Moving from Bay Area ... Need Help with Where! (Eugene, Springfield: neighborhoods, school districts)

[dianaewilliams]

We are a family of four - (children 5 & 9) who are ready to leave the Bay Area - it's been a great place for us, but we are ready to slow down and have a simpler, cheaper, slower life...

The tricky thing is, our children are in Waldorf/Steiner Schools and we hope to continue with that kind of education. Given that, we are considering Oregon (Bend, Eugene, or Ashland) or perhaps Nevada City, CA. The postings about OR having a terrible public school system have me concerned - though we won't use them, it still is an important indicator of overall health and well-being of a state

If anyone knows of other great communities with Waldorf schools anywhere else in the country, please let me know! My husband just has to be able to access an airport.

An ideal place: progressive, small/medium size town, creative/educated people, near a good sized city...we've lived in Mill Valley, CA and it has all those things, but it's just gotten too over the top...

Thanks for any and all advice!

[Waterlily]

I'd suggest you do a google search for your Waldorf schools. if you don't find much then ask at the school that your kids attend.

Some of the schools in oregon are pretty good in spite of the complaining.

[pw72]

Don't know much about Waldorf schools, but in general, Oregon public schools do a decent job.

From the Bay Area, I would suggest Eugene first, (and from your post, would guess southside would be what you are looking for). Overall, the Eugene, Springfield area is less expensive, with similar values, especially in the south Eugene neighborhoods. If you want a small version of the Bay Area, Eugene is my suggestion.

[jjpop]

There is a Waldorf school here in Corvallis. I'm not sure what kind of a reputation it has, but I can say I haven't heard anything negative about it. We considered it for our son, but determined the educational style wouldn't have been a good fit for his personality.

As for Oregon having a terrible public school system, I've seen that mentioned several times in posts and I have say that everyone should look at the generality of that statement. It's true that the state budget for education has made it rough for school districts, but to color all schools as being "terrible" is unfair to the districts that have done a lot with the little they get and the communities that have made public education a priority (i.e. passing school bond measures), not to mention the committed educators who make the best of the situation. My son's Kindergarten class this year had about 30 students. Would I have liked there to be fewer students? Yes. But thanks to his teachers and a cadre of really involved parents it turned out to be a great year. Also I should mention he had physical education, art, and music...IN KINDERGARTEN!!! It's not chalk and slates here, folks!

I'm only one person with one year of experience, and I'm sure others who read these boards have had bad public education experiences, but I think a community that comes together can make it work even under trying budgetary circumstances.