Honest opinions....Bellevue/Northgate SD (relocation, diverse, proximity)

[crem05]

Hello all. My husband and I are looking for information and honest opinions about a possible relocation to Bellevue. I have heard good and bad about the town, and most importantly, Northgate School District.

We are an interracial family (Caucasian & African American,) with one young son. Hoping to relocate to Bellevue for is proximity to Downtown Pgh and also to Route 65 (which is a straight shot to Grandma's.)

I apologize if this topic has been previously discussed, but we need to make a decision fairly quickly!

Thanks in advance!

[mr.davon24]

These are ratings for....
Greatschools.net Search: northgate school district

[mr.davon24]

Their test scores kind of contradics the parents comments. I haven't heard anything too bad about Bellevue.

[juliegt]

Originally Posted by mr.davon24

Their test scores kind of contradics the parents comments. I haven't heard anything too bad about Bellevue.

I don't know about the Northgate school district, but I do know that test scores can be somewhat deceptive - especially those that fall in the middle.

My kids attended an absolutely wonderful school with excellent, dedicated teachers and active and involved parents. It was 60% hispanic and a large number of those kids were learning english. Because of that, the test scores skewed lower than other similar schools. The english language learners scored higher than their counterparts in other schools within the district, and I felt my kids got an excellent education.

If you can, visit the schools you're considering. Try to connect with families at the school. And, if you can get test score breakdowns that give more details, that really helps. For example, native speakers at my kids' school scored very high on the english tests, whereas the kids who were still learning english didn't do as well (but because it was a very good school, they did far better than their counterparts at other schools as I mentioned above).

Another thing is that the school had high expectations for ALL the kids, and the kids met or exceeded those expectations. My daughter has since been at other schools where this wasn't the case, much to my dismay. She will be starting a charter public high school this fall that is racially, economically and ethnically diverse and has been getting high test scores for ALL the kids. In fact some of the highest test scores within the state of CA.

Good luck! Finding a good school that is a good fit for your kids is tough, but it can be done.