Living in Mt. Lebanon vs. Dormont (Pittsburgh, Baldwin: rent, chapel, how much)

[nuf1270]

I can actually understand the focus on this area. Dormont and Mount Lebanon specifically have the qualities of being "urban suburbs." They are traditional neighborhoods with walkable commercial districts and situated flanking a fairly descent area of the city as well (therefore, no undesirables flooding the communities from the city, such as Penn Hills for example). As far as the decision between the two communities, they are geographically one in the same as far as I'm concerned. If you're going to save a ton of money, then live in Dormont. And being up tight about Keystone Oaks vs. Mount Lebanon school district is just nonsense. Mount Lebanon has the reputation and Keystone Oaks doesn't, but that doesn't say anything about where you'll get the better education.

[Copanut]

Keystone Oaks School District ranks 192nd of 571 Pennsylvania school districts
Mt Lebanon School District ranks 17th of 571 Pennsylvania school districts

Keystone Oaks may not be that bad, but Mt.Lebo is much better. As to saving money, renting a house in Dormont vs Mt. Lebanon may not be as cheap as you think.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by COPANUT

As to saving money, renting a house in Dormont vs Mt. Lebanon may not be as cheap as you think.

She already found a larger house in Dormont that is $9,000 less per year. She has a huge family.

Why should they cram themselves into a smaller house that costs $9,000 more per year when Keystone Oaks is acceptable enough?

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by Hopes

She already found a larger house in Dormont that is $9,000 less per year. She has a huge family.

Where was that posted?

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by COPANUT

Where was that posted?

Third post on the first page:

Originally Posted by RoughCollie

We could save $9,600 a year by renting the house in Dormont.....(the Dormont house is 1.5x larger than the other one).

[fleetiebelle]

when Keystone Oaks is acceptable enough?

Right, it's not like her children will never get into college and be doomed to a lifetime of mediocrity because the kids didn't go to Mt. Lebanon. The whole school district thing gets blown out of proportion.

[RoughCollie]

I think the quality of education a student receives at a high school is very important. It involves more than whether a kid can get a good education at a particular school. I am also concerned about whether my children will be challenged at that school. Right now, the two who are in public school are bored because the classes are not challenging enough for them.

The ratings from Great Schools rank my kids' current high school a "9", Mt. Lebanon HS a "10", and Keystone Oaks a "5".

I looked at the 2 high schools in Mass that I would much rather my children attend, and both of those schools were ranked "10".

Choosing a High School & Supporting Your Teenager's Education | GreatSchools

Education Week's National Report Card:

State's schools earn No. 7 ranking in nonprofit study - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

"Pennsylvania schools got a B minus in a recent nationwide study -- not bad, considering that the nation's schools garnered a C. The nonprofit Editorial Projects in Education, which publishes the newspaper Education Week, released its annual 50-State Report Card this month, and Pennsylvania's public schools with a score of 80.3 are ranked seventh.
Maryland's schools won the top slot, with a score of 84.7 percent, a solid B. Massachusetts came in second, followed by New York and Virginia. No state could boast an A grade.
Education Week editors said the grades were based on a variety of statistics, including school funding, test scores and graduation rates, along with whether states have set high standards.
The overall grades were broken down into 23 categories. Pennsylvania received a perfect score in workplace readiness. It received its lowest score, a C minus, in college readiness."

[adhzedan]

Originally Posted by Hopes

She already found a larger house in Dormont that is $9,000 less per year. She has a huge family.

Why should they cram themselves into a smaller house that costs $9,000 more per year when Keystone Oaks is acceptable enough?

Who gets to decide that Keystone Oaks is acceptable enough? From what I have been reading of the OP's posts, education seems very important to her, and both homes are still within the affordable range.

And where did she say that the house in Mt. Lebo is so small that the family would have to cram into it? Besides, that is just two properties out of hundreds; she might be able to find a cheaper place in Mt. Lebanon after she spends a few days in Pittsburgh. Are the two properties she found really comparable in terms of exact neighborhood, upgrades, energy efficiency, etc? We don't know, so saying she shouldn't move into the Mt. Lebanon area simply because one house there is more expensive than one house in Dormont, isn't the way to go, IMO.

RoughCollie, it is my belief that when it comes to challenging your children's minds, you cannot start early enough.

[Hopes]

I'm not saying she shouldn't move into Mt. Lebanon. Earlier in this thread, I was encouraging her to consider other options besides just focusing on Mt. Lebanon and Dormont. We have other schools in the county that rank higher than Keystone Oaks. She's not limited to Mt. Lebanon for quality education.

I just think there's more to consider. She has a large family and the Dormont house is excessively large and saves her 9k per year. There's a lot 9k can do education-wise. She might want to use that money to explore alternative education away from a traditional school setting. It's not uncommon for people who are disappointed with public education to go that route.

For example, many homeschooling families are sending their children to CCAC during the high school years. That's not an option she could readily afford if she spent an extra 9k per year on the smaller house. That 9k could pay for two of her children to attend CCAC for 11th & 12th grade. That's just an example.

Parents are often disappointed with schools when their children aren't being challenged. They'll pull them out and put them in private school. When that doesn't challenge them, they think the best school district is the solution. The reality is that there isn't a huge difference between schools that rate 9 and 10. If she discovers that, she'll be too strapped for money to do something else because she's spending an extra 9k per year for rent.

While the quality of a high school education is very important, some kids aren't ever challenged in a traditional setting---even in the best schools. As some people pointed out in this thread, there are children who will shine no matter where they go to school. No two children are the same when it comes to education.

She said that she can't afford to send her children to private school, but what if one of her four children would be better off in a private school? There are alternative private high schools in the Pittsburgh area that cost close to $9,000 a year. If she stretched her finances too thin, she would be unable to consider those options for that child. For instance, the Oakland School is an alternative college prep high school that truly manages to challenge and inspire children. The Oakland School tuition is exactly $9,000 per year.

When you get down to it, Mt. Lebanon is still a public school with a cookie cutter education. It might have some extra bells and whistles, but that's no guarantee that her children are going to be more challenged there when they are already bored at a school that rates a 9 out of 10. The difference between a 9 & 10 is not huge.

[LAMBSN]

She said her kids are in high schoool and isn't Mt. Lebanon High school currently undergoing a remodeling vs. rebuilding plan? I think they said if they remodel it will take 4-5 years and if they rebuild 3-4 years (High School Renovation) and this will completely update and renovate the school, facilities and improve technology.

Didn't Keystone recently go through this? I'm not really familiar with either school in depth but I do recently recall seeing construction at Keystone with the past few years when I have driven by.

But if they pass this, I would think the owners of the rental property in Mt. Lebanon may increase the rent to cover the tax increase which they may incur.

Personally I am not against either high school....my cousins graduated from Keystone and they are now engineers and have great jobs. My best friends kids go to Mt. Lebanon and appear to excel in their studies. I think both are good high schools.