School ratings and rankings - how important are they?

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by sbhubbell

Rainrock, come on I grew up in Middletown I know what I'm talking about with Aston. If the OP is looking at TE and Great Valley, Aston shouldn't even be on the list. Median income there is $57,000 and median house price is $136,000. Media proper, for example, is about the same, but the crime statistics for Aston are WAY higher. Of course Rose Tree Media school district covers a lot more than just Media, a lot of higher income areas. Swathmore median income is $99,000 and median home price is $437,000. No comparison there.

As for Katy, Tx? What the heck are you talking about? Median income where I live is $103,000. #1 school district in Houston.

Curious to where you are getting your facts and figures from?

It wasnt the OP who requested the info about Aston, it was someone else looking for feedback and the info you gave was not correct.Sounds like maybe you have Aston confused with some other town.

Your median home prices are way off and so is your stance on the crime rate, there is no crime at all in Aston, maybe you are getting neighboring zip codes entangled.

Source: US Census Bureau

http://censtats.census.gov/data/PA/0604204503336.pdf

http://censtats.census.gov/data/TX/1604838476.pdf


Median Household Income

Aston Pa $57,150

Katy,TX $51,111

Aston, Pennsylvania Real Estate Market - AOL Real Estate

Katy, Texas Real Estate Market - AOL Real Estate

Aston Pa

Median home price-$224,550
Existing Homes for sale- 95
Homes in Foreclosure-7
Avg Rent- $1005

Katy Tx

Median Home price- $169,191
Existing Homes for sale- 544
Homes in Foreclosure-(Whew) 839
Avg Rent- $866


Katy- $169,191

[rocafeller05]

^^ Thanks for clearing that up Rainrock. Great post!

[sbhubbell]

Yeah, how bout posting the geographical size of the area for which you posted those figures for? Yeah...thought so. You have no idea what you're talking about.

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by sbhubbell

Yeah, how bout posting the geographical size of the area for which you posted those figures for? Yeah...thought so. You have no idea what you're talking about.

Originally Posted by sbhubbell

]I would advise against Aston. Higher crime, lower income, not as good schools.

I cant control the geographical size of those areas all I can do is give you the census and real estate data of each area.Thats what I did.Its really counterproductive to be comparing Aston and Katy Tx. anyway.

You confused rocafellers request for info of Aston with the OP who was looking for info on Great Valley and Tredyffrin. Rocafeller did have interest in Aston and although Aston may be lower income compared to Tredyffrin and Great Valley it certainly is not a lower income area. I was simply trying to stress that fact to rocafeller. The crime in Aston is negligble, you may get occassional trash seep up from Chester and shoplift from the Acme but crime is not an issue in Aston.

There is no reason to advise against living in Aston. It may not be as glamourous as the newer wealthier areas in the region but its a very livable town. Not every town can be like Radnor or Thornbury.

[beautyofebonyhue]

I suggest William Penn Charter School. Phenomenal educational experience. Academically competitive. Heavy emphais on service and community. Outstanding athletics program. Encourages diversity.

[hpjmerion12]

We moved to T/E from colonial school district when my son was 4 1/2 right before kindergarten and my other son was 3. We initailly moved into the apartments until our house sold (took six months) but I didn't want my child starting late. My son is now finishing in third grade and my other is finishing first and has been tested into gifted program and the third grader is on his way as well and has been pulled from some standard math classes into small group enrichment classes. Never, ever regretted the decision to move. There is no comparison and it's not just about the test scores. Yes, it's highly competitive but my children spend very average, not excessive time on studies and are truly thriving. They love math and reading and sports. It is difficult to find a home here (taxes are very reasonable and comparable to colonial which is interesting given the enormous disparity in school quality) prices for homes are still high here and we had a much bigger home at colonial.

[orrmobl]

Hpjmerion,
I sent you a DM asking about your experiences in T/E, which elementary, how you found your neighbors, etc...any info would be greatly appreciated as we make settlement Friday and move in next month!

Thanks!

[chessimprov]

PA is not great with services for disabilities from a few friends' experiences. It's too bad NJ is not option, because I think they are better organized and have better quality organizations. DE also has some good support if you can consider moving there even for higher functionality. In PA though, you can consider schools like Pathway, Academy in Manayunk (Elem.), Hilltop, Green Tree, and a few others I cannot think of that may better suit your needs. They are specifically setup to cater to special needs of varying levels if you think that is something that may be suitable.

GV is probably not good for special education from what I have heard.

[pprattle]

Update - as of July 2009. We decided to move to Worcester which is in Methacton SD. We found a home that was going to auction in a great neighborhood and got it for a very good price. So with some TLC we'll have a nicer house and bigger yard for the price than we would get in T/E (possibly GV) and will still be in a good school district. I'll keep a close eye on my son to make sure he gets the support he needs. Because his needs are fairly minor, we think he'll be fine and we're all very optimistic about the move. Even my son likes the idea of starting fresh, although he's nervous about making friends.

Thanks for everyone's posts. It is really a torturous decision!