Another Allentown question - relo (California, Parryville: sales, houses, neighborhood)

[markas214]

Originally Posted by wings396

I would say that Nazareth is your best bet. Excellent Schools, and easy highway access to 33/78/80/22. I'm not saying that Center Valley isn't good, but I think that Nazareth is a nicer town and you can get more house for your money.

Nazareth is not convienient to anywhere. Center Valley has much more to offer and better access to highways. In your range I'd also look at Saucon Valley.

[wings396]

Originally Posted by markas214

Nazareth is not convienient to anywhere. Center Valley has much more to offer and better access to highways. In your range I'd also look at Saucon Valley.

Really, I guess 33,78, and 22 aren't considered highways....
Now that 33 is connects 78 to 80, there is plenty of access and building going on.

[FLhereIcome]

Originally Posted by wings396

Everyone is going to claim that their district is the best, and it's not worth going back and forth all day long.

wings396, you are so right. I personally feel we chose to buy a home in the best district that is within our financial means. IMO most children will succeed regardless of the school as long as they have strong parental involvement. My suggestion (even though I know it's not in the Lehigh Valley) is Doylestown. Central Bucks has higher achievement scores than any schools in the Lehigh Valley and it is definitely more upscale. (And no, I'm not a Doylestown resident, that's the town that in my mind most closely matches the requirements of the original poster).

[toobusytoday]

Good point FL, if that's within the OP's driving range. Doylestown is a very nice upscale town, schools are better and the downtown area is really cute. I guess we were all assuming that he/she wanted the Lehigh Valley.

[wings396]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

Wings, where are you getting your info? Perhaps we need another website for comparison. I generally look at SchoolMatters - Home because it's sponsored by Standard and Poors and it has easily compareable info.

Without getting into a heated debate about the Nazareth School District, I will leave it at this. I put a few kids thru the system from K-12, and they got an excellent education graduating with honors, and moving onto higher education. I also have a couple of close friends that have special needs Children, and the district bent over backwards to accomidate their every need from day one. As far as I'm concerned, you can direct everyone and anyone to another district instead, and maybe the need for additional Schools and higher taxes will go away as a result.

[toobusytoday]

Wings, I'm truly not knocking the Nazareth School district. Hopefully, each of us thinks that our schools are great. My kids (2 out of three are done) have gone through Southern Lehigh schools. My oldest graduated highest honors from her college. My oldest son is now in a private college and doing well. Youngest son is doing well in HS. But, that doesn't mean that the SL schools are the best. I also know kids with special needs that are doing extremely well. That also does not mean that all special needs students will do equally well here.

I think it's great when someone asks on this forum about areas and we all tell why we like our areas. But when they specifically ask what schools are the best, I like to point them to objective information. That was my point, I thought perhaps you had another website that would be helpful.

Steering newbies to East Penn and Parkland is okay with me

[SmithsonGA]

thanks everyone. From that Schools Matters site, Southern Lehigh and Saucon Valley schools look very good. and smaller.

i visited very briefly the center valley area this week and ONLY from driving around aimlessly, the Saucon valley area was very nice.

There were more older areas than I expected...i dont want anyone to take this the wrong way, but areas just look like leftover rural buildings/shops etc. Remember, I am from Atlanta and used to basically newly built up areas. I found the new shopping center...the name escapes me...on center valley pkwy. That is very similar to the style being built in ATL. Outside, nice landscaping and paver accents etc. This one had a Fresh Market as an anchor store.

Where is the best info on the property tax data? How does PA calculate it. Say you buy a house for $500k. How can you estimate the property tax in PA? It really varies by state.

Lastly, Doylestown is way too far away. I would be better of actually if there were areas north of Allentown on 476. Like Parryville etc. I have no idea on those areas.

thx

[SmithsonGA]

Also, how is the Northern Lehigh district...up around North Whitehall or Slatington? That is closer to potential office.

[SmithsonGA]

I wanted to show a comparison in schools. I always thought, in general, schools in the south were not considered as good as midwest or NE public schools.

Well if you look at my local school district here in ATL area. The reading and math scores blew me away....at least comparing to the above districts in Allentown.

What is up with that? How else do I look at these rates? Note these elementry schools....enrollment of 1500 with K-5!! We are growing very fast...1 to 2 new schools / year.


SchoolMatters

[theshan]

Smithson:

It's tougher to compare scores across states, since they are usually based on state-provided tests. As No Child Left Behind continues, the threat for schools where there is no improvement shown has caused some states to modify tests so that they are easier, therefore, "improvement" continues. Also, PA does not have a test requirement for graduation, so the stakes are not as high for students, at least at the high school level, to pass. Finally, as far as I know, there are no incentives or disincentives to teachers/administrators re: pass rates, so again, the stakes aren't as high. Those are all potential factors in the test score differences across states.

One last factor to add--compare the percentages of children receiving free and reduced lunches. This applies within states as well. It is hard to find schools with high poverty rates and high test scores.