Scottsdale School District...how good really??

[bemommy]

Originally Posted by sheena

Sounds like you have your hands full. It's really hard especially in Scottsdale raising kids around rich kids. I moved to Gilbert when my kids were in Junior HS and it was really hard keeping up with these kids that have maids and drive around in BMW's. I actually think I did my kids harm. I think they always felt like they were poor compared to these kids. Well compared to these kids we were

When we lived in N.Scottsdale our niece ended up living with us and attending Desert Mountain HS. We have a special needs child and the cost of living was going up. I felt so bad for my niece having to attend Desert Mountain HS with a lot of kids who drove nicer cars than I will ever own and had maids. We could not afford the great clothes and expensive gear that most of those kids thought nothing of having. However, my niece made some great friends from some great families who were really well to do. They were always great to us and their kids spent time with us and our niece spent time with them. After she graduated we moved to Chandler, AZ (cheaper cost of living) and commuted to N. Scottsdale for work. It was awful! The traffic, the gas, the time. Our son wasn't doing well in school there (special needs classes) so we ended up moving to Cary, NC and we LOVE it here.

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by bemommy

When we lived in N.Scottsdale our niece ended up living with us and attending Desert Mountain HS. We have a special needs child and the cost of living was going up. I felt so bad for my niece having to attend Desert Mountain HS with a lot of kids who drove nicer cars than I will ever own and had maids. We could not afford the great clothes and expensive gear that most of those kids thought nothing of having. However, my niece made some great friends from some great families who were really well to do. They were always great to us and their kids spent time with us and our niece spent time with them. After she graduated we moved to Chandler, AZ (cheaper cost of living) and commuted to N. Scottsdale for work. It was awful! The traffic, the gas, the time. Our son wasn't doing well in school there (special needs classes) so we ended up moving to Cary, NC and we LOVE it here.

My kids went (still go) to Desert Mountain High School. I cannot say enough good things about it. If it weren't for the support of the school, I am sure we would not live here.
Desert Mountain is one of those rare gems in the middle of a state that has notoriously low rated schools.
Scottsdale in general is really good on a whole. Most of the rest of the areas (Phoenix and it's suburbs) leave much to be desired. Usually there is only "one" good school in a particular area of the Phoenix school districts.
But 9 out of 10 schools in Scottsdale consistantly rank high compared to other places in Phoenix and it's suburbs.

[jessiesma]

Originally Posted by ajgranda

Thanks for the responses so far. The main difference I see with Wake County, NC vs. other areas of the country is that their school district is county wide. Every other district I've heard of is broken down by individual city, town or village and not the entire county. At least that's the way it is here in tne N/E and looks to be the same in AZ.

I think you're on to something, most of the Southern states have county wide school districts. There's a big battle brewing in St. Pete over going back to neighborhood schools in the district which currently is county wide. The fear is that the more affluent districts will continue to get the funds and the poorer neighborhoods will fall behind.

That may be true plus the fact that in poorer neighborhoods, despite how much parents value education, and they do, they often do not have the economic power to put time into the schools. By that I mean, they don't have the jobs that let them take off during the day to volunteer time in school or they have to work shifts where they are simply not available during the day. Also in most lower income families, ALL the adults are working at low paying jobs just to make ends meet so that there are no options. Most families are 2 income now but there is the option if one is highly paid to realign priorities so that one parent is available during the day at least part time.

To the original poster, yes, Cary has good schools you have a huge university professional population which probably sends their kids to the schools and big companies like IBM but there's not a whole lot else to do there except if you're into sports. By NY standards, if you want *cultural* opportunities for the kids you just won't get them there. Even Charlotte is behind and is 4 hours away.

Schools are what you make of them but all you younger parents have to understand...school is not the end all of one's education it is only the beginning. My husband is looking to substitute teach in Scottsdale and he seems to think the schools are good overall. He's been in many districts in many states and on paper anyway they seem to be trying. How much are you willing to do?