determining school districts in PA (Phoenixville, Collegeville: house, neighborhood, new construction)

[maestro]

Hello,

I'm moving to the Philly area (Phoenixville, to be exact) and I was wondering if someone could explain how the public school systems work out here, specifically the elementary schools. Phoenixville, like many suburbs, has several elementary schools.

Does the elementary school your child goes to depend on your exact address, or can you pick and choose with elementary school they go to? If it's the former, how can you look up with elementary school your child will go to?

This many be a very simple question, but I've seen different guidelines in different places.

Thanks.

[toobusytoday]

As far as I know, there is no school choice for elementary schools, it's all done by address. The key thing is to find out the school information directly from the school district, not the realtor and perhaps not even your potential neighbor. When we moved to our current house in Lehigh County the realtor AND our neighbors told us that our kids woud go to a certain school and our oldest elementary aged child did indeed go to that one. However, the next year when our youngest was to start kindergarten he had to go to a different school. I was able to get him back in his brothers school the second year but other people were not so fortunate and we had a neighborhood with children going to all three of the elementary schools in the district.

[orrmobl]

Go to the Phoenixville School District's web site and poke around - you should find based upon geographic location, which elementary school serves your street...

[Mimifio]

I'm also moving to the area- either Phoenixville or Collegeville. What are the differences between the two towns? My husband's job will be in Oaks, PA.

[orrmobl]

Collegeville is housing development central. Affordable homes good schools. Country setting, still developing amenities.

Phoenixville is up and coming, has a mix of older homes and new construction, walkable town but not fully reinvigorated, slightly better schools than Collegeville, still has some rough sections. Its also closer to civilization.

Lots of my friends live in Collegeville and love it. Personally I find it a tad remote for me. Phoenixville is seen as a more hip place to live. I think they are comparable, just depends on your taste and where you work.

[Mimifio]

What do you think of Royersford?

[orrmobl]

Cute little town, the outskirts are basically Collegeville. That's all I really know.

[maestro]

Originally Posted by Mimifio

What do you think of Royersford?

I drove through Royersford when I was out there, and my first impression wasn't great. I went through the main "downtown" and some side roads, and it looked a bit run-down and less inviting than most of Phoenixville and Collegeville.

[Mimifio]

Maestro,

Why did you choose Phoenixville- are the schools better there than Collegeville in your opinion? Thanks for all the input.

[maestro]

Originally Posted by Mimifio

Maestro,

Why did you choose Phoenixville- are the schools better there than Collegeville in your opinion? Thanks for all the input.

Phoenixville reminds us more of the area that we're coming from: great walkable "downtown" with plenty of restaurants, shops, etc. There's a farmer's market every weekend. There are great old homes to look at (can't afford any of them though!). There are some questionable areas of town from what I can tell, but doesn't seem too bad.

My impression of Collegeville was positive as well, it just seemed have a bit more "suburb" as opposed to "re-emerging town" like Phoenixville.

From what I have read, the schools are comparable, but I have seen conflicting info in some places. At the end of the day, I don't think either school system is bad.