Chesterfield Vs. Henrico (Hampton, Highland Springs, Glen Allen: lawyer, homes, best schools)

[annie999]

We are moving to the area and are considering Chesterfield County or Henrico county. I have been reading posts for a while and am wondering which county people recommend as far as having more to do for little kids. Is there an area which isn't too far from or in Glenn Allen that has the amenities that you would find in a place like Hampton Park or Woodlake? How far are they (hampton Park or Woodlake) from Glenn Allen? How is traffic between these areas? (We are considering a private school in the Glenn Allen area).

[Anders15]

PLEASE do your self a favor and move to Chesterfield. I am a student that went to a certain High school in Henrico and we had to pay for our own pep rally. Hardly go on ANY field trips in Henrico, and the school schedule is a joke. The younger kids get out before the older kids. In Chesterfield the Older kids get out earlier, so this works out if you are not able to get home and be with them at that time.

My cousins go to Chesterfield schools and they are FAR more helpful with students. You have to pay for the notebook computers which are about $100 a year. I had mines both the macs and the dells and the computers are unusable. They break down all the time, and because of this the child is forced to use book and paper to do work, and the teachers I've had are not good with keeping up with papers because they are always assuming everyone did their work on the computers. Henrico is also very over crowded when it comes to schools. I am not sure of Chesterfield's school population, but my last school was scheduled to get out at 3:15 PM however many of my friends did not arrive home until 4:30-5 because of the bus loads having to drop kids off then come back to the school and repeat the process at least twice.

Summer school, as you can imagine is popular in this type of environment. Computers, football teams other teen drama. So the county has found a way to mooch off of this new profit, $300 for summer school. I'm not sure if thats per class or what. I do know it does not include the snacks you get. The goal is to avoid summer school anyway. Drivers ed in most Henrico schools is a First come first served thing. I have tried my entire high school period to take the class but because of homes being built everywhere there is not enough space to support these types of classes.

With counselors you have to pretty much have a lawyer to get things moving or requests through. Like i said because of over population in Henrico there are not enough classes for everyone so when you apply and don't get the class what happens? They toss you anywhere why of course! Don't like the class you get? You have to pretty much be allergic to the room to be moved. My own mom came up there and told them we both sat down and signed WITH THE SAME COUNSELOR that DENIED it even happened! I was TOLD I did not have asthama or any allergies even though I did in fact turn in my health records to them. I could not call my parents to tell them I was not feeling well. I had to storm the principals office and demand the phone. This was the last straw.


Sadly my sister went to the nearby middle school. Just to give you a wider variety this was a middle school. SAME PROBLEMS. could not get classes she signed up for. Could not find certain records. They no longer even let the students come to the phone for messages at this school, so we'd tell her NOT to ride the bus and come home to her locked out because they did not deliver the message! Of course when you address the issues no one knows anything and it must have been your own fault.

I've said the same stuff here to everyone I can when they ask about Henrico because it was a nightmare. It is just so ridiculous. It should be illegal to have so many ignorant people dealing with the future of children. People do not believe me they swear I'm joking or its just from a typical kids point of view about school. All I can do is tell you a FEW things that happened to me while in a Henrico county school system. As you can imagine the administration being this poor can not possibly achieve a higher rank so they just stay at the same job for years destroying other children's lives. I have not been to EVERY henrico school, I have been to a few like Highland Springs High, Author Ashe Middle, Montrose Elementary, John Rolfe Middle, Jacob Adams Elementary and Varina High. You can not pick schools in Henrico but if you are cursed to the county the best schools to me were Montrose Elementary, Author Ashe Elementary, Adams Elementary, Author Ashe Middle and Highland Springs. My over all favorite was Adams I had a lot of great memories there the school is a true family and I'm sure thats how all should be.


I based my experiences on the nightmare that was John Rolfe Middle and Varina High School.

You should look Here for Chesterfield County Schools or Here for Henrico County Schools Then read some reviews Here for Henrico or Chesterfield County.


As You can see I was not exgagerating in my review.

[richmondpics]

The areas you suggested in both counties should offer things to do for young children. Obviously, since Glen Allen is in Western Henrico, you'd be closer if you chose to live in western Henrico over Chesterfield. Using 288, Glen Allen is maybe 20 minutes from Woodlake?

[ClarkStreetKid]

Sounds about right as it takes me a little over 30 minutes to get from one end of 288 to the other.

My kids go to River's Edge Elementary and Short Pump Middle and we've been pleased with both Henrico schools. The teachers have been generally good to excellent and the principles also good to excellent. Both my kids have done very well here in the West End of Henrico schools.

Personally I wish they'd get rid of the stupid computers and go back to pencil and paper.