Moving to Helena (East Helena, Custer: for rent, houses, elementary schools)

[5stones]

Thanks so much for the sports info. Tennis was a bigger worry than soccer and just knowing that there is an indoor facility helps so much!

Thanks again...if i can think of any other questions I'll post those when htey come to mind.

BTW the city itself looks so pretty.

[MTbound]

I have another question to throw out regarding Helena .....
Does anyone know a violin instructor there or have suggestions? My 8 year old plays violin and we were thinking the best route may be to check with the Carroll College Music Department and see if any students teach for extra money. He is no virtuoso, but enjoys it and wants to continue. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[mthawki]

There are a couple music schools here and I'm sure you'd be able to find somebody to give private lessons too. Going the Carroll route sounds like a good plan though. You might have to do a little leg work, but it should be doable.

[PaminMT]

I grew up in Helena and I did go to WARREN Elementary school! My oldest child will be starting Kindergarten next year, and I am a teacher so I have done my homework as far as the best neighborhoods and the best schools in town. (Growing up here, I had a "sense" about it, but now I have the stats to back me up!)

First off, you asked about schools with high parental involvement. Smith school is the school we chose for that very reason. It is actually very close to the hospital, on the upper east side of town. This area of town is my favorite as it's in the mountains/trees yet it is in town and only takes minutes to get basically everywhere. The views from the upper eastside are amazing and the real estate booms there. (We just bought a house and sold a house there--each had full price offers the first day on the market). So finding the perfect house in that area may be a challenge. The only way we got our house is that we were informed before it became public knowledge--the first day on MLS. I can give you the contact info. of the AWESOME realtor who found it for us if you're interested. She was amazing--absolutely no pressure, always returns my phone calls, kept me up-to-date on everything, etc.

Other schools that score well on standardized tests are Jefferson (south central part of town) and Four Georgians (edge of the valley--a very large school). I feel that the 2 middle schools are pretty much a toss-up--I went to Helena Middle School and it was just ok. I have to disagree with the previous poster regarding high schools (and not just because I went to Helena High!). Capital High was known for the "hicks" and Helena High was more known for the kids from the wrong side of the tracks (East Helena). My experience at Helena High was AMAZING. Both schools are fed from both good and bad neighborhoods.

I think you'll also find high parental involvement in smaller outlying schools such as Montana City and Clancy. There is a new subdivision called Nob Hill that will be feeding into the Montana City School, although it is right on the edge of Helena. I guess it depends on your price range....the homes there are around 500K, I think.

Oregon--The East Valley historically has not been well thought of. It was dominated by mobile home parks and the like. However, there has been an increase of new subdivisions out there. You can get a good house for the money but you don't get the trees nor the "in town" feel. Warren school is not ranked highly, but my guess is that it will be improving as more newer subdivisions go up around it.

I hope that answers your questions--feel free to contact me.

[AQHA]

Originally Posted by PaminMT

Oregon--The East Valley historically has not been well thought of. It was dominated by mobile home parks and the like.

When you say "The East Valley" does this include Winston area or is this East Helena?

[PaminMT]

The East Valley is next to East Helena--between Helena and East Helena and NE of Helena. Winston is east of East Helena and is not considered the East Valley.

[lorelei2873]

To the person from Helena High, I'll tell you where I got my bias about the schools. I moved closer to Helena area from Townsend and was in the HHS school district. My mom bought my sister a car to drive to Townsend and paid out-of-district tuition because she would allow her to go to Capital or Broadwater but not HHS. That's how we Townsend folks saw your two schools as outsiders who did not attend either one. I remember that's what all my friends thought, too. We though Capital was the richy-richy school and Helena High was a little rougher. However, I wouldn't say that my impression of the high schools is acurate in that I haven't been a student at either one. I can't say that what I thought as a kid should carry any weight now. It's definitely not scientific!

I did work with Capital and Helena High a lot when I was in a previous job. I had to work inside both schools quite frequently with students and did find my Capital experiences with counselors to be a lot better. However, all of my friends who live East Helena went to HHS and loved it as kids. However, they all profess that they were getting drunk while they were still at Radley--before they even made it to HHS.

[PaminMT]

Radley school (in East Helena) is definitely a rough school and they do feed into Helena High (which is what I was referring to when I mentioned that HHS had some kids from the wrong side of the tracks). Capital High and Helena High get similar ratings--similar dropout rates, similar poverty rates, similar student-teacher ratios, so I wouldn't base where you move on which high school your kids would go to. I think elementary schools are more important because of the wider variances.

[lorelei2873]

Originally Posted by PaminMT

Radley school (in East Helena) is definitely a rough school and they do feed into Helena High (which is what I was referring to when I mentioned that HHS had some kids from the wrong side of the tracks). Capital High and Helena High get similar ratings--similar dropout rates, similar poverty rates, similar student-teacher ratios, so I wouldn't base where you move on which high school your kids would go to. I think elementary schools are more important because of the wider variances.

I would definitely defer to more scientific measures to evaluate a school. Thanks for all the good info.

[PaminMT]

No problem. It is interesting the different perspectives of people who live in the same area.

Oh, and I totally agree that the HHS counselors were TERRIBLE!