Conway Area Elementary School? (Orlando, Seminole: low income, for sale, apartment complex)

[djones87]

Im relocating my family from Michigan to Orlando and am in search of locale close to MCO with good elementary school. Im attracted to Conway/Belle Isle area. Can anyone tell me about the elementary schools in this area? Are some better then others? It looks like options are: Pershing, Shenandoah, Pine Castle etc. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Are there private schools in this area that are exceptional?

[markhunt]

Originally Posted by djones87

Im relocating my family from Michigan to Orlando and am in search of locale close to MCO with good elementary school. Im attracted to Conway/Belle Isle area. Can anyone tell me about the elementary schools in this area? Are some better then others? It looks like options are: Pershing, Shenandoah, Pine Castle etc. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Are there private schools in this area that are exceptional?

I have heard that for this area Shenandoah is probably the best bet out of them.

[carolac]

We have lived within walking distance of Pershing for many years. My son attended there. It is an "A" rated school. It is smaller. In fact, discussion was being had to close it down, but for many reasons, including the fact that the families in the area pitched a fit, it is remaining open. One of my friends was the principal of Shenandoah, and it was an "A" rated school during her tenure (she relocated to another school). Shenandoah is under construction--becoming a much larger school. Pine Castle has a very good private Christian school according to some of my friends who send their children there, including one mom with a seriously ADHD child. I have never investigated the school, though. My mom-in-law taught at Conway Elementary until about three years ago. Conway was a premier elementary school, with an "A" grade, and I am not sure of its rating now. It, too, has a big brand new school built on its site--very, very nice. In that particular area, though, while the teachers are top level, a low income housing apartment complex was built and, since that time, the teachers have had difficulty and some of the long term teachers in that school left.

If you look to the west of Conway Road from Hoffner to Michigan, you will find many nice homes for sale or rent. In the Pershing Elementary area are many upper scale housing developments where a lot of professionals who work in downtown Orlando live. My daughter's Braille teacher and her hubby who is an attorney live in that area in a nicer subdivision. There's quite a range of home prices there. All of these areas are 10-15 minutes from MCO.

For the news of the area, check out a local paper printed and on the web at Conway Florida | Orlando - Conway News. Also check out Pershing Area News : Home which has a listing of homes for sale in the area, sales that are pending and homes that have sold.

Conway Road past Hoffner is being widened. The Orange County Agriculture Center moved out there last year, maybe two years ago(?). There is a big church there, Fellowship, that is growing by leaps and bounds. The music is very uptempo. There are a lot of traditional churches in the area as well. Belle Isle is a beautiful area. Hoffner turns into a beautiful, twisting, tree-lined, 25 mph street where we love to ride our motorcycles because there are older homes on the lake. It is rumored that Al Capone had a big ole' house on the lake there with a wall around it, and there are glass shards sticking out of the top of the wall (where he walled in his victims) to keep people off his property. You'll know the one I'm talking about when you drive past it.

There's a LOT of new development to the east of the airport. I've not had a chance to go and look at it. I have heard that is a very nice area as well.

I have heard Seminole County's schools are better overall, and many have stated that herein as well. That would be quite a trek to MCO though.

Best wishes to you and your family in your decision.

Whoops - forgot to tell you about a couple of top rated private schools - Trinity Prep and First Academy are two schools where my friends who live in the Pershing area send their children. Both are a bit of a trek from the Pershing area. First Academy is associated with First Baptist of Orlando--huge church.

Originally Posted by djones87

Im relocating my family from Michigan to Orlando and am in search of locale close to MCO with good elementary school. Im attracted to Conway/Belle Isle area. Can anyone tell me about the elementary schools in this area? Are some better then others? It looks like options are: Pershing, Shenandoah, Pine Castle etc. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Are there private schools in this area that are exceptional?

[linzuf99]

Hello! I've lived in the Conway area my entire life so I can give you a little info. I went to Shenandoah Elementary and it was a great school (that was in the 80's) - now it's not the best in the Conway area. The best elementary school is called Blankner. It's a K-8 school that feeds into Boone High School - an A rated HS in the area. My parents and my sister went to Boone. I went to private school - St. Charles and Bishop Moore - both are part of the Catholic School system here in Orlando and I loved both of them. But if you're looking for a public school, then I would say Blankner for sure. Conway Elementary just built a beautiful new school (it was a total dump before) so that one might be a good one to check out too. It most likely feeds into Conway Middle School, which is another good school in the area. It's a little overcrowded though. I grew up in south Conway (which is near Shenandoah). I now live in Dover Shores, which is a little further north on Conway Road. If you want zip codes for the area check out: 32812, 32806 and 32807. It's a great area if you want to be close to downtown but in a neighborhood feel. Pershing is a good area - but be careful, some of the areas feed into Memorial Middle School which is no good!!

I hope this help! If you have any other questions, please let me know!

[connor35]

That area is very nice and you get some older homes with more charm in some areas.

The areas just east of MCO are much newer and they have great schools, too.

We live in North Lake Park which is a community with its own very nice, very new elementary (North Lake Park Elementary) with a built in YMCA for the whole family. And it's even closer to MCO. May be worth checking out for you.