kid to Moravian, a private school in Bethlehem. But I researched the heck out of all of the LV school options, so that's my basis.

HTH!

[toobusytoday]

Schools in PA are funded @ 80% with local taxes and our school districts are small and mostly locally ruled except for the pesky underfunded state and federal mandates. That means that our (depressed) city schools, where there is the most diversity, are also the worst. The small towns and suburbs that surround the city's have very good schools but are lacking in diversity. The further out from the city's, the less diverse. However, that does not always mean a lack of inclusiveness or intolerance. You can compare schools here - SchoolDigger.com - Compare Southern Lehigh Senior High School to other Pennsylvania schools

It's the size of your property that will be your sticking point, unless you are talking of just the cost of the land and not a house on it. For the best combination of diversity, and good schools I would suggest the Philadelphia suburbs, but you will have to either come up on your price or lower your lot size. If you don't mind a bit less diversity, your housing costs will be a little lower up here. The schools in the counties (Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware and Chester) surrounding Philadelphia are very, very good and are not connected with the city of Philadelphia. There are over 300 school districts in PA and with the exception of the city schools, many comprise just a few elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. All school districts in Pennsylvania, PA: A-L

We moved from Delaware County to here and paid the very same price for our current house as the one we sold there. The difference was our lot size was a bit smaller here but the house was newer. We chose Southern Lehigh School district because we wanted small schools where our kids wouldn't get lost in the crowd.