What is life like in Gulf Breeze? Best part and worst part (Pensacola: private schools)

[Nancy in Nokomis]

Husband might be offered a job in Pensacola. We might move to Gulf Breeze area -
Good schools are very important to us. Looking for a more laid back way of live - currently live in Fairfax VA and find it too urban and crowded for us.

[beachmouse]

There aren't really any horrible parts, just a few places that never really got rebuilt after Ivan & Dennis. Note that the Gulf Breeze zip code goes fairly far east outside of Gulf Breeze proper. 'Real' Gulf Breeze according to the local standards is the area west of Naval Live Oaks. And once you get east of Naval Live Oaks, the boundaries between Gulf Breeze and Navarre schools are subject to change on something of a yearly basis because of enrollment/population growth. Navarre area schools aren't bad by any means, but don't quite have the same reputation as Gulf Breeze, which is probably second to only Niceville in terms of high school reputation.

[ncnittany]

Fairfax Mom~My inlaws live in NOVA. The public schools will not measure up to what you are used to in Fairfax and Loudon Co.s. Traffic gets backed up in Gulf Breeze and it can take 10 minutes sometimes to get from one end of town to the other. I bet that sounds like smooth sailing to you. It is much more laid back that the DC area.

[nwc07]

I moved from Fairfax Station to NWFL. NCnittany is correct. The schools in NOVA are far superior to NWFL schools. There arent many private schools either so if schools are really important you may want to rethink this. This area is all about the beach..very little else to do...4 hours either direction to get to the "big cities"...

[Nancy in Nokomis]

I know Fairfax County schools are rated some of the highest in the nation but the rat race here is really terrible - horrible traffic - very urban here - highly competiitve - all the kids have tutors - I want my children to have a good enough eductaion ot make them competitive in the world but they dont have to be little high achieving robots either - just happy with what they do in life.

Does anyone know if Gulf Breeze schools have any programs for advanced kids and also IEP kids. On of my children is gifted and the other one has an IEP.

Thanks for any help.

Santa Rosa County schools are rated some of the best in Florida. Are you saying Gulf Breeze schools in Santa Rosa county do not measure up? They have 9 and 10 ratings on Great Schools.

Its kinda a trade off for us - I worry about my kids but I love the beach and slow pace of life.

[nwc07]

I know about that rat race as we lived it or a number of years. Schools here have AP. The IEP may be a problem..not alot of services like what you have come to expect in a more affluent part of the country.

Sports are big here(esp. football) academics are not unfortunately....

[deaconjones1]

Santa Rosa County Schools are excellent, you can check any school grade in Florida dating back over 10 years to get a better picture of performance at: School Accountability Report. You will find they are aways in the top tier of the state.

Do not compare apples to oranges, there will always be better offerings overall in larger and more affluent areas no matter where you wish to relocate to. As far as quality of life it depends on personal preferences and needs. I love it here, it is what I would call semi-laid back. No we are not the big city but neither are we Mayberry either. Anyone wishing to live here is not relocating to the boonies. There is a significant military presence here, and it is a very popular vacation destination during spring and summer as is the entire gulf coast of northwest Florida.

It is best to request relocation info and do some due dilligence on your own; and you just might come to the same conclusion that many have made resulting in Santa Rosa County becoming one of the fastest growing counties in this state.