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I hope someone from any of the three areas you're interested in will answer some of your questions. I know OKC police have to deal with the gangs and they are in a number of schools. There has been some gang activity in my town but the police have been very active, and actually pro-active, in keeping the gangs out. Our school has two police officers at the high school at all times. I understand your justified concerns (I was right there with you a few years back) but just can't answer for those cities.
We don't feel like we live that far our, about 10 minutes to all the stores, but many of our friends feel we do. I guess it's perception of what is outskirts or even isolated. Personally I like the peace and quiet we have in our neighborhood. No one delivers anything out here but the drive is short to anything we want or need. A visit to these areas would be great but you may not be able to visit every city you're looking at! Possibly a call to the local Chamber of Commerce or call a Realtor in the area and ask some of these questions?
As for the flooding, it's not the problem that you have or that areas in Texas have. Only once in 15 years have received the rain necessary to cause any flooding in our area and very few homes were affected...and they backed up to the down stream from the small dam. The tornadoes in our area are not bad but I would not say that for a couple areas in Moore and Oklahoma City. There seems to be a tornado path but they are not common. Sadly we don't have the basements you do - but many homes do have safe rooms.
I'm sorry I can't be of any real help. I've driven by a number of acreage subdivisions in Tuttle...they look very nice. It's nice to have that bit of land. If you have any questions about areas closer to Norman I would be happy to help. Again, sorry for the lack of info to pass onto you. Good luck!!!
Hello everybody
I went to Putnam City Schools, and unfortunately, I also had to attend OKC schools for awhile. The difference was and probably still is like night and day.
If you are interested in my observations from attending both, here goes......
I grew up over on NW 27th, in Bethany. So I went to Overholser, Western Oaks, then Putnam City West. For a couple years I moved in with my mom, instead of my dad and stepmom, and she lived in the OKC district, so I had to transfer to NorthWest Classen.
Northwest was full of minorities(hold on, before you guys go berserk, I myself am half Mexican and half white, but if you saw me you would think I was 95% Mexican, very dark, so I'm not a white guy bashing on minorities), mostly blacks, but also, mexicans, indians, chinese, like a melting pot. I actually liked the school, NW that is, it was way wilder than my old school, PCW. There were fights in the hallways almost everyday, and if the teachers or vice principals would jump in, they sometimes would get hit as well, and the security guards there were just for looks it seemed. Also, there was a heavy drug supply within the school, whatever you needed you could get, and do on school grounds, really, no exaggeration. One time during some sort of assembly, when all the students were in the auditorium, a girl got raped in one of the bathrooms, a bathroom far away from the auditorium, where everyone was. Also, many students would be walking around campus during classtime, and no one would tell you anything, maybe a get back to class youngster, and that was all. The discipline was lacking. When I would go to my new friends houses, they were almost always lower income neighborhoods and houses, there parents may have not had good jobs, or some didnt even have jobs. Some of my friends lived with their grandparents and stuff like that. So the socioeconomic conditions were entirely different from back in Bethany where most of my classmates had very nice homes and or mansions. Another thing, learning and doing well in school didnt seem to be as big a priority, sure there were great students, a few who did very well. But for the most part, students seemed to lack that drive to be great. One guy in my history class couldnt even read, like a 1st grade level reader, and he was in 11th grade, no joke. It was very eye opening for me, cuz I had just seen that sort of thing in movies prior to this. It wasnt a fault of the teachers, my teachers were very good, maybe even better. Its just the culture, and style of the students there at NW Classen seemed to prevail over the insistences of the Principal to the Janitors. Kind of hard to explain, something you just felt, like the students were in control, partially at least.
My friends at PCW mostly had parents with good to great jobs, and most had both the dad and the mom at home, attended church regulary, that sort of thing.
PCW was an almost all white school, and almost all of my friends and classmates were well to do. The school hardly ever had fights, we would schedule them after school, off campus, because we didnt want to get in trouble at school. There were drugs there also, probably just as much, but it was more secret, more looked down upon. A lot of the teachers there were alumni from PCW, so they cared a lot about the school and the students, they may have been friends with your older brothers or parents. At PCW, there were a lot of "serious" students, ones who were trying to great in high school in order to attend a "prestigious" university. Yea, there were many who didnt give a rats behind, but for the most part, the studies were taken seriously. We knew at PCW, that the faculty was in control, you would get in big trouble for the smallest things. Pretty strict when comparing it to NW Classen.
I could ramble on even more, but I think I have made my point. I just had to put it out there for those who might benefit from this, or would like to dwelve more into the truth of the matter regarding, the "Reputation" of OKC schools. I also knew many friends who went to US Grant, Northeast, Douglass, John Marshall from the OKC schools, and the culture was the same there. I also had many friends from other school districts just outside of the OKC district, like Putnam City(Original), Putnam City North, Mustang, Yukon, Moore, Norman, Edmond, Bethany, Midwest City/Del City, and it was similar to Putnam City West.
Any one of you can say whatever, however; my experiences at these 2 districts were real, and not fantasized. If I still lived there, I would not send my students to OKC high schools, no way. Why would I? Especially knowing what I know, better to send your kids to a better place.
Now if your kid doesnt care much about education, and just wants to party, fight, and hang loose, then I recommend going to OKC high schools above any suburb schools mentioned.
No offense to those of you who attended or now attend OKC high schools. Like I said, there were some excellent students there also, and great teachers.........but a few bad apples kind of makes you want to put that bag back, and look for a better bag.
well If ya can I just graduated from MWC. But I have alot of friends in Moore high school. Its a big hick school.. It depends on the person really. As long as the kid doesnt fall in with the wrong crowd your ok... BUt you cant pick who you kids play with... How it goes... Moore has a nice high school. But a big hick school so theirs alot of fighting because they gotta keep their respect...
My husband graduated from PC North and liked it except for how large it was. I went to OKC schools my entire life with the exception of a one year stint at Casady. While I will not say that John Marshall was the best school I did well as did all of my friends. Most schools are what you make of them. There are always A.P. classes available if you do not feel challenged by the "regular" classes. Now that being said.....
My siblings all went to Heritage Hall and their education was definitely superior to mine but at around $12k a year it should be.
I no longer live in OK (has nothing to do with the schools) but my family and many of my friends are still there. From what I have been told and have seen on frequent visits OKC schools have improved but you need to research what school your child will attend. Deer Creek and Norman are still quite good (cousins and lots of friends attended), Edmond is still good but is not what it used to be due to high population, PC schools have gone down a bit and the private schools are still the best.
Things may have changed but when I was in school Midwest City was good but Spencer, Jones, etc and the surrounding areas were all very working class and not exactly known for their academics. Now I have been told that Yukon has greatly improved and is now considered to be a great place for families.
Piedmont is the best school district. You can live in OKC and still be in the district. It's located in the far NW part of OKC, the better area of the city.
Mustang has alot of stuff crammed into it's small city limits, so you get a small town feel but you don't have to be rural if you don't want to. If you DO want to be rural, you can live outside of Mustang city limits, and still enjoy it's schools. I think Mustang School District is at least 3 times the size of Mustang itself.
I've never felt danger of my life, but I did have to call the cops once because some kids having a birthday party were shooting some airguns around the neighborhood. The police were there pretty quick and the issue was handled without any retaliation to my property. The local paper prints every transaction where a police officer was called during the past week and for what reason. This list is usually no more than 10-15 calls a week, and it's usually for public drunkeness or domestic disputes. Think about that on a scale of how many people live here and move around on a day to day basis. While I don't EVER recommend doing this on purpose, my neighbor came over for a football watch party, and didn't close his front door good enough. Eventually, the wind blew the door WIDE OPEN for the entire neighborhood to see. It was like that for at least 5 hours before he went back to close it, and he said nothing was stolen from his house.
As far as the schools, we picked Mustang specifically for the schools. There is a big selection of elementary schools to pick from, most of them getting above state average test scores. There are problems like every school will face, but I have not once regretted my choice of a hometown for my kids to grow up in.
I am going to say flat out that I was totally not impressed with Mustang schools. My step-son and step-daughter are attending them. They are most definitely safe, but that's about it.
My step-son is very very bright and the school told his mother that they would love to place him in their gifted and talented program, but that he needed to be medicated (for ADHD which he does not have) first. My step-daughter has been struggling all along. They were allowing her to bring home her tests and correct them for a better score. She left elementary school reading at a 3rd grade level and her math skills were worse. She's in middle school now and is getting more help (remedial classes), but I don't understand why it wasn't addressed sooner. It's much easier and more effective to catch kids up when they're younger.
This is just our experience of course. But I was really horrified in both cases.
I agree that Mustang is a good school district- you can live in Yukon (south of 40) and still be in Mustang district- there's lots of nice neighborhoods with acreage along Hwy 92 (aka Clear Springs Rd or Garth Brooks Rd in Yukon). We are technically in Okc just south of 40 off of Morgan Rd. Still in Mustang schools and it is super easy to hop on I-40 to get to downtown in just 15 mins. If I want to hit up Edmond, the turnpike is easily accessible and I can be out there in 30 mins.
For those looking for acreage, you will pay more in Mustang school district- Tuttle, Newcastle, and Piedmont are all great options and the schools there decent as well.
I would LOVE to move to Okc (a historic neighborhood) one day and really hope that Okcps continues to improve. There are some great, award winning elementary schools in the district now. For middle school, Belle Isle Enterprise and Classen School of Advanced Studies come well recommended. And finally for high school, there are several good charter schools that have made the top 100 list of schools nationwide (Classen school of advanced studies, Dove science academy, Harding Prep, and ASTEC are all options). So don't completely discount OKC schools if you dream of living in the city instead of suburbia. Resale value has gone up, especially in neighborhoods like Edgemere Park, Crown Heights, Mesta Park, Mayfair Heights, Belle Isle, and Brookhaven.
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