In NEED of advice for moving to Madison from NY (Sun Prairie: apartments, rent)

[jmarwhyte]

I am planning on relocating to Madison, WI within the next 4 months to be with my boyfriend. I am excited and nervous about this move. I've been told to wait until I get to Madison before starting a job search but I do not feel comfortable coming out there without the security of a job. Currently I am a 6th/7th grade teacher for NYC but I know it is a process to get licensed in WI. I want to explore other career fields within education. Can anyone help with advice or sites that I can explore?

This is my first big move (out of state) and I honestly do not know where to start.

[FryGuy]

I have no experience with this other than reading this board, but from what I understand getting a teaching job in this area is quite difficult. I can imagine others will chime in and say the same.

[Ragnar]

Finally, something new to discuss! The Madison City-Data discussion board has been rather dull as of late.

What subject areas do you teach? Being bilingual English/Spanish will certainly help your prospects. The Madison School District is expanding their dual-language English-Spanish program and the first group of kids who started the program in Kindergarden a few years back are now just hitting Junior High. It's likely the program will expand at the Junior High and Senior High levels as more kids move up through the program.

You may also wish to check out Middleton, Verona, Waunakee, Sun Prairie, DeForest, Oregon and other school districts in the communities surrounding Madison. There are also some private faith-based schools in the Madison area (Lutheran, Catholic, Evangelical, etc.) if you're interested in investigating that route.

eNasco is an educational supply company based in Fort Atkinson (~50 minutes southeast of Madison). A career angle with a company like this may be worth a shot if you cannot find a job in the classroom.

Teaching jobs in the Madison area can be tough to come by, but lining up a job before you move would be a good thing. Please let us know what follow-up questions you have. Best wishes!

[ranger17]

i think it may help that you already have experience. My daughter has a couple friends in the area that got their degrees in teaching but have yet to find a job in any area district. I agree to consider some of the area burbs as well; to give you as many options as possible.

At one time i would have suggested contacting WEAC as at least in my years in WI they were quite the powerful organization and may have some solid guidance for you. But not sure if the past couple years of politics up there have done anything to affect their outreach and offerings

[Megan1967]

Don't wait until you move here to apply for jobs. I don't know about other fields, but the school administrators in the Madison area do not discriminate against people from out of state. They are able to pick and choose who they want because there is such demand for teaching jobs in this area and they are used to getting the best. You would have to fly out here for any second interviews, but the first interviews are typically phone interviews anyhow, so you have nothing to loose.

It may already be too late to apply for Madison Metro because they only accept applications for a brief window of time, once a year. That is unless you are a special ed teacher or bilingual, then you might be able to get a job with them even if you haven't applied within the "window."

[jmarwhyte]

Thank you sooo much for your insights!

I am going to look at the two organizations (ENASCO and WEAC) to see what information I can find. The area I teach currently is Literacy/ELA. Unfortunately I am not currently certified in Special Ed., although I would persue it once I move to WI. I am certified in Early Childhood and in Childhood Educ.

I am extremely flexible in the job areas that connect to education. Although I love the classroom, working in NYC has made me feel the need to step away and pursue other areas of education. I am an educator at heart so I def. want a job that keeps me connected with those roots. I did hear it is tough to find a teaching job in Madison and although I am a bit anxious about that, I will not let it deter me. Once again thanks for the advice everyone. I really appreciate it. If you think of anything else PLEASEEEEEEEE SHARE! :-)

[dgd717]

Originally Posted by jmarwhyte

I am planning on relocating to Madison, WI within the next 4 months to be with my boyfriend. I am excited and nervous about this move. I've been told to wait until I get to Madison before starting a job search but I do not feel comfortable coming out there without the security of a job. Currently I am a 6th/7th grade teacher for NYC but I know it is a process to get licensed in WI. I want to explore other career fields within education. Can anyone help with advice or sites that I can explore?

This is my first big move (out of state) and I honestly do not know where to start.

Well, there are few things to expect in Madison:

• College feel (so a lot of younger people, but older people too)
• Affordable rent
• Fairly average job market (mostly tough and competitive, especially for career-like jobs, such as teachers)
• Very small city surrounded by nature (trees, hills, and lakes within the city)
• Harder winters than NY (sometimes can't drive)
• Not as many ethnic and cool places, because it is smaller, but you will be able to find some good places
• Cool spots: Mason Lounge (British-style pub with some of the best local/import beers on draft you will ever have--a very merry and intellectual place), anywhere on Madison campus is fun (like bookstores and ethnic food places, nice coffee shop places (Barriques, EVP Coffee, Bradburry's), by the hospital is some wonderful authentic Mexican food
• Bike paths are everywhere--it's a major biking city
• Good transportation system
• People are intellectual and liberal minded
• ADVICE: Stay away from downtown Madison as far as living. More of the mature individuals will be more outside the city. I think one of the best places is south-side Madison. There's cheaper housing and nice scenery by the hospital, like the lake (especially in winter when it's frozen). If you want friends, try clubs on campus, especially foreign language talk-tables. These people will immediately become your friends. Grand advice, live south and close to the lakes. I guess most of my friends haven't given north Madison too many chances--mostly because they're getting older or pursuing grad school.

[Megan1967]

Just a caveat.... Affordable rent is sort of relative. I have a friend who rented a one bedroom "railroad" apartment on Manhattan for $2500 per month. It would have gone for any where between $1200 and $1800 here, so it is cheaper, but they aren't giving apartments away here. Too many people come from bigger cities expecting to get a luxury, two bedroom apartment for $800 a month. I'm not saying you can't find a two bedroom for that price, but it isn't going to be the Ritz.

dgd717, could you be more specific when you say the southside? There are a lot of bad areas on the southside which I would not recommend. Many areas on/around S. Park have a high incidence of car/home break-ins, muggings and petty thievery. Probably nothing compared to NYC, but if you are moving to a new area, why not go for the nicest areas you can afford rather than what you can tolerate?

[Chelito23]

Hi Megan,

I'm glad you clarified also. Being familiar with the area, I made an assumption that they referred to the neighborhood south of Monona Bay....which is a wonderful area and close to everything. Any furthur south than the Wingra Canal and you hit the nail on the head.

[dgd717]

Originally Posted by Megan1967

Just a caveat.... Affordable rent is sort of relative. I have a friend who rented a one bedroom "railroad" apartment on Manhattan for $2500 per month. It would have gone for any where between $1200 and $1800 here, so it is cheaper, but they aren't giving apartments away here. Too many people come from bigger cities expecting to get a luxury, two bedroom apartment for $800 a month. I'm not saying you can't find a two bedroom for that price, but it isn't going to be the Ritz.

dgd717, could you be more specific when you say the southside? There are a lot of bad areas on the southside which I would not recommend. Many areas on/around S. Park have a high incidence of car/home break-ins, muggings and petty thievery. Probably nothing compared to NYC, but if you are moving to a new area, why not go for the nicest areas you can afford rather than what you can tolerate?

I guess my friends and I had a great experience near the hospital and lake MO. Idk about the muggings. I come from big cities, so I expect muggings and car breaks-ins to take place everywhere I guess (I even lived in an upper class suburb once and had my car broken into). Sorry I didn't look into the crime--but maybe it's subjective