Relocating To Shreveport (Bossier City, Haughton, Benton: transplants, homes, magnet schools)

[dmitch1715]

I need some advice as to where is the best place to live in Shreveport. We are going to be relocating to Shreveport and I am originally from the Metro NYC Area (Stamford, CT) What is the cost of living and what are the nearest cities to Shreveport, in terms of looking for jobs.

While I am finishing my Masters Degree in Secondary Education/Community Counseling, I work in the school system as a Substitute Teacher and decided to pursue my teacher certification and I already know I will have to take additional courses in order to be able to teach. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. We are trying to come down to Shreveport in the next couple of weeks to check it out as I've never been to Shreveport.

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by dmitch1715

I need some advice as to where is the best place to live in Shreveport. We are going to be relocating to Shreveport and I am originally from the Metro NYC Area (Stamford, CT) What is the cost of living and what are the nearest cities to Shreveport, in terms of looking for jobs.

While I am finishing my Masters Degree in Secondary Education/Community Counseling, I work in the school system as a Substitute Teacher and decided to pursue my teacher certification and I already know I will have to take additional courses in order to be able to teach. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. We are trying to come down to Shreveport in the next couple of weeks to check it out as I've never been to Shreveport.

If you get certified you will be miles ahead of most Louisiana teachers, so early congrats on that.

Shreveport is quite different from the areas you're used to. It's not quite as industrial (the older parts are, but not the newer parts,) and is more service-oriented since the casino industry is so big here.

If you will be teaching in this area, I would highly recommend you teach in Bossier Parish (Bossier City, Benton, Haughton, etc) or in Shreveport's magnet schools program. You absolutely do not want to waste your certification on a teaching career in Shreveport's inner-city schools.

Good luck, and welcome to Shreveport-Bossier. I really hope you enjoy your visit and that you will feel right at home when you get here. A lot of people have been moving here lately to pursue their acting careers, so there are plenty of new people getting to know this area and hopefully enjoying their time here.

[Beenhereawhile]

I think Caddo Parish teachers get paid more than Bossier Parish teachers. But, I believe the difference in pay is a bit like hostile-fire pay. Maybe I'm wrong on this, but Shreveport, IMHO, seems to be experiencing "white flight".

[SoOverCali]

Hey, I gotta reply to this, I'm an Indie film actress born and raised all of my life in Los Angeles. There are so many transplants here. I can no longer take the smog, the crowds, the rude people. I'm not in acting to be a star or any fairytale ideas. But do make a small mediocre living. Is Shreveport where the studios are, really? I love every part of Louisiana, been there many times. Which town do you recommend is affordable, safe and closest to shreveport?

I want a small town, I want Trees, I want to breathe with no smog. I'm single 33 and starting over! And living by water would be nice also!

[Nikki Shinn]

Originally Posted by SBCmetroguy

If you get certified you will be miles ahead of most Louisiana teachers, so early congrats on that.

Shreveport is quite different from the areas you're used to. It's not quite as industrial (the older parts are, but not the newer parts,) and is more service-oriented since the casino industry is so big here.

If you will be teaching in this area, I would highly recommend you teach in Bossier Parish (Bossier City, Benton, Haughton, etc) or in Shreveport's magnet schools program. You absolutely do not want to waste your certification on a teaching career in Shreveport's inner-city schools.

Good luck, and welcome to Shreveport-Bossier. I really hope you enjoy your visit and that you will feel right at home when you get here. A lot of people have been moving here lately to pursue their acting careers, so there are plenty of new people getting to know this area and hopefully enjoying their time here.

Well now, come on. I can appreciate your reasoning, sure, but that is part of the problem - they need better teachers willing to overcome just those kinds of obstacles. I suppose if you're the sort of teacher who teaches for the love and need of education then working in Sport can be just as good as Bossier. There are good schools there for sure. If you're a teacher cause it was an easy gig to get into, and not so much in it for the future of the children per se, then taking the easier route might work better for what you have in mind.

To be fair, though...my son was enrolled at University - good school, except for the part they deginerated into your basic nazisquad, sending him home every other day for the most extremely banal infractions - like, giggling...he was 8...the zero tolerance crap should be done away with, they are children, not silent robot drones. Schools all over the country have regressed and become so useless, they no longer teach kids how to learn, just focus on teaching conformity and compliance and consumerism, with miscellaneous historical trivia thrown in to qualify as a curriculum. And when they even so much as considered opting for teaching that intelligent design idiocy I yanked him right out in favor of homeschooling and haven't regretted it since.

Maybe if the teachers were more focused on educating instead of whatever they do now the US wouldn't be rating 49th or whatever on the national average of educated children.

[becoming]

Originally Posted by SoOverCali

Hey, I gotta reply to this, I'm an Indie film actress born and raised all of my life in Los Angeles. There are so many transplants here. I can no longer take the smog, the crowds, the rude people. I'm not in acting to be a star or any fairytale ideas. But do make a small mediocre living. Is Shreveport where the studios are, really? I love every part of Louisiana, been there many times. Which town do you recommend is affordable, safe and closest to shreveport?

I want a small town, I want Trees, I want to breathe with no smog. I'm single 33 and starting over! And living by water would be nice also!

I would suggest Stonewall or the more rural areas of Benton or Haughton for you. Benton & Haughton both have nice lakes nearby. I'm not sure about water in Stonewall, but it is a very nice town near Shreveport with a country, small-town feel. Good luck with the move!

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by Nikki Shinn

Well now, come on. I can appreciate your reasoning, sure, but that is part of the problem - they need better teachers willing to overcome just those kinds of obstacles.

If a teacher wants to teach in one of the lowest-performing districts in one of the lowest-performing states in all the United States, then by all means, let that person teach in Caddo! Truth is, there aren't enough people who are willing to put their professional reputations - or their lives, for that matter - on the line just to try and help build up a failing school district.

And don't patronize. You don't appreciate my reasoning, just as I don't appreciate your need to spread lies all over this forum. You appear out of nowhere while I'm away on vacation, and you infect thread after thread with misinformation. And for what? What purpose do you have for doing this?

I was educated in Bossier Parish and, despite having spent my entire life with a learning disability that I only discovered as an adult is due to the fact that I am autistic, I still received a great education. I highly doubt I would have received the same education in 90-95% of Caddo Parish schools. Prove me wrong.