Mesa/Gilbert area school districts (Phoenix, Chandler: 2014, houses, neighborhoods)

[BrynMawrNative]

Hi, I am unfamiliar with the school districts in Maricopa County, and I understand that the county is larger than the entire state of New Jersey. I have a lot of questions, but reading through thsee forums are very helpful.

I am 24, my husband is 29 and our daughter is 2. We are planning to move into the Gilbert/Mesa area by the end of summer '16 but I want to make sure the public schools we are zoned for are among the best. My husband has a job lined up IN Mesa at a law firm and we are anticipating staying in one place for many years, possibly settling down in AZ permanently. Any further information on this topic would be greatly appreciated!

[Pink Jazz]

Your choices of school districts will include the Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Higley, and Queen Creek districts. The Mesa district generally isn't as good as the others. The Gilbert district has faced hard times and mismanagement in recent years, however, this soon could be about to change with the recent passage of the override. Probably your best choices are either the Chandler, Higley, or Queen Creek districts.

[JTW2013]

Originally Posted by BrynMawrNative

Hi, I am unfamiliar with the school districts in Maricopa County, and I understand that the county is larger than the entire state of New Jersey. I have a lot of questions, but reading through thsee forums are very helpful.

I am 24, my husband is 29 and our daughter is 2. We are planning to move into the Gilbert/Mesa area by the end of summer '16 but I want to make sure the public schools we are zoned for are among the best. My husband has a job lined up IN Mesa at a law firm and we are anticipating staying in one place for many years, possibly settling down in AZ permanently. Any further information on this topic would be greatly appreciated!

First, you need to understand that school districts don't follow city limits. For example, you could live in Gilbert and be in the Chandler school district.

Second, Arizona has open enrollment so you're not tied to the school district that you are zoned for. Although I think it's smart to buy in the best district you can afford because open enrollment doesn't guarantee a spot for your kids. But keep in mind that open enrollment is a possibility and you won't be limited to your neighborhood school.

I wouldn't even consider Mesa. I understand there are some better schools there but it's not a good district overall and there are better options available.

The quality of the public schools was our most important criteria when we were looking for our house. We only considered houses in the Chandler district and Kyrene (encompasses part of Chandler, part of Tempe and Ahwatukee which is in Phoenix). We didn't consider Gilbert because of all of the drama in that district in the last few years. Things are looking better for the Gilbert schools but they still have a lot of dysfunction on their school board.

Higley and Queen Creek have good ratings but part of the rating is based on improvements which favors districts like these that are growing and improving.

Overall, the Chandler school district is the best rated district in AZ. Its best elementary schools are south of the 202 where there are many nice, new neighborhoods that are very family friendly at multiple price points.

[Pink Jazz]

Originally Posted by JTW2013

Higley and Queen Creek have good ratings but part of the rating is based on improvements which favors districts like these that are growing and improving.

Higley and Queen Creek have gotten A's for three straight years now, and because of this, I highly doubt it is solely because of academic improvement, otherwise their grades would have gone down by 2014. In fact, the Gilbert district got a B in 2011, while Higley and Queen Creek got A's. Higley was #1 in the ranks for 2014, and I am near 99% confidence that it was mostly due to academic performance, not improvement.

[AZtoCO1]

I would be sure to look at individual schools along with the actual districts. We moved to Gilbert in 1998 from Chandler because of the schools. My oldest is about to graduate high school and has received an excellent education in Gilbert. However, like others have mentioned, there are some serious issues in Gilbert with the leadership; I hope that changes (and there are signs that it will) but we have concerns.

Personally, I wouldn't even consider QC, but that's just because I could not live out there. Just too far out for me personally. Even with open enrollment, we always wanted to send our kids to a good neighborhood school so that they could attend the same school as the kids in the neighborhood.

Kyrene has great schools, so I would absolutely look there.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by AZtoVA

I would be sure to look at individual schools along with the actual districts. We moved to Gilbert in 1998 from Chandler because of the schools. My oldest is about to graduate high school and has received an excellent education in Gilbert. However, like others have mentioned, there are some serious issues in Gilbert with the leadership; I hope that changes (and there are signs that it will) but we have concerns.

Personally, I wouldn't even consider QC, but that's just because I could not live out there. Just too far out for me personally. Even with open enrollment, we always wanted to send our kids to a good neighborhood school so that they could attend the same school as the kids in the neighborhood.

Kyrene has great schools, so I would absolutely look there.

You should probably clarify. You your kids were in a BAD Chandler school so you moved to Gilbert to get into a better school, however you could just have easily moved to a different location in Chandler and received the same results. By and large, the schools in Chandler rank higher than those in Gilbert, at least in the newer areas with solid incomes away from downtown Chandler. There's a few bad schools in both districts as well. Higley benefits from having mostly newer schools and not any in decaying areas with lower incomes.