How good are Bellevue schools? Well, check this out. (Seattle: apartment, house)

[70Ford]

Two years ago, Daniel and Dee Shin used an inheritance from Mr. Shin's father to pay $410,000 for the "cheapest house they could afford" in Bellevue for the sole purpose of securing a spot in the school district for their then 11-year-old daughter, Kayla. The 900-square-foot circa-1955 rambler is "beat up and not insulated very well," says Mr. Shin, adding that he assumed that paying property taxes on the house would be enough to satisfy the school district's residency requirements even if the family actually resided in a 2,326-square-foot, four-bedroom home in the nearby town of Renton.

Their new neighbors in Bellevue, evidently, didn't see it that way. They reported the Shins to the school district, and the district gave them an ultimatum: move into the Bellevue district by the time Kayla registers for high school in February, or start the following school year in another district.

Finding a Home in a Good School District - WSJ.com

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I remember when I first came here and was looking at schools for our kids. I had heard of an "International school" that was pretty good. Then I found out you had to win a lottery to go there.

A lottery? you say. Yes. A lottery. Education. It's such a gamble these days.

General Open Enrollment Lottery Process : Student Placement : Student Services : Departments : Bellevue School District

[just4ivaylo]

I'd say those people are a bit crazy. Bellevue's schools are top notch though.

[Inkpoe]

I think its odd that people would go all that way, getting another apartment or buying a "cheap" house. 415K... for a public school... Well, I'm sure the house will appreciate once they fix the house up.

I think a lottery for a top notch school is fine if you want your child to go there-- I'd rather have that system than to deal with the Seattle Public school. Now that's a bigger gamble.

[415_s2k]

Originally Posted by Inkpoe

I think its odd that people would go all that way, getting another apartment or buying a "cheap" house. 415K... for a public school... Well, I'm sure the house will appreciate once they fix the house up.

That's what I was thinking.

That $415k would probably get that kid through the rest of her years in a prep school plus some "contribution" money to make sure she gets noticed by the administration, which would result in higher marks and letters of reccomendation = college grants up the wazoo.

I think a lottery for a top notch school is fine if you want your child to go there-- I'd rather have that system than to deal with the Seattle Public school. Now that's a bigger gamble.

My parents tried that for three years with me. It took another three years of counselling to get me to function normally in school after they moved the GATE program to the brand-new state-of-the-art building they'd just finished in the worst part of Seattle that also housed the then-new African American Academy.

You have any clue how fun it was being one of seven or eight white kids in an all-black school in the early 90's? Man, when the Rodney King thing happened... ugh.

I'm amazed that they actually got away with flagrantly segregating kids using public funds for as long as they have.

[lynxis]

Bellevue's public schools are better than Seattles private schools