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Hello my wife and I are looking to buy a home in the North suburbs. Both of us work me (FT) my wife (PT) and want relatively short commute into Station Square and Oakland where the jobs are. We also have 2 young children and are very interested in school system. The house that we are looking at would go to Ross Elemantary school (any thoughts) esp compared to ones in other townships?
It seems that you can get nicer houses further out but then the commute is longer. I'd like to hit the optimum of a short commute and good schools.
Also, are there any bike trails from Ross to the city (I couldn't find any) or are there any planned? Anyone do bike commuting from the North?
Hampton and North Allegheny are better school districts than North Hills and Shaler. The commute to town from Hampton isn't that great because you hit Route 8 and Route 28. North Allegheny is a massive school district. I know people who bike in from Fox Chapel/O'hara Twp. by going through Lawrenceville.
Last edited by robrobrob; 05-05-2009 at 02:27 PM..
Ross Township is the North Hills School District. (Other boros are included too)
McCandless Township is in the North Allegheny School District. (Many other boros and townships are included too)
Hampton Township is Hampton School District.
Shaler Township, Reserve Township, Etna & Millvale are Shaler Area School District.
Quote:
Originally Posted by robrobrob
Hampton and North Allegheny are better school districts than North Hills and Shaler. The commute to town from Hampton isn't that great because you hit Route 8 and Route 28. North Allegheny is a massive school district. I know people who bike in from Fox Chapel/O'hara Twp. by going through Lawrenceville.
That's not true. It's such a shame that people fall for neighborhood asthetics and assume the schools are better.
North Hills ranks higher than North Allegheny! North Hills ranks 7th in the county. North Allegheny ranks 13th. Statewide, North Hills ranks 55th and North Allegheny ranks 100th out of 693 high schools in the state. As for Elementary Schools, Ross Elementary ranks 3rd in the county and 42nd in the state out of 1811 elementary schools in the state.
I'm not saying that North Allegheny is a bad school district, but I think it's important to give North Hills credit where it's due.
Shaler isn't a bad school district. It just has a percentage of students from more impoverished districts that pull down its test scores. 25 or so years ago, Reserve Township, Millvale and Etna were merged into Shaler Township's school district to form what is now called Shaler Area School District. You can find larger houses in Shaler because it's still being developed. There's still wooded areas and farm areas being developed. Ross Township was fully developed a long time ago---that's why the houses are smaller in Ross Township.
Shaler is the most conveniently located township for commuting to Oakland. North Hills is the most convenient for commuting to Station Square. BUT Shaler does have a bike path from Millvale all the way into downtown. It runs along side the Allegheny River and River Road. So Shaler would be the best option for commuting for both spouses if the person going to Station Square plans to ride a bike.
If you're chosing convenience, Shaler is the choice---hands down.
If you're chosing schools AND convenience, North Hills in the choice.
But I still believe Shaler is a decent school district.
Thank you for the insightful analysis. I really appreciate it. I have tried to look up the information on PSSA score on Google and found several sites but none that ranks the schools as clearly as you describe. What website is best to get this school information like #3 elementary school in Allegheny County?
Thank you for the insightful analysis. I really appreciate it. I have tried to look up the information on PSSA score on Google and found several sites but none that ranks the schools as clearly as you describe. What website is best to get this school information like #3 elementary school in Allegheny County?
Also, as Hopes points out the bike trail goes to Millvale, which is part of the Shaler Area School District, and not to Shaler Township.
That's splitting hairs. It's the only school district with a bike trail into Pittsburgh. That's all that matters when it comes to bike trails and suburban townships. If the man likes riding a bike, he doesn't need to live next to the bike trail to use it. He can ride his bike to the bike trail, or he can drive his car and then ride his bike.
Shaler is NOT a good school district. It ranks 252 in the state of Pennsylvania. North Allegheny is the #2 school district in the entire state of PA, just under Upper Saint Claire. Although it is large, it is an incredible school district with 22% or more of its student population being "gifted." North Hills as far as I am aware did not even make it in to the top 20 for the state of PA for 2010 ratings in the Pgh Business Times. I believe Pine Richland was #14 and Hampton was #4 or somewhere around there. Both Hampton and NA made the BEST HIGHSCHOOLS in America list. Wexford was given an award for most livable suburb area. Shaler is an AWFUL school district, with lackluster teachers, horrible pupil personnel services, crappy gifted services and inadequate special education services. They give millions of dollars away to the Charter Schools at their own fault because so many parents choose to pull their children out of the district and send them to charter schools, and then Shaler complains about this instead of fixing their own shortcomings. Hampton on the other hand recognizes that parents opt for charter schools / cyber / nontraditional education and they are forming their own cyber school to meet the needs of the student population that chooses to do so. It is like comparing really crappy ground meat to filet mignon.
Shaler is NOT a good school district. It ranks 252 in the state of Pennsylvania. North Allegheny is the #2 school district in the entire state of PA, just under Upper Saint Claire. Although it is large, it is an incredible school district with 22% or more of its student population being "gifted." North Hills as far as I am aware did not even make it in to the top 20 for the state of PA for 2010 ratings in the Pgh Business Times. I believe Pine Richland was #14 and Hampton was #4 or somewhere around there. Both Hampton and NA made the BEST HIGHSCHOOLS in America list. Wexford was given an award for most livable suburb area. Shaler is an AWFUL school district, with lackluster teachers, horrible pupil personnel services, crappy gifted services and inadequate special education services. They give millions of dollars away to the Charter Schools at their own fault because so many parents choose to pull their children out of the district and send them to charter schools, and then Shaler complains about this instead of fixing their own shortcomings. Hampton on the other hand recognizes that parents opt for charter schools / cyber / nontraditional education and they are forming their own cyber school to meet the needs of the student population that chooses to do so. It is like comparing really crappy ground meat to filet mignon.
Wow. What a great first post. To be fair Shaler is struggling a bit recently. North Hills though is also a great school. A child is not going to be disadvantaged because they go to North Hills instead of North Allegheny. Although I feel as long as a school is not terrible and the parents are involved in the child's education it doesn't matter if the school is in the top 5. Parents need to take responsibility for their children's success/failures as do the schools.
To the OP I would suggest Ross Township for you due to your commute. Plus Ross Park Mall is pretty much the best around, imo. You may also be able to get a house for a bit less than NA school district. Though you did mention that school district doesn't matter. However I will let you know I would have no problem/second thought about sending my kid to North Hills. In fact if I were looking it would be high on my list.
Shaler is NOT a good school district. It ranks 252 in the state of Pennsylvania. North Allegheny is the #2 school district in the entire state of PA, just under Upper Saint Claire. Although it is large, it is an incredible school district with 22% or more of its student population being "gifted." North Hills as far as I am aware did not even make it in to the top 20 for the state of PA for 2010 ratings in the Pgh Business Times. I believe Pine Richland was #14 and Hampton was #4 or somewhere around there. Both Hampton and NA made the BEST HIGHSCHOOLS in America list. Wexford was given an award for most livable suburb area. Shaler is an AWFUL school district, with lackluster teachers, horrible pupil personnel services, crappy gifted services and inadequate special education services. They give millions of dollars away to the Charter Schools at their own fault because so many parents choose to pull their children out of the district and send them to charter schools, and then Shaler complains about this instead of fixing their own shortcomings. Hampton on the other hand recognizes that parents opt for charter schools / cyber / nontraditional education and they are forming their own cyber school to meet the needs of the student population that chooses to do so. It is like comparing really crappy ground meat to filet mignon.
As someone else mentioned Shaler gets rated much lower than it really is because of where a lot of the kids in the district are coming from. I went to Shaler and can tell you that a lot of kids from the city boroughs are the type that don't want to be in school. And I really would like to see where you are pulling your numbers as far as parents taking their kids out of the district, because I believe the graduating classes have increased almost every year since I graduated in 04. Bottom line, if your kid wants to do good in school he can get the same education at Shaler that he can get in any other public school.
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