Potential move to Minneapolis (Burnsville, Woodbury: rent, day care, how much)

[mimi23]

My husband is considering a job in Burnsville. We have 3 children-2 in Jr. High 1 in Elementary. We are taking them out for a visit of the area. Finding the best school district is our first priority. Then commute to office, good safe suburb and house in a development. We now live 20 minutes to almost anything (kids activities-one in the theater, on in competitive gymnastics and one karate, baseball), stores, fine dining and theaters. So far Rosemount, Apple Valley, Farmington, Lakeville & Burnsville have been recommended from co-workers. Any thoughts? Any recommendations on theaters for teens to audition or competitive gymnastics?

[golfgal]

I would put Rosemount/Apple Valley/Lakeville at the top of your list. Personally I wouldn't send my kids to Burnsville.

What activities/sports are your kids in. That will probably be the deciding factor along with how much you want to spend on a home. If your kids are very into band, Rosemount is the obvious choice. If your kids are good runners, Lakeville. The quality of the education at these schools are all about the same. Rosemount/Apple Valley are the same district. Lakeville is also very good. Burnsville academics are fine, I have major issues with the way the kids behave at Burnsville.

[golfgal]

I missed the gymnastics part--all of these schools have a gymnastics program and there are several gymnastics schools around. DD12 has a friend that open enrolled into Rosemount because she trains with the Rosemount gymnastics coach. That is about all I know about the gymnastics program.

All of these schools have theater programs as well. If your kids are really good and want to be more involved the Minneapolis Children's Theater is huge.

[Hoosier]

I would second Golfgal's comments about Burnsville schools. We've looked at moving to the south side of the Cities and have been told my many co-workers who live down here to stay as far from Burnsville schools as possible. Rosemount/Apple Valley are supposed to be excellent! Some of the best schools in the Cities from what I've heard.

[robind]

I can't speak to everything but there is a lot in tha area. I think every town has a rec center. Shopping, movies, restaurants are all easy to get to without feeling crowded by strip malls.

[pepe1]

I'll third the Burnsville comment. Their schools are the pits compared to neighboring districts...

[jdsammy]

We take our kids to Elite Gymnastics Academy in Burnsville. If you are looking for a competitive gymnastics program - that is the place we highly recommend to go to.

[Camden Northsider]

Any recommendations on theaters for teens to audition or competitive gymnastics?[/quote]

Stages Theatre Company in Hopkins, MN: www.stagestheatre.org

World-renowned Children's Theatre in Uptown area of Mpls: www.childrenstheatre.org

These are the two that I know about, but there's a lot of theatre in the metro area, plenty of opportunities for young and old to get involved.

[night_express02]

I moved to MN two and half years ago, We first lived in Woodbury and if you dont mind the commute they have a GREAT school system,,,,Washington County in general is really good,,, we now live in Oakdale and love the schools here although Oakdale is little ways from Burnsville,,,Burnsville isn't too bad of an area just not as high rent as Woodbury,,,,I can't say much about the Burnsville schools though....Good Luck.......

[K-Luv]

What exactly constitutes a good school? I am only asking because it seems that in practically every one of these "moving to..." threads (which I still think there should be a sticky for) one of the questions asked has to do with the best school district, or the best public school etc.

It seems to me a question like this is a matter of personal opinion, and is mostly formed by such things as standardized test scores (which in my opinion is just wrong since some schools teach their students to test, and not to learn), how well equipped their sports activities are and then maybe how much of a criminal element is in there. I have yet to see a public school judged in any other matter. What about the faculty? When people talk about private schools it is always in a context of how great the teachers are and the quality of education. You never hear that about public schools.

The high school that I went to was considered the armpit of the district. So much so that many parents were enrolling their kids into other schools (which was a sort of no no in my district) sometimes on the other side of town. My high school was equipped to handle 3,000 students. There were only about 900 or so during my four years-and only 200 in my senior class. This was in a major city, mind you, not some school out in the sticks.

Because of that the district threatened to close the school down practically every year until around my junior year when they got the bright idea to use my high school as a tool to experiment new ideas on. So, all of those rooms that were supposed to be used for high school students went to; ROP, Adult education (which was kind of weird if you ask me), and a continuation school (and they have since added a day care center for, yep you guessed it).

Now through out all of this I would say that I had some of the best teachers on the planet. They were awesome! And even though our football field turned brown and all of our teams had to play their home games at a different high school (no funding for up keep or new equipment)(oh, and our swimming pool dried up, too, because there was no funding to keep up the maintnance) and there was an occasional gang fight I would say that my school was definately awesome.

So yeah, it's the teachers and a students personal expeirence that make a school great.

(and yes, I am aware of the typo's, I'm just being lazy)