Moving to Salt Lake County from NY (Sandy, Layton: cul-de-sac, appointed)

[sterling18]

I got a job offer in SLC (But moving to Riverton in 6 Months). I need to find a home with a good school system. I live NY where we have excellent schools. Rated 9/10 on greatschools.net. We are looking into the Jordan School district but that covers a huge area. We think we want to move into the South Jordan area since it's close to Riverton.

Can anyone make a recommendations for that area. Plus anyone know where to get housing info. We are looking to buy and hear that the foreclose homes could be had at a good price.

Thanks in advance.

[eggalegga]

I don't have kids so some one else will have to chime in about schools.

I don't know where you would find foreclosure listings. Perhaps if you contact an agent.

Here's a link to a website I use to search for real estate. The zip codes for South Jordan/Riverton are 84065 & 84095. You can put in your specifications and search for what you're looking for.

(Links aren't working for me today. GRRRRRR )

[Jen38]

Sterling18 - We too moved here from the East coast and researched the heck out of schools. There are tons of positives about moving to Utah however finding good schools is not one of them. Your children will most likely be a grade higher academically coming from the East coast. The East coast is more competitive, the average teacher's salary is much higher and the class sizes are way smaller. As far as public schools, Jordan seemed to be the best however we chose Juan Diego Catholic School. We've always been a public school family but the academics were night and day compared to the East coast. With that said, I don't feel like Juan Diego is stellar in academics either but is (supposedly) more advanced than the public schools. I'm not sure what grades your children are in but Juan Diego is part of the Skaggs Catholic Center Skaggs Catholic Center | Draper Utah and has an elementary, middle and high school all on the same campus. The school is very transient so my children felt at ease and not so much like the new kids. Other schools that we considered were The Waterford School, and Challenger. Waterford is pretty expensive and Challenger believes in giving a couple hours of homework each night. St. John (Juan Diego) seemed the best fit for our family. The families at Juan Diego make you feel at home right away. It's definitely a warm fuzzy school! The other thing is that the Skaggs family donated the land and buildings so while most Catholic schools have a hard time affording the luxuries like computers and such, Juan Diego does not have that issue. The campus is beautiful as well. Also, not everyone attending is Catholic. The downside is that there is a long waiting list so if you are at all interested, fill out the registration and pay the nominal fee right away, you can always decide against it later.
Good luck with your move! Hope this helps you some.

[Jen38]

ooh, forgot about housing. Is there a reason you are choosing Riverton? If you are looking for foreclosures you may want to look at Draper. Lots of people bought homes they could not afford and are now in foreclosure. We thought about that too but because there are so many foreclosures in the newer areas we felt the home values would fall faster. We bought in Sandy in a neighborhood called Pepperwood. Absolutely love it! There are some great deals to be had in Pepperwood right now also. It's the only community we felt had a similarity to the East coast feel, lots of trees, decent yards and spectacular views of the mountains. A big seller was the recreation center with basketball, tennis, volley ball courts, a pool, small playground and lots of space for kids to play. Also, all of the cul-de-sacs are connected by bike paths to make getting around for the kids easier and safer. It's also a gated community. It's a pretty easy commute to SL also.
Check out zillow.com and of course realtor.com. Zillow will let you zoom in on the house, yard, street etc.. It was a great tool when we were looking from the East. You really just have to list your priorities first. Bedrooms should not be a problem because houses have a lot of them out here - and finished basements are very common. You have to decide more if you want a view, a yard, how many car garage, do you want to be in the valley or the mountains...stuff like that. The valley is a little more congested but you get less snow. We liked the neighborhoods off of Wasatch Blvd. Nice homes, a lot of different price ranges and some great views. If you're moving from the East coast you at least need a great view!
Good luck again!

[alexei27]

It is very likely that you will be disappointed in the Utah public school system (and to be honest it was one of the reasons we moved FROM Utah to NY).

Now...thats not to say you can't find a bad school. We lived in Layton, which tended to have good schools (by Utah standards). From what I hear (no experience here) the south part of the valley where you are looking is ok. The problem Utah has is that teachers salaries are very low and they cannot attract and keep good talent.

You may want to look into private schooling. Or home schooling. We looked into a group home schooling project...and it was probably what we would have done had we stayed.

Also...if you are looking for a realtor, please PM me. My realtor (both for the purchase and sale of my home) is one of the best people I have ever worked with (and no he is not a relative :-)

Best of luck...Utah is a really nice place to live. You are asking the right questions about the schools however.

Where in NY are you moving from if you don't mind me asking???

[bob rulz]

What defines a good school to you?

A rating on a website? Test scores? The quality of the teaching? The diversity of the students? Parent participation in the school? Creative freedom for the students? etc...