Give me the scoop on McMinnville/Newberg please

[babycoleslaw]

Originally Posted by tkrbl

babycoleslaw - Welcome to Newberg.

I have direct experience with Crater and Chehalem MS (CV). Both are great. The two schools are right next door to each other and they work well together.

I've heard very good things about Ewing Young (out in the country) and Joan (pronounced Joanne) Austin. Trouble is that Joan Austin feeds into the other middle school. I have only heard a little about Dundee but it has been positive.

**Side note: CVMS has a sister school in Japan and each year they send some kids here and we send up to 17 of our kids there. It is a fantastic exchange program for a public middle school.

Sorry to say but you are right about Edwards.

Good luck with your move.

Thanks for the response! Glad to know the information on the net is correct!! I have a son with Down syndrome who would be attending kindergarten there if we do end up moving there. Do you know if it is fairly inclusive? The site seems to say so....
I do think the best bet for us would be Crater b/c of its proximity to the middle school. I'm a former educator and once my littlest is in school plan to go back and to know that my kids were so close to each other and perhaps me if I taught at Crater would be ideal.
Who knows, maybe we'll be neighbors!
Any other information you think would benefit me would be great! Thanks!!!

[tkrbl]

Originally Posted by babycoleslaw

Thanks for the response! Glad to know the information on the net is correct!! I have a son with Down syndrome who would be attending kindergarten there if we do end up moving there. Do you know if it is fairly inclusive? The site seems to say so....
!!!

I've asked my kids and a friend with an Autistic son. They all agree that Crater and CV have good programs. They are apparently very inclusive. I am told that lunch, PE and electives are all inclusive. The other classes are either taught by the “Life Skills” instructors or they are included in standard classes depending on the particular students’ abilities. I also understand that Newberg High has a good program as well with student helpers assigned to classes with students who need minimal assistance to attend classes.

Sorry for the late reply but I wanted to get you an educated answer.

[babycoleslaw]

Originally Posted by tkrbl

I've asked my kids and a friend with an Autistic son. They all agree that Crater and CV have good programs. They are apparently very inclusive. I am told that lunch, PE and electives are all inclusive. The other classes are either taught by the “Life Skills” instructors or they are included in standard classes depending on the particular students’ abilities. I also understand that Newberg High has a good program as well with student helpers assigned to classes with students who need minimal assistance to attend classes.

Sorry for the late reply but I wanted to get you an educated answer.

Thank you for your reply! Any information 'locals' can give me with regard to inclusion is most helpful!! I'm narrowing my areas down!

[hb1736]

Hi I know this thread has gone a little cold, but I have to disagree with some of the things that busone and washington native have said about Newberg.

We liked Newberg because of many sweet things they offered, such as:

• A thriving place for kids to grow up, including a very healthy library, a pool, lots of parks (we have a choice of 4 around our house)
  
• The beauty of living among many vineyards and orchards and the generally beautiful scenery which is even intact in the lower income areas where people seem to take pride in their little old homes.
  
• The proliferation of things for kids/young people to do. There are sports in Newberg, but up and down the 99 corridor, including in Newberg which is a c

ollege town, there is a general awareness and value placed on making a place for young people to thrive.

There does seem to be a "good side of town" and a "lower end" side of town. However, that said, my family and I frequent the nice park on the other side of town and have never witnessed, felt or otherwise sensed that this part of town was not safe. I might add, that pregnant with young kids, I am very tuned into this type of thing.

Coffee shops, old fashioned ice cream parlors, drive in, close to the beach, and outdoorsy stuff to do, Newberg feels like a rural area that has developed nicely.

This comment about strip malls in Newberg, especially compared with Mac is baffling to me. We looked closely at Mac and as you come into town you are hit with every low end strip mall retail establishment known to man, right as you enter town. Newberg seems to me to have held off almost all but local establishments, which seem to do okay here.

As for drugs and gangs, as a teacher I can tell you that there isn't a community in this Willamette Valley that isn't touched to some extent by both methamphetamine use and kids hooking up with gangs. If you are in that world, looking for it, it is easy to find everywhere. I moved from East Portland (a hub of urban neglect) after teaching, living and working there and Newberg doesn't have a problem. I don't see it, and view with suspicion any assertion that Newberg has more than other areas.

I love Newberg. It seems to have found the golden mean to me, I can get to Portland in 30 minutes without traffic, and drive to work among farms. I feel snuggled in this little valley with vineyards and orchards. I recommend Newberg on all accounts.

[jadeon]

I lived in McMinnville for about 3 years. It is a great little town but I would live in Dundee or I would definately recommend Yamhill/Carlton area. Darling place and up and coming. Many new wineries and even a fine dining rest. in this little town amongst the farms. There are low income families there as well as high income. They have new housing developments with really nice homes.

In my opinion, the negatives about McMinnville is that it is getting populated quickly. There is an area of town that is very busy and full of strip malls. The biggest reason why we moved is because the allergies are HORRIBLE! We found out that when the Native Americans came to the valley they named it "death valley" because they actually got very sick and their children where dying! They have major mold issues.

Sorry to sound so negative, but the allergies ran us out of the valley. The rest of McMinnville is great. Schools aren't bad and there is a beautiful downtown and home town pride. Oh.. another plus is they have a pretty good health food store for organic shopping.