West Chester School District - High Schools? (Downingtown, Swarthmore: real estate, houses)

[mark2741]

My wife and I sold our house in Montgomery County and are looking at houses in West Chester. My wife insists that Henderson and Rustin high schools have a poor reputation and is refusing to even consider homes in which our kids wouldn't attend West Chester East high school.

I grew up in Philly and went to Mastbaum high school, which IMO should be bulldozed and forgotten...I know how important a good school system is, but I feel like she's splitting hairs and that all three of these high schools are good (based on the rankings/comparisons I've seen online).

Anyone care to share their opinion?

[canterm]

I would say that all three schools are well above average. I do a lot of real estate investing, so I tend to see what the schools are like because that determines to a large extent what I can sell a home for. Another plus is the school tax, which makes up the majority of the property tax, is low in west chester. I would argue that all the schools in west chester are on par with Downingtown, etc. I really dont think you can go wrong in west chester for your child. If you are open to other areas also look at Malvern which is part of Great Valley.

[orrmobl]

I have heard similar, but I'm not sure if it's rumor or fact; I do know there are some rough streets in W.C. so I would guess the kids living there would tend to bring the overall scores down.

Check out sites like schooldigger.com and schoolmatters.com and you can compare the schools within the district to get a better idea.

FWIW Unionville Chadds Ford schools are on par, in fact better than some of, the Main Line districts, then places like Wallingford-Swarthmore, Great Valley, Garnet Valley, Downingtown then West Chester. I would choose the higher ranking districts over WC, especially because I find WC a tad to yuppiefied these days for my tastes...

http://www.svsd.net/important-news/in_13may08a (broken link)

[sixersfan]

Originally Posted by mark2741

My wife and I sold our house in Montgomery County and are looking at houses in West Chester. My wife insists that Henderson and Rustin high schools have a poor reputation and is refusing to even consider homes in which our kids wouldn't attend West Chester East high school.

I grew up in Philly and went to Mastbaum high school, which IMO should be bulldozed and forgotten...I know how important a good school system is, but I feel like she's splitting hairs and that all three of these high schools are good (based on the rankings/comparisons I've seen online).

Anyone care to share their opinion?

In West Chester, Henderson is a great high school, but because of perceptions based on race (i.e. more black children go to Henderson), it is usually said to be not as good as East. Henderson is very good and statistically not much different from East at all.

[orrmobl]

Looking at test scores, Henderson is actually better than East, Rustin is kind of in the middle but slightly better than East...so there you go. There is also the Collegium charter school which I hear is very good at least in the elementary school.

[LibraGirl123]

Originally Posted by mark2741

My wife insists that Henderson and Rustin high schools have a poor reputation...

Rustin has only been open since the fall of 2006. I'm not sure how it could have developed a poor reputation in such a short time.

[Gracie2001]

Henderson & East are fine. I know teachers in both of them. Downingtown is excellent. Perhaps you should look at Exton or Dtown. And Great Valley is excellent (that would be Malvern). Not sure what she thinks is happening here. West Chester is a lovely town. I've been here for over 50 years through all of its variations.

[LNS]

All of the high schools in WCASD are very good. East is no better than Rustin or Henderson. My kids are slated to go to East and I kind of wish they were going to Henderson..... it is a little more diverse.