Virgin Mover seeking assistance (Philadelphia, Norristown: home, theater, school districts)

[LibNap]

About us: Stay at home mom and commuter husband with two sweet teenage girls. We have all lived on Long Island our entire lives and have very deep roots. Our girls attend an extremely small public school (less than 1000 kids K-12) We live in a beautiful waterfront village with a lot of restaurants, theaters, etc.

The Husband currently commutes four hours a day to NYC and we have a possible opportunity to change our circumstances by moving to the Collegeville area.

We spent the weekend in and around Phoenixville and found the downtown area similar to our own hometown. We really liked it and the commute would be a much needed improvement for the DH.

My questions primarily concern our kids. So, I'm hoping someone will pipe in with information about Phoenixville Area High School and/or moving with teens (13 & 14).

Does the Phoenixville Area High School have an orchestra? I couldn't find anything on the website. How are new students assimilated?

Thanks for reading this long post! Thanks, in advance, for any info you share!

[Jfoldno7]

Hi there. My fiance and I moved into Phoenixville a few months ago and could not be happier. The 10 minute commute to Collegeville should be a drastic change from the 4 hours your husband was used to. I used to work in NYC and my commute was 3 hours a day, so I can relate.

As for the High School I unfortunately cannot provide detailed information. We don't have children of our own, so knowledge of the school district is all second hand. That being said, a big part of why we moved here was the idea that if was decided to we could raise our children here for many years to come.

The school district's reputation is on an upswing, much like the entire town. Schooldigger.com has the district ranked at 64th in the state and Philadelphia magazine ranked it 24th in the region in 2008. In 2009 the magazine ranked the high school 32nd in the region while schooldigger labeled the high school a "five star school" (out of five). I spoke with a teacher from Schuylkill (one of the district's elementary schools) when we were first looking at the town and she spoke very highly of the entire district's direction.

Unfortunately I don't know anything about the orchestra program or how well new students assimilate. The high school is ~900-1000 students across all 4 grades so that will be a change for your daughters. If nothing else, the larger student body should increase the potential for finding other students to identify with and befriend.

I can't recommend Phoenixville strongly enough. The feel of the town is outstanding and the housing prices are extremely reasonable for the area. The downtown revitalization has been superb. On our many occasions of dining out on the town, we are yet to have a lousy meal.

I wish you the best of luck. If you have any other questions about the town feel free to message me or post here.

[LibNap]

Thanks for the info about the town. We spent a little time there and definitely liked the feel of it. I may tap you again for details as we get closer to decision time.

The first time I moved with kids I researched the school districts like a lunatic and nearly injured ourselves getting into the "top" district in the county. It turns out that wasn't the best fit for my kids. It seemed to us the school alternated between resting on it's reputation and "teaching to the test" or putting pressure on the kids to perform better -- including "test prep acadamies" for 6 hours a week after school. Not good for kids in any situation. So, this time we are looking at the up and coming districts with the thought that they are in the process of trying harder.
Thanks again!

[drswife]

Hello and good luck to you in your move. The collegeville/pheonixville/eagleville area is a beautiful family oriented area. As far as schools go, you are just not going to match the small competitve districts in long island. (Yes, I have lived and workend in both areas). The taxes are not as high, so they are not funded they way the island is budgeted. If you are thinking about schools comparable to the Babylon, Port Jefferson, Jericho type districts, I am just not sure you will find something that small. But the schools in the area are good, the private and catholic schools are excellent. The key is to stay out of the Norristown schools. If a very short commute is okay you may want to look into Harleysville for the schools or better still Shippak (I may be spelling this incorrectly) for a more villegey feel. Conshohocken is not bad either, a little more urban. I am not sure about the orchestra. I am sure the PA schools will have one, but it will not be as serious or large as what your kids are experiencing now and it will be an extra activity, not a mandatory thing. Good luck and feel free to ask more questions.