Plymouth schools (St. Paul, Minnetonka, Robbinsdale: credit, townhomes, school districts)

[Stanorth]

I know there are three school districts (Wayzata, Minnetonka, and Robbinsdale) servicing various sections of Plymouth. I recall reading that Wayzata is perceived as the best of the three and that Robbinsdale is the less desired. My questions:

(a) is this accurate?

(b) are there sound reasons to avoid the Robbinsdale schools? and

(c) do property values in Plymouth reflect the quality of these different school districts?

Thanks in advance!

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Stanorth

I know there are three school districts (Wayzata, Minnetonka, and Robbinsdale) servicing various sections of Plymouth. I recall reading that Wayzata is perceived as the best of the three and that Robbinsdale is the less desired. My questions:

(a) is this accurate?

That depends on your priorities. I know people who would consider Minnetonka to be the superior school by a number of measures.

(b) are there sound reasons to avoid the Robbinsdale schools?

Probably not. Most Twin Cities schools are within a few percentage points of each other by any given measure, and many of the differentiations you hear about are related to specific programs or sports teams. Look up each of the schools in question in Wikipedia and check the various external links. I think you'll find that all three school districts are quite good.

(c) do property values in Plymouth reflect the quality of these different school districts?

I doubt it. The Twin Cities isn't Atlanta (where there are some VERY good public schools but also some VERY bad ones). The schools are far more consistent in general quality, and I think that's been largely true for a few decades now.

[Minneapolis Guy]

Originally Posted by Stanorth

I know there are three school districts (Wayzata, Minnetonka, and Robbinsdale) servicing various sections of Plymouth. I recall reading that Wayzata is perceived as the best of the three and that Robbinsdale is the less desired. My questions:

(a) is this accurate?

(b) are there sound reasons to avoid the Robbinsdale schools? and

(c) do property values in Plymouth reflect the quality of these different school districts?

Thanks in advance!

Yes, property values do reflect this. I have been looking in plymouth and you pay less for the homes that are not in the Wayzata and MInnetonka district. Part of northern Plymouth is served by the Osseo school district, you will find these homes are cheaper too.

[Kebinminn]

If you search Plymouth on themlsonline sorted by price the lower priced houses are in the Robbinsdale district.

With that I know the schools on the west side seem to have overall test scores than the school on the east side, I know people are happy with them, especially at the elementary level. The perception is the high schools aren't the best but again I know some people who are very happy with them. I don't know much about how the districts overall differ other than Minnetonka has a good gifted program, Robbinsdale doesn't seem to have much.

[Stanorth]

[quote=Kebinminn;8706135]If you search Plymouth on themlsonline sorted by price the lower priced houses are in the Robbinsdale district.

I thought that's what I was seeing, but I haven't followed the listings long enough to make that conclusion. It seems odd that the slight distinction between "very good" and "excellent" schools would result in a palpable difference in property values within the same well-regarded municipality. Is there perhaps an element of "white flight" here?

[Kebinminn]

Plymouth has a lot of newer, bigger homes. It also has a lot of townhomes and some nice older home areas, it's a very mixed up area as far as housing goes. I don't think it's related to white flight, I don't notice any difference on the ethnic breakdown between west Robbinsdale and the rest of Plymouth.

There is a lot of money in Plymouth and I think the schools repuations help to drive the prices up. However many of the Plymouth townhomes are not in Robbinsdale.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Kebinminn

Plymouth has a lot of newer, bigger homes. It also has a lot of townhomes and some nice older home areas, it's a very mixed up area as far as housing goes. I don't think it's related to white flight, I don't notice any difference on the ethnic breakdown between west Robbinsdale and the rest of Plymouth.

There is a lot of money in Plymouth and I think the schools repuations help to drive the prices up. However many of the Plymouth townhomes are not in Robbinsdale.

This is also why property taxes can vary so much. In newer developments you are paying for the improvements-water, sewer, roads, sidewalks, etc. that are already paid for in developments 5+ years older. Location does have some bearing on property taxes as does the industrial base in the area to help support property taxes. It has nothing to do with the color of the skin of the people living in that area. St. Paul, and specifically Highland Park, has some of the highest property taxes (by percentage) in the entire state yet Highland Park is probably 95% white.

[ozzie679]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

The Twin Cities isn't Atlanta (where there are some VERY good public schools but also some VERY bad ones). The schools are far more consistent in general quality, and I think that's been largely true for a few decades now.

Where are the "very bad" schools in the TC Metro? Compared to other metropolitan areas that are around the same size, I don't think there are any schools that are considered "very bad".

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by ozzie679

Where are the "very bad" schools in the TC Metro? Compared to other metropolitan areas that are around the same size, I don't think there are any schools that are considered "very bad".

I think he means that Atlanta has some very bad schools, not the TC.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by ozzie679

Where are the "very bad" schools in the TC Metro? Compared to other metropolitan areas that are around the same size, I don't think there are any schools that are considered "very bad".

No, I said there were some very bad schools in the Atlanta metro, not the Twin Cities.

The entire Clayton County school district lost its accreditation not long ago, for example, and there was a recent article in the AJC (Atlanta Journal Constitution) showing that a fairly high percentage of students in some school districts had to take remedial classes in college. You simply don't see that kind of stuff in the Twin Cities.