Moving from Germany to Lexington (2009, for rent, coop)

[Uwe]

Hello,

we (I, my wife, our 3 year old son, a baby which will come in the next couple days and our dog) will move to Lexington in January 2009. I will start a job there.
I´m German and my wife comes from the Czech Republic.
We have a lot of questions becauce this is a big move for us.
We are planing to rent house. What is a good neighborhood where families with kids live?
Any recommendation for Kindergarten/preschool for our 3 year old son (yet he is not speaking english)?
What kind of activities with babies are there? (e.g. swimming, meetings with other women with babies....)
Sport activities for my son?
Recommendation for a pediatrician (for the baby and the 3 year old).
Is there any German or Czech community (meetings)?
Thanks for any help!

[teebird1012]

I just came back from Germany yesterday and I first have to say that I absolutely loved it! OK now to your questions:

- What is your price range for renting a house? That will determine what areas of town you should look at.

- There are a number of good preschools around town. I know the school system in Germany is different, especially once you pick between the hauptschule, realschule, and gymnasium. Here for preschool/kindergarten, If you're looking at private schools, I would go with a place like The Lexington School, Christ the King (if you don't mind a Catholic influence there), or Sayre (if you don't mind paying ridiculous tuition). Again, I don't know how much you're willing to spend. Some of the public schools have good kindergarten programs. Those schools are free or charge.

- The YMCAs have programs for women and young children and I'm sure there are women's clubs around town. Someone else I'm sure can give you better information.

- Sports: I'm guessing you're talking about fussball (soccer)? There are youth soccer leagues around town. I played LYSA league soccer starting when I was 4 or 5. I'm not sure about leagues for 3 year olds. There are youth leagues around town for just about every sport though.

- I've gone to Dr. James Wilkes since I was a baby (I'm 17 now) and he does an excellent job. Nice office, helpful staff, good doctor. I highly reccommend him.

- I not sure about German or Czech meetings. Jasper, Indiana is a HUGE German community (about 2 hours away). I'm German also, but don't know about any organized meetings. Sorry about that. Anyone else know?

Hope this helped!

[Irishtom29]

Invite me over for supper, I haven't had a good Bohemian or German meal since I left Chicago a couple of years ago.

If you rent in the Chilesburg neighborhood you'll be right by a new grade school. But being a retired fella I'm not up on pre-schools and kid's activites and such.

[paintforce]

Hello Uwe,
Congratulations on your move here. Lexington is a wonderful city! I was in Germany in 1992 and absolutely loved it there. So first here is what I can tell you about pre-school. My daughter just finished an excellent pre-school with the Lexington Fayette County Co-op. It cost us $138 a month for 3 half days per week. In addition to the tuition costs, there is a requirement for one of the parents to help the teacher in the class about once maybe twice a month. My wife could tell you more but we both were extremely pleased with her experience there. As for programs, the YMCA has wonderful programs for kids and adults. We like the Beaumont branch YMCA as it has many wonderful programs for kids. We will be moving into the Beaumont neighboorhood this weekend. Harrods Hill is a good neighboorhood, Stonewall is also good. Landsdowne is also a good neighboorhood. Our daughter will be starting kindergarten at Rosa Parks elementary which is one of the best schools in the state. Other good elementary schools are Picadome, Cassidy, Julius Marks. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Hope this helps.

[paintforce]

PS: We use PAA associates and love our pediatrician. His name is Dr Revelette.
Regards.

[Uwe]

Hi, thanks for the information. This will help for the beginning. Right now I´m collecting data. We are planing to come over in November/December to look for a house and pre-school. Than I can see what neighboorhoods are available. I´m sure I will contact you again for further questions.
Regards.

[timelesschild]

Glendover Elementary (free public school) has children from many cultures - and there are a variety of housing options in that district. That would be my choice for a kindergarten - it's a good school and the children come from good families.

The Beaumont YMCA is a fantastic place for children's programs - and plenty of social networking goes on there as well. There is a good public library system in Lexington. You can check out the catalog online at Lexington Public Library - Home.

There is not a huge German or Czech community. However, such as there is, you might be able to locate by contacting the University of Kentucky. Here is a web page that looks promising: Division of German Studies.

[paintforce]

Hi Uwe,
My daughter started kindergarten a couple of weeks ago. She is going to Rosa Parks. We are very pleased with the school thus far. Be sure to check out the Fayette County Coop school. That is where are daughter went for preschool, and it was an excellent school. We were very pleased. If you have any questions, or we can help in any way, drop me a line anytime. My e-mail is pantforce@aol.com.
All the best,
Jeff