Schools in Whitefish? (Kalispell, Columbia Falls, Bigfork: lawyer, travel, jobs)

[northwesterner]

Hi there, my husband and I are considering moving to Whitefish. We have an 11, 6 and 2 year old. Currently we live in Bellingham, WA and most of the schools are very good. Our children are pretty sheltered/naive and we are concerned about uprooting them. I noticed some talk of drugs in the high school, how is this handled? The country life attracts us however, (we are not afraid of snow and we have both grown up in the country) and that is the way we want to raise our children. So my question is how are the schools in Whitefish, are the parents acive, test scores, sports (our oldest is into softball and basketball and our 6 year old plays soccer). Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated. If we make this move we want it to be for good so our kids feel settled and we finally have some roots.

[rickers]

I really believe that your kids will be exposed to far less drugs and bad peer behavior in W.F. than in Bellingham. I'm not any expert but that's just my feeling.
If they are already listening to hip-hop type of music and wearing low pants with boxers pulled up and exposed then you've already lost them.
I noticed that your kids are still very young, get them over here before it's too late !

[truckingbronco]

The schools in whitefish are pretty much average.

[bigtrees]

I'm a Whitefish native and also a WHS grad. I went through the Whitefish School System from K-12. Here's my shot at answering your question.

The schools are one of the best in the state. The sports program was absolutely fantastic - most of the sports teams went to state each year and frequently would take the state championship for their division. If you get a chance, take a look at the wall in their gym. They have a banner hanging for every year the school took a state championship and there are a lot of them! Compare it to the rival schools (Columbia Falls, Bigfork, and sort of Kalispell) and there are only a few hanging in their gyms. Hope I don't offend any Vikings, Bears, or Wildcats on this forum!

The school scores very well in SAT, ACT, and the other assorted standardized tests. Many students go on to do great things in life, and many people from my class are successful.

The drug problem is overrated right now. People are talking about it, which is a good thing, but that means everyone thinks there is a serious drug problem there. I don't know how bad it is, but I know that drugs are everywhere and every school has a problem with them. My experience is I never once saw illegal drugs in the Whitefish school systems, but I'm also incredibly naieve and wouldn't know where to look.

The part about Whitefish that you won't here from other people is there isn't much in the town for kids after graduation. There aren't a lot of career opportunities in the Flathead because of limited industry and large amounts of service jobs. The housing boom has provided some positions for construction crews and things like that, but still not a lot of professional jobs. It's hard when you love the town you grow up in but have to move on. Looking back at my graduating class, about 50% have left the area for other places and they are the ones that have done well in life. The remaining 50% are still "high school hangouts" and haven't done a whole lot with their life, unless their family owns a bank or construction company.

You may remember there was a shooting at a rave in Seattle about two years ago. This was the one where a bunch of people were killed at around 2 or 3 in the morning. Kyle Huff (the shooter) was from Whitefish and I went to high school with him. I never knew him. The Seattle Times wrote an interesting article about him and it's worth reading to give you some insights on growing up in Whitefish.

You're no doubt familiar with the long winters in Montana, because Whitefish weather is just about the same as Seattle. I think Bellingham shares similiar weather? It might be a little nicer in Whitefish, but both have long dreary winters and quick beautiful summers. The three months of nice weather make up for 9 months of dreary weather for some people, but not for others.

Hope that helps - let me know if you have any other questions.

[bigtrees]

Originally Posted by northwesterner

Hi there, my husband and I are considering moving to Whitefish. We have an 11, 6 and 2 year old. Currently we live in Bellingham, WA and most of the schools are very good. Our children are pretty sheltered/naive and we are concerned about uprooting them. I noticed some talk of drugs in the high school, how is this handled? The country life attracts us however, (we are not afraid of snow and we have both grown up in the country) and that is the way we want to raise our children. So my question is how are the schools in Whitefish, are the parents acive, test scores, sports (our oldest is into softball and basketball and our 6 year old plays soccer). Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated. If we make this move we want it to be for good so our kids feel settled and we finally have some roots.

Couple other comments. Whitefish is expensive - 400 - 500k is the average price about now (plus or minus depending on type of market). You probably won't make a lot after you move here, so you want to be sure to have jobs and money lined up ahead of time.

Second comment is Whitefish used to (and probably still does) have a weird rule that you can walk to school if you live closer than 3 miles. But 2.9 miles really isn't practical to walk so you'd end up driving your kids to school if this is the case. Just something to think about....

[allforcats]

Originally Posted by rickers

I really believe that your kids will be exposed to far less drugs and bad peer behavior in W.F. than in Bellingham. I'm not any expert but that's just my feeling.

I agree with Rickers. I lived in Whitefish, and now live in Bellevue. In my experience, Whitefish is a much "smaller town" point of view than Bellingham -- very different. B'ham has a lot of Canadian influence, shopping influence, and travelers passing through help, in part, to form the character of B'ham. B'ham is on fast-moving I-5, and is a college town. Not so Whitefish, where you can influence your children to use their imaginations, and make friends, in order to have fun rather than relying on electronic toys. Just my thoughts...

BTW, if you love snow, you could love Whitefish and the surrounding area. Exquisite, inspiring, joyous...

[bigtrees]

Originally Posted by allforcats

I agree with Rickers. I lived in Whitefish, and now live in Bellevue. In my experience, Whitefish is a much "smaller town" point of view than Bellingham -- very different. B'ham has a lot of Canadian influence, shopping influence, and travelers passing through help, in part, to form the character of B'ham. B'ham is on fast-moving I-5, and is a college town. Not so Whitefish, where you can influence your children to use their imaginations, and make friends, in order to have fun rather than relying on electronic toys. Just my thoughts...

BTW, if you love snow, you could love Whitefish and the surrounding area. Exquisite, inspiring, joyous...

I really enjoyed living in Whitefish. But as a comment from someone who grew up in the area, Whitefish kids are just regular kids. Some of them are "good" kids who become doctors or engineers or lawyers, some are average kids that work construction, become firefighters or police officers, and there are a large portion of "bad" kids as well. I know of about equal parts of all types of people.

Some of my friends loved the outdoors (I do), some loved electronic gadgets, and some loved other activities...some people suceeded and many didn't.

So I think it's a nice place to raise your kids if you can afford it, but there's no guarantees that because their in Whitefish they will want to be a park ranger or an engineer or a doctor. Someday they'll grow up and be regular adults like the rest of us.

[northwesterner]

I really appreciate all of your responses. It is such a difficult decision to make.
We do know that we are ready to leave Bellingham. It has changed so much in a short amount of time. And while Whitefish has high priced homes, it still is not as bad as Bellingham, which is ridiculous. As far as the weather, while it can be gray and cold in Whitefish, nothing can compare to how gray it gets here and for how long! It is cold and the difference is that in Bellingham the cold is a wet cold that goes to your bones, while in MT it is a dryer cold, easier to deal with in my opinion.
My husband is in the oil industry and will be doing 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off off shore, so he has a good job I just need to be able to manage with 3 kids by myself for 2 weeks at a time.
Again, it is so nice to have a forum like this and get some honest responses. We will be in Whitefish at the end of August and will probably make our final decision then.

[grannymontanny]

hey,welcome to the Flathead county,from a former Whatcom county resident

[bigtrees]

Originally Posted by northwesterner

I really appreciate all of your responses. It is such a difficult decision to make.
We do know that we are ready to leave Bellingham. It has changed so much in a short amount of time. And while Whitefish has high priced homes, it still is not as bad as Bellingham, which is ridiculous. As far as the weather, while it can be gray and cold in Whitefish, nothing can compare to how gray it gets here and for how long! It is cold and the difference is that in Bellingham the cold is a wet cold that goes to your bones, while in MT it is a dryer cold, easier to deal with in my opinion.
My husband is in the oil industry and will be doing 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off off shore, so he has a good job I just need to be able to manage with 3 kids by myself for 2 weeks at a time.
Again, it is so nice to have a forum like this and get some honest responses. We will be in Whitefish at the end of August and will probably make our final decision then.

Couple comments:

Whitefish is more overpriced than Bellingham. Whitefish is one of the most overpriced places in the country by now. I say because many people own 10,000+ square foot homes and some people own 30,000+ square foot homes on 1500 acres in the area. The heiress to the McDonalds corporation lives there as do many other celebrities and people who have more money than we do. You can get homes in Whitefish for $200 or $300k but they are very small and not in the desireable parts of town. Acerage,homes with a view, and lakefront homes run into the millions.

Second, I'm dead serious when I say that Whitefish weather is roughly the same as Seattle weather. Not sure if you have been there in the winter? It's wet and humid just like Seattle. Eastern Montana is drier and have cold dry winters, but Whitefish (and much of the west side) has humid cold winters. The temperature hovers around 20 - 35 degrees in the winter and the snow will melt a bit and the humidity rises. I say this as a person who lives south of you in King County, Washington. The weather is a bit nicer in Whitefish but roughly similiar to Western Washington.

Like Bellingham, Whitefish has changed a lot in the last 10-20 years and is still changing rapidly. You won't be leaving that aspect by moving to Whitefish.

Finally, you'll love the place in August because it's a great month there. I suggest to everyone to visit in late January / early February and think about it then to see if you like the winters. It's like trying to decide if you like Bellingham in August- it's nice there that time of year. The winters are what are difficult.