School Options? (Richmond, Chester: real estate, rent, buying a home)

[benpearsonnelson]

My family is relocating to Richmond soon, and we're looking at our options for where we'd like to live. We have a little monkey, so we've reached that point in our lives where we need to think about schooling. I've been reviewing piles of information on the schools in the Richmond area, and I found a few reviews from students who said things that imply some kind of option in where they attend high school (e.g., comments like: "I live in Deep Run district, but I decided to go to Godwin; another said, "I toured Freeman, Deep Run, and Godwin, and I liked Godwin the best, so that's where I go"). So I'm trying to figure out what's going on. Do students actually have some kind of choice in where they go to school? The reason I ask is it appears there is a pretty hefty price bump for houses that list the Godwin school district. So now I'm wondering, can you live in a different district and send your kids somewhere else? What's the catch? Why wouldn't a lot of people just send their kids to the top ranked school? Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks,
Ben

[onevthoki]

The schools you mention are all in Henrico county. Are you focusing your search there, or considering other surrounding counties?

These links for Henrico and Chesterfield Counties explain the Specialty Centers at the high school level. Hope it helps!

http://www.henrico.k12.va.us/schools/specialty.html

http://www.chesterfield.k12.va.us/CC...ls/schools.htm

[benpearsonnelson]

I have to admit, I'm coming from Fort Wayne, IN which has just about the lowest cost of living in the country, so I was trying to reproduce our current home which is a ranch, about 3,000 sq ft. on a full acre, in the city (which cost us (150K) .

But clearly that's not going to happen. So then I thought, well how about close to my wife's new job (I resigned from the professorate to take care of my monkey) and preferably 3 beds 2 bath, and wouldn't a basement and garage be nice. She'll be working in what looks like NE Richmond, in the city. I have discovered, however, that garages are much more common here (I keep thinking, "how can you spend 300k and get a carport?" looking at real estate on line, but it does get much colder here).

Only recently did I even think, wait, we have a child, we need to consider schools. I have real ambiguous feelings about the whole thing. I know families with two working parents who will bleed themselves into debt to get the "good" school district, which seems crazy. But on the other hand if we can afford a circa 300k house, shouldn't we get one where our little buddy has access to the best education (realizing of course, that this little buddy just poured yogurt all over his high chair and then used the spoon to brush his hair--clearly a talent and gifted lad). So I'm torn.

I appreciate the links. So it appears these schools have some specialization such that some Henrico countian might be allowed access if they excel in the area of specialization regardless of actual school district boundaries. Interesting. I think the yogurt in the hair indicates engineering and technology, but I could be wrong.

Thanks for your help.
-Ben

[benpearsonnelson]

Wow. Looking at the curriculum at Godwin, I see subject matter I teach at the university on statistics. Kids must be much smarter than me these days.

[sls76]

I don't believe you get to chose your school. The county has boundaries and your school assignment is determined by your address. Godwin and Deep Run are generally the highest ranked and I think Freeman is right behind them. Having a Deep Run or Godwin address likely will drive up the house price.

[vman650]

I think that you need to find out alot more about real estate in this area before worrying about where your child goes to school. Finding a house with an acre of land is very very hard to do anywhere near where you are considering. The Henrico school districts you seem to be considering are in suburbs of Richmond and are very built up. They are not making any new land in those areas and finding a large one acre plot is next to impossible at any price. Basements are also very hard to find in this area. Most of us have to deal with crawl spaces. Garages in the 300k price range are available but you are usually on a postage stamp sized lot. I strongly suggest that you contact a real estate professional who can provide you with information on the area. There are three large counties surrounding Richmond and they are diverse. Henrico county itself has 2 parts an east and a west end which are very very different from each other. The other two counties are Chesterfield and Hanover. From the looks of things, a big boom in real estate is not likely to occur over the next couple of years and prices should stay somewhat stable. You may want to move here and rent for a year before buying a home. I hope that this is of some help to you. Welcome to the Richmond area, it really is a nice place to live in. It is just very different from where you are coming from.

[PickPatrick]

http://hanover.k12.va.us/is another option. My three kiddos went k -12 there and I was pleased with the results.

[benpearsonnelson]

thanks for all the information everybody. I'm probably jumping the gun a little trying to get an 18 month old kid into the right school district. With my luck, I'd buy in Godwin and by the time he goes to school it would be redistricted anyway. I'll keep an open mind and look around more.
Thanks for your help,
Ben

[onevthoki]

Originally Posted by sls76

I don't believe you get to chose your school. The county has boundaries and your school assignment is determined by your address. Godwin and Deep Run are generally the highest ranked and I think Freeman is right behind them. Having a Deep Run or Godwin address likely will drive up the house price.

Not sure how Henrico handles their specialty centers, but at Chesterfield the student applies for the center that interests them even if it is out of their assigned district. This link gives a brief overview of the program in Chesterfield. http://www.chesterfield.k12.va.us/CC...rsOverview.pdf

And Ben, I agree on the curriculum! They've come a long way since my days in high school!

[sls76]

Originally Posted by onevthoki

Not sure how Henrico handles their specialty centers, but at Chesterfield the student applies for the center that interests them even if it is out of their assigned district. This link gives a brief overview of the program in Chesterfield. http://www.chesterfield.k12.va.us/CC...rsOverview.pdf

And Ben, I agree on the curriculum! They've come a long way since my days in high school!

I wasn't really aware of the process. That being said, I wouldn't buy with an assigment to a not so good high school expecting to get in to a specialty center.

Ben, you're right about reassignment. There's too much growth in this area for any of us to have an idea which school we'll be assigned to in 12 years. We live in an area with excellent schools and a neighborhood elementary. I beleive we will be reassigned out of our middle school into a new one and possibly into a new HS long term (although I'm not sure about that). I know the schools in this part of the county are uniformly excellent, so it's not a concern for me. So, if I were you I'd study the school boundaries and if you're surrounded by excellent schools I'd think you're in good shape. If not, who knows. Just my $0.02.