[suydam]

Originally Posted by spiffychick

Hi~
My son and I are moving to Kalamazoo area in August. He is 13.
How are the Kalamazoo public schools? The Promise sounds great. That's for sure. But looking online the KPS are not well-rated (fairly poorly, in fact) and having him in good schools is important to me. Ratings can be very misleading, but without some input from real people I'm tempted to move to Portage for the schools, though Kalamazoo appears to have more personality ;-)
I'd love some input!
Thanks for the discussion thus far - very helpful!

KPS is "tougher" than Portage.
It's also more diverse which can be a big plus.
I know loads of great kids who have graduated from KPS. I would not be afraid necessarily to send my kids there, but you will need to be very involved making sure it goes well.

[Tricia819]

Originally Posted by deslok

Climax is not Portage by location, it isn't even near there. Portage also does not have anything to do with the Kalamazoo promise, that is only Kalamazoo public schools and that district area. Basically try Kalamazoo if you want a more diverse atmosphere for your children, they won't be as sheltered as say going to a Gull Lake ( good school) or a Climax-Scotts. (small town america)
Why rely on a promise when if someone puts effort into their studies they can get a scholarship anyways? Just my opinion. You have to have the child I believe go from K -12 to take a full 100% hold of the promise. Research, talk to teachers that work there, and figure out what matters most to you as far as what experience you want your child to have.

Unfortunately, a student's effort doesn't guarantee them a scholarship. I was an honor roll student, belonged to the national honor society, and involved in numerous extra curricular activities and I still didn't qualify for a scholarship because my parents made too much. Also unfortunately, my parents had no plans to pay for my college education because they figure they put themselves through college I should do the same. Now that I've finally graduated I'm several thousand dollars in debt due to student loans.

The Kalamazoo promise is pro rated depending on how many years the student attends. My daughter is going into the third grade next year and will qualify for 95%. That still beats me trying to find a way to pay 100%.

[Kimberly_WMU]

I don't know the price range you are looking for, but there is a great little neighborhood that is right on the border between Portage and Kalamazoo. We live there an absoultely love the location! It allows us to have the conveniences of Portage and the cultural aspects of Kalamazoo. The Oakhurst (one of the streets) neighborhood is located between White's Road and Kilgore off of Westnedge. If you are interested, then you are in luck...I just noticed three new houses for sale . Good luck to you!

[wordzy1]

When you talk about "bad" neighborhoods vs. "good," could you please clarify? We're considering moving to Kazoo/Portage from Mesa, AZ. Things here are relatively safe, kids can walk or ride to school (pending the heat), front yards are spotless, drugs are available but out of sight. My kids can play outside without me there, or ride around the neighborhood with buddies, and I can walk alone at night. It's a simple, safe lifestyle. Will we not have that in these areas? Are you talking drugs, petty crimes, or personal crime?

[suydam]

Most neighborhoods in the city of Kalamazoo are completely safe to walk alone at night. When I visit things are the same as when I lived there 3 years ago: We see kids playing and riding bikes without any adults in sight. We lived in the Westnedge Hill neighborhood which was nice, but not a "high end" neighborhood by any means. The older (5th grade) kids walked to the Parkwood-Upjohn Elementary school unsupervised. There was a nice playground. Crane Park (which has manicured gardens and some woods) was spooky at night, but I never actually saw anything to give me pause... it was just dark and quiet.

My wife went running alone in the dark, in the morning. She was wary because all women should be a little wary running alone, but never felt threatened.

Occasionally homeless people would wander through our neighborhood asking for spare cans/bottles (we have a $0.10 refund for every bottle of coke/beer here... it's an income stream for some homeless). We also had local scout troops do the same thing.

I sometimes forgot to lock my door, but not always. Bikes were occasionally stolen from garages. I think that happens everywhere.

There are places safer on-paper than where we were. Winchell neighborhood, Oakhurst that someone mentioned, Parkwood perhaps, Bronson Blvd. I suspect Milwood, which is a very large neighborhood, is pretty similar to Westnedge Hill.

There are neighborhoods on Kalamazoo's north side that have drug-dealers on the corner and shootings. These are atypical for the city as a whole and largely contained to the small area locals call "the northside." It's also (even there) not as bad as many bigger cities, and certainly not the kind of place it's un-safe to drive your car.

I never lived in Portage but would assume the same.

In general, you describe a simple, safe lifestyle and I would wager that Kalamazoo is mostly the same. Just stay away from the bad areas and you'll be fine.

[wagonproject]

agreed with suydam. Theres a bad section to every town (Kalamazoo being north/east). Portage is a pretty safe place anywhere you go.

And wordzy1, we can trade? lol. I've been looking to move to mesa/phoenix. But I just hear a lot of bad things. But back on topic, there is plenty of safe neighborhoods in Kalamazoo/portage. I grew up in Mattawn, which is right next door to Kalamazoo if your looking a little further out. A safe, neighborhoods popping up everywhere in the old farm land.

[Gal2]

Lakeview is obviously closer to Battle Creek (working Kellog's area) than Gull Lake.
Is Gull Lake a better choice than Lakeview?

[Gal2]

With gas prices as they are, is Portage a good place to consider with job being in Battle Creek?

[Softballfan]

No it not. gas is too high to live a long distance from your job.

If you work in Battle Creek, its a good idea to live in Battle Creek.

Both Gull Lake and Lakeview have beautiful, new High Schools.

Lakeview is in more of a city setting, and Gull Lake is in more of a rural area.

As far as 'better", I don't know.

[Gal2]

Originally Posted by Softballfan

No it not. gas is too high to live a long distance from your job.

If you work in Battle Creek, its a good idea to live in Battle Creek.

Both Gull Lake and Lakeview have beautiful, new High Schools.

Lakeview is in more of a city setting, and Gull Lake is in more of a rural area.

As far as 'better", I don't know.

I noticed that there is housing listed as Gull Lake schools in Battle Creek, Calhoun County as well as Gull Lake schools for Kalamazoo County. What is the difference? Is the Bedford area a good area? What about the Augusta area?