Should I move to Little Rock (North Little Rock, Conway: renting, buying a home, teaching jobs)

[dom&angie]

My husband's company may be transfering him soon from San Antonio TX to Little Rock. I need ya'lls help?

What are the nicer areas of town were we could find a home? maybe even a little land no more than 2 acres.

Does Little Rock public school have Bilingual Education or Dual language programs? I am a teacher and I teach bilingual education in TX, and I want to know if my credentials will be applicable there.

Thank you

[L.D.S.]

Camack Village is a very nice part of LR and houses the Governor's mansion. I think it's pretty expensive to live there, though.

North Little Rock around McCain BLVD. is a nice part of town to live in, and is only a few minutes from downtown Little Rock itself.

[PurpleLove08]

I definitely know being bilingual is a huge plus. A lot of schools will probably be happy to have you. If you have the time and/or $$, it's probably good to be certified to teach more than one subject.

I met a guy in my Spanish class over the summer who was looking for teaching jobs and a lot of school districts are looking for someone who can teach more than one subject.

[strumpeace]

Originally Posted by L.D.S.

Camack Village is a very nice part of LR and houses the Governor's mansion. I think it's pretty expensive to live there, though.

When did the Governor's mansion move to Cammack Village?

[jenni-b]

It didn't! It's still down here by my house!

Cammack Village is nice, though. And yes, expensive.

[GlendaRN]

You might want to look look out west, Pleasant Valley, Chenal Valley, and out Kanis and out Cantrell.

[arkansasgolfer]

Originally Posted by dom&angie

My husband's company may be transfering him soon from San Antonio TX to Little Rock. I need ya'lls help?

What are the nicer areas of town were we could find a home? maybe even a little land no more than 2 acres.

Does Little Rock public school have Bilingual Education or Dual language programs? I am a teacher and I teach bilingual education in TX, and I want to know if my credentials will be applicable there.

Thank you

welcome to Arkansas! my wife is a Spanish teacher at Pulaski Academy. The public schools here are a bit rough. I suggest you look at buying a home in Saline county in Bryant or Benton. You will have a 15 -25 minute drive to downtown LR. You can get land and a nice house at a good price. I would recommend teaching somewhere in Saline County as well. There are a ton of schools within 30 minutes and the pay is better. The schools are also much safer and have higher standards. Goodluck

[PurpleLove08]

Originally Posted by arkansasgolfer

welcome to Arkansas! my wife is a Spanish teacher at Pulaski Academy. The public schools here are a bit rough. I suggest you look at buying a home in Saline county in Bryant or Benton. You will have a 15 -25 minute drive to downtown LR. You can get land and a nice house at a good price. I would recommend teaching somewhere in Saline County as well. There are a ton of schools within 30 minutes and the pay is better. The schools are also much safer and have higher standards. Goodluck

Can you expound on how the public scholls are rough....

[arkansasgolfer]

Originally Posted by PurpleLove08

Can you expound on how the public scholls are rough....

Little Rock public schools are underfunded. The teachers are grossly underpaid, I think a first year teacher starts at 32K which is about 10K less than NWA schools. The one public high school that is known as a good school is LR Central and even that school is like 2 schools in one. A good number of rich white kids go here and are involved in the acclaimed honors program. The other part of the school is poor kids mostly black who lack proper parental help. I can tell you most people in Little Rock who have the funds send their children to the private schools due to the gangs,drugs and other crap that infests the LRSD. Some might disagree with me and I am sure you can have a good experience with LRSD but I can promise my daughter will either go to PA or Bryant public schools. The suburbs around Little Rock all have excellent public schools ex: Conway,Cabot,Bryant, Benton depending on where you want to live. Good luck

[PurpleLove08]

Originally Posted by arkansasgolfer

Little Rock public schools are underfunded. The teachers are grossly underpaid, I think a first year teacher starts at 32K which is about 10K less than NWA schools. The one public high school that is known as a good school is LR Central and even that school is like 2 schools in one. A good number of rich white kids go here and are involved in the acclaimed honors program. The other part of the school is poor kids mostly black who lack proper parental help. I can tell you most people in Little Rock who have the funds send their children to the private schools due to the gangs,drugs and other crap that infests the LRSD. Some might disagree with me and I am sure you can have a good experience with LRSD but I can promise my daughter will either go to PA or Bryant public schools. The suburbs around Little Rock all have excellent public schools ex: Conway,Cabot,Bryant, Benton depending on where you want to live. Good luck

I went to Pulaski County Special School District and NLR School District.
To me it all boils down to parenting at the end of the day.

You can have the best teachers, the highest amount of funding, etc. but if the kids don't want to learn and the parents don't emphasize education...good luck.


I agree teacher pay is an issue but people don't want to pay the taxes to raise teacher salaries. You pretty much get what you pay for.

$$ isn't everything though. There are some great schools out there making a difference in many kid's lives and they aren't doing it on a huge budget.

I won't say the LR school district is the best, PCCSSD is the best or NLR is the best but I wouldn't discourage people from sending their children to those schools. As long as the parents plan on taking an active role in their child's education (which they should anyway) everything should work out fine.