Yet another one moving to Utah (Sandy, West Jordan: cul-de-sac, spring break, houses)

[mykidzmomi]

My hubby's job is relocating us to Salt Lake early this summer. I have been doing alot of research on the area and am greatly loooking forward to the move. I am so happy we are moving to an area where the people do not look at you strange when you have a large family and your life revolves around the children. I hate when people aske me in a nasty tone if I am done having children. Right now we are in a suburb of New Jersey where my children (4 boys ages 2, 6, 7, and 9) can't even go out side to ride their bikes unless I am right there by their sides. There are not too many kids around for them to play with either. I have these visions of child filled neighbor hoods where there is no fear if the little ones are outside playing with their friends as long as they are home for dinner. (obviously I am not including the 2 yo in this thought) I picture them living as kids should, care free and having fun. Please tell me that I am atleast close to the way of life there. My boys are very into sports, mostly football. Right now they are involved with Pop Warner which I already know is not currently set up in Utah. I just hope there is some sort of team for their age group.

I am mostly curious about the schools and their curriculum. My 9 yo will be going into the 4th grade. He is already bored in school now because he doesn't feel challenged enough and the schools here are rated very high. My boys are also very interested in music and learning to play instruments. Something that is not offered here until they reach 6th grade. Do the elementry schools there offer music?

I know there are many posts on which neighborhoods are the best ones and what schools are the best. That is not my intention of this post. I know that no matter how the school is, parent involvment is key to the childs success. We plan on flying out over spring break to look at houses. I already have been in contact with a realtor who has given me some ideas on areas to look where the commute won't be to bad for my hubby.

My last question is are there any message boards where moms in the area chat and get to know eachother and set up play dates and such? I am not very outgoing and sometimes have a difficult meeting new friends. When we moved from NY to NJ, groups online really helped me.

[kaytidid]

Hi there! Yeah, you are pretty close to it. The neighborhoods are generally very safe for the kids to run and play in. I have an 11 and 7 year old daughter and during the summer I will drop my eldest off at the community pool to spend a couple of hours with her friends and pick her up later. I don't let my 7 year old run outside without supervision, but that is more my overprotectiveness rather than my neighborhood. Plenty of kids are out all day long.

As far as the schools are concerned...eh, well...Utah has one of the highest graduation rates in the country, but the lowest per pupil funding. Some districts are better than others. My 11 year old is in 5th grade. This year and in third grade she scored 97-98 percent on the ITBS test. She is also very very bored. My 7 year old has subject acceleration in math right now and that is helping her. It varies by district and some districts in Utah have a pretty good gifted program. Private school may always be an option for you. My daughters' school have an elementary band program for 5th and 6th grade, but nothing before then.

Try this message board about Utah. I usually only lurk on there, but it is a great one.

http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/...utah&nav=start


We moved from NJ 14 years ago and have loved living here! Hopefully you will enjoy living here also. Good luck with your move.

[mykidzmomi]

Originally Posted by kaytidid

Hi there! Yeah, you are pretty close to it. The neighborhoods are generally very safe for the kids to run and play in. I have an 11 and 7 year old daughter and during the summer I will drop my eldest off at the community pool to spend a couple of hours with her friends and pick her up later. I don't let my 7 year old run outside without supervision, but that is more my overprotectiveness rather than my neighborhood. Plenty of kids are out all day long.

As far as the schools are concerned...eh, well...Utah has one of the highest graduation rates in the country, but the lowest per pupil funding. Some districts are better than others. My 11 year old is in 5th grade. This year and in third grade she scored 97-98 percent on the ITBS test. She is also very very bored. My 7 year old has subject acceleration in math right now and that is helping her. It varies by district and some districts in Utah have a pretty good gifted program. Private school may always be an option for you. My daughters' schools have an elementary band program for 5th and 6th grade, but nothing before then.

Try this message board about Utah. I usually only lurk on there, but it is a great one.

http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/...utah&nav=start


We moved from NJ 14 years ago and have loved living here! Hopefully you will enjoy living here also. Good luck with your move.

Thank you for the info. I am really excited and nervous at the same time about this move.

--Michelle

[kaytidid]

You are welcome. Hopefully our lovely weather will hold out for you when you make your trip in a few weeks. Last year by the end of March, my husband was mowing the lawn and the girls were outside in short sleeves!

Being nervous and excited are good things!

[eggalegga]

Are you considering public or private schools for your kids? Your 9 year old might be bored in public school. What part of the valley are you considering? Maybe your realtor could help you with some of your questions. Then if you want another opinion, you could come here and ask away. I would recommend living on a cul-de-sac or a dead end street so that your kids can feel safe riding their bikes. Maybe once you narrow down the area/town you would like to live in, we could help you with school district information. Good luck and I hope all goes well with your move.

[chazcrew]

Most of the suburbs will be family-oriented and fairly safe for kids. I would probably recommend looking in the south end of the valley, like Sandy, West Jordan, etc. They're full of families and young kids. I really like Draper, although housing is more expensive there. But coming from New Jersey, it probably won't seem too steep.

[BuhByeCalifornia]

Another option for schools is charter schools. My 9 yo daughter goes to a charter school and she loves it. I'm very impressed with the school. At her school, they do teach music as part of the curriculum. In 4th grade, she learned to play the ukelele and in 5th and 6th grades, they are part of a band / orchestra.

If you want private lessons, Utah is chock full of talented musicians so you won't have a problem finding a piano teacher or instructor for whatever instrument your children are interested in.

A lot of the suburban neighborhoods are just like what you describe...kids are out all day long playing with their friends. I love it since it keeps the kids outside playing instead of indoors in front of the TV or computer.

Youth sports is big out here too...most of the "pop warner" type football teams are associated with the local high school.

Another mommy message board - a very ACTIVE one - is

SaltLakeCityMommies.com

They are often getting together and having playdates and stuff.

Good luck!

[mykidzmomi]

Thank you so much everyone for all your great information. I am very happy I found this site.

~~Michelle

[Bridget]

When you are driving around just look at how many basketball standards, tramps, swingsets you see. Look to see if kids are out playing. Some of the newer neighborhoods in areas like Lehi, and Saratoga Springs have neighborhood parks. I get on a website called pinchingyourpennies.com
They have forums of all different kinds. It talks a lot about couponing (which I don't do) but they also have forums for anything under the sun and I have seen people post for play groups. My brothers kids go to a charter school in West Jordan and love it. They do a lot of hands on activities and field trips.

[stycotl]

i almost posted a question a few weeks ago about play dates and stuff, cuz my wife, my daughter, and i just moved into the springville area. but then i chickened out when it occured to me that i might be mistaken for a child predator or something (i know, probably completely irrational, but i hesitated nonetheless).

so, if you ever find yourself in the utah county area, my daughter is 16 months, but thinks that she is 4 or 5 already, and likes other kids (sometimes violently, but not too often).

my email is in my profile. aaron out.