Need some advice on schools in Twin Cities area (Minneapolis: how much, buying a home)

[lxvt]

We are planning on moving to Minnesota and have 3 small kids that will be going to school eventually. Today we looked at Linden Hills, Whittier and East Lowry neighborhoods. We actually liked Whittier and Uptown areas the best. Last on our tour was Hopkins, which was less appealing but when we talked to someone about schools in Hopkins, she said that because we have a child that will need speech services, we should look outside the city (ie. Minnetonka, Eden Prairie) because there is more money and more services to give to children. Is this true or is it perception? We really would rather be more central in the city, I think but don't want to compromise the kids.

[uptown_urbanist]

I don't know specifically about speech services, but I wouldn't give up on the city schools before discussing the options with someone in the Minneapolis Public Schools. It's true that the city schools don't have much extra money now, but really no district does. I don't know the ins and outs of speech funding, but often those sorts of things come from a different funding pot.

Your contact may have been correct, but just as possible is that he or she was biased against city schools. There are many misperceptions out there.

For what it's worth, we plan on buying a home in Uptown or Whittier in the near future, and plan on sending our son to MPS.

[BarbaraMN]

My son receives speech services through the Minneapolis Public schools. They do an excellent job. My sister who is a professor in the field says that Minneapolis has one of the best speech therapy programs. The special ed funding is separate from the general school budget.

[StPaulEastSider]

I am on the Title 1 Parent Committee for the St. Paul Public Schools, so I am fairly well informed about Title 1 Funded Programs. I really believe funding for programs such as speech therapy come out of Federal Title 1 Funding Budgets... not local school district budgets.

Title 1 Funding is based upon how many students in the district are on the free and reduced lunch programs, and I think it's quite reasonable to assume a greater percentage of MPLS students are in the free and reduced lunch programs as compared to Hopkins students... therefore, MPLS schools would have more funding available for this type of program than Hopkins.

BTW, you DO NOT have to qualify for the free/reduced lunch program to get Title 1 Funded Services. The free/reduced lunch program is simply the determining factor regarding how much money each district is to receive from the federally allocated funds.

If you want to live in a suburb, Hopkins is fine. If you want to live in a vibrant urban neighborhood, I don't think you would go wrong with Whittier Elementary school....

Here is a recent Strib article featuring Whittier Elementary - this article was brought to my attention because Xavier's mom is one of my sister's closest friends. Of note in this article is the fact Whittier Elementary is an IB school, this is becoming more and more of a desirable and sought-after designation for schools from elementary years through high school.

We used to live in the Whittier neighborhood, I loved it and wish we'd never left!

You'll find many people in Minnesota who do not live inside the city limits have an attitude about the quality of the Mpls and St. Paul Public Schools which is not entirely accurate. There are some schools in both districts which are struggling, but their are also a lot of schools in both districts which are doing very, very and could easily stack up against the "best" suburban schools.

I actually just now checked out Whittier International Elementary School at GreatSchools dot net, and the rating was only 1/10 which REALLY surprised me... yet 6/7 parent reviews gave the school 5/5 stars. I've heard nothing but good things from those I know who send there kids to Whittier Elem., but there ARE other options - if you choose to move to Minneapolis, you will have the opportunity to choose from many magnet schools if you are not excited about the neighborhood school.

[insert_name_here_00]

I went to Dowling (urban environmental learning center), a Minneapolis public elementary school near the river and can attest to their great ability to accomdate to students of all needs (the school was one of the first to integrate handicapped students and the general population).

All the friends I have who went to Seward Montesori (another minneapolis public elementary) are real solid, well put together people.

These aren't in the areas that you're lookin to move but are an example that Minneapolis public schools are highly succesful (elementary, any way).

I'm not sure if 'experts' agree, but -reflecting on my own life - I believe choosing a kid's elementary school may be the most important decision one will ever make.

That being said, I'm slightly familiar with Plymouth/Wayzata - Hopkins/Minnetonka and have to say - there is no inner city high school like the massive beheamouths that are suburban high schools. I'm not sure that's a good thing... But they do seem to have rediculous funding, allowing for certain things (like the ability to bring your text book home!) I missed out on in Minneapolis high schools.

However - no matter how fancy the gym, or how expensive the computer lab, there are priceless things to be learned in the city you just don't find in the suburbs.

[shizzy]

I had speech therapy classes in grade school. the MPLS public school system is wonderful. I was bussed to another school for the classes so there is no real worry about one school being better equipped then another. They did a wonderful job with me in 2 short years. I would pick the neighborhood you like.