Need help w/ move! Is O'Fallon a mistake? (St. Louis, St. Joseph: lease, condos)

[mollytn75]

I am having a horrible case of back and forth with where to move. Time is not on my side! I am originally from St. Louis, grew up in Ballwin...I have been living in Nashville for almost 12 years, suburbs called Brentwood. All of my family has moved out to O'Fallon...one by one. All of them! (sisters, all the cousins, my parents, etc.)

Here is my dilemma...It is me and my 2 young sons who will be 4 and 6. My oldest is coming from the best schools in the state, advanced learner, he will be going in the 2nd grade. I was not to happy with what I read about the St. Charles county public schools and year round is not an option because one would be year round, while when the other was in traditional...down the road due to their age gap. I toured St. Joseph's Catholic school in St. Charles and loved it. I am not anti-public school, since he is in public school now. But I do not want him to back track, he is already going through a lot with divorce and a move. I looked in Winghaven for example, and there are THREE different school districts in ONE neighborhood. That is insane!

Next problem, the job I will likely be accepting is in Clayton! I would stray away from the O'Fallon area but than I am giving up the help I will likely need from my family. The schools in Clayton are appealing, but I am not handy at all. I mean ZERO. And I really want the boys to have something of a backyard and be able to ride their bikes. My price range does not give me much of any options in Clayton or Ladue. I anticipate 6 months temporary housing while I try to find a house. The most I can spend is $300k. And that is pushing it. My target is $275k.

Advice?

Thank you SOOOO much!
Molly

[mollytn75]

I was also wondering if anyone knew about how much they enforce the parish school boundaries in the St. Charles area. I did not ask that when I toured, but I am not really keen on getting locked into the St. Joseph's boundaries for a house. Love the school, but I have not found a house.

[TGS]

You should check out the New Town area in St. Charles.

New Town at St. Charles :: Welcome

The area is very kid-friendly, and there are lots of playgrounds and places for the kids to ride their bikes. There are townhouses /condos with no lawn maintenance and single family homes that have small yards. All the houses are new, so you won't have to be handy. The public schools are in the Orchard Farm district, which I don't know much about. New Town is close to downtown St. Charles, which has two great Catholic schools (St. Charles Borromeo and Sacred Heart Academy). You will be relatively close to O'Fallon and the drive to Clayton (down I-70 and I-170) isn't too bad.

The area looks a little "Stepford," but I always see lots of kids out playing when I go there. They have a pool and lazy river. The amount of open space is incredible, and the large ponds are stocked with fish so I have seen kids get the fishing poles out. I also think they are putting in an organic farm.

I am a big supporter of living in the city, but for a single mom New Town would be great.

[WestCoDude]

I think O'Fallon is a great community and especially so for families. You can get a decent home with in your price range and the schools aren't bad either--and that's of course if you don't send your kids to St. Joe's.

The commute might be a little long--but I doubt it would ever take much more than 30-40 minutes.

As far as New Town goes....apparently somebody likes it because people are moving there. But it utterly freaks me out. It's way out north of St. Charles in it's own, creepy secluded area and...wow....it's just weird. I don't think "Stepford-ish" does it justice. lol. It's like children of the corn meets Alf. Weird stuff indeed.

[HRP]

Mollytn75...We live in WingHaven and LOVE it. Yes, the school district thing is wierd, but my daughter is in the Wentzville school district and we love it. Your boys would go to the Crossroads Elementary School which is in the subdivision if you were to stick with public schools. I commute to Gravois and 270 every day and it only takes me 40 minutes either way because WingHaven is located right on 40. Shopping is plentiful with the new Walmart, Target, JCPenneys, Lowes, Shop N Save, etc. without having to go to Hwy K (which can be quite busy). It just so happens that we have to move to Dallas, TX with a job relocation, so our house is currently on the market for less than your budget amount...and we're in a court (great for the bicycles as we get no traffic), tree lined back yard, and an open house tomorrow from 12-2 (2-24-08)...4 bedrooms with 2 1/2 baths. I am sure I will get a lot of eye rollers for "plugging" my home, but I would never leave this area if I didn't have to. It is a very clean, safe, family oriented community. In all honesty, I would stay away from buying right off HWY K due to the traffic, as very few subdivisions have their own traffic lights and you will find it hard to get out onto K. Good luck!

[mollytn75]

Thanks for the feedback. Newtown is out for me. The prices seem way out of proportion for size of the homes and the location. I guess I am missing the attraction. I like the community style developments, but something just seems strange about Newtown.

WestCoDude what do you think about Chesterfield Farms? It only caught my attention because of its proximity to 40 and short drive to my family off of K. plus rockwood schools. But...I can really only afford a really small house in there. I get much more house for my money in O'Fallon/St. Charles.

Thanks for the feedback on Winghaven as well. I have been stalking many houses in there, but I am going to do 6 months temp housing while I wait for my Brentwood, TN house (doing the house selling dance! ) to sell unless I opt for a lease/purchase.

Hoping to hear from St. Josephs's today on whether or not I have to live in the parish boundaries. Regarding the feedback on Sacred Heart - love it - just cannot afford $14k a year for both of my boys to go there for grade school. Yikes!

[aragx6]

St. Joe's is a nice parish, though I don't know a lot about the quality of education.
I actually have a funny story about parish boundaries out there (thought this took place nearly 20 years ago, so I'm not sure what it's like now)

When I was about 4 my mom was looking to send us to Catholic school and called the closest Parish to us- St. Joachim and Ann. They were very nice until my mom told them she had 3 kids. At the time overcrowding was an issue so they said "No, no no, you're actually in the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton boundaries."

So my mom calls St. Elizabeth and don't you know they said "No, no, no you actually live in the St. Joachim and Ann boundaries."

My mother, not one to be toyed with said screw them all and joined St. Joe's and sent us to PSR.

Years later when both parishes were losing membership they both courted my mother, but by then she wanted nothing to do with them.

I'm not Catholic anymore, but St. Joe's has a beautiful church and it's a very large congregation. Before they built the new church they had to have 5 masses, and they had overflow in the school gym, which was less than pleasant.

As far as the schools out there, it's generally acknowledged that Francis Howell is the strongest district out of Zumwalt, St. Charles and it, though all are fine schools. Not the best in the state, but I would almost guarantee that St. Joe's or any of the parochial schools aren't any better. Francis Howell has a great, comprehensive gifted ed. program that lasts through High School. The parent support for the program is very strong.

I'm a little confused by your concern about the year-round though. Is it that you want your kids to always be on the same schedule or that you're concerned about childcare? I guess my mom dealt with this too when my brothers and I were in school (3 grades apart) but of course by the time I was in middle school I was old enough to stay home by myself.

[mollytn75]

The year round concern is that the boys are 3 grade apart. When one is in middle and the other is in high school I would have one on traditional and one in year round. Plus it would make it difficult for their visitation time/trips with their father.

I was concerned about the catholic education being up to par, but the scores for the St. Charles county districts were so low that it sent me into a panic. I looked on the website I found on this forum that lists all the scores. The negative is that you have no idea how the catholic schools compare date wise. The facility at St. Jospeh's blew me away and they have a gifted program (not sure how good it is). There clearly is a lot of money going into that school. I about fell over when I saw their Mac lab (room packed full of brand new macs, flat screen monitors), plus their Windows lab next door, every classroom has Smart Boards. And there is the appeal of them moving on to a strong catholic boys school (maybe I will win the lotto ) vs Wentzville high school for example. St. Joseph's does have an issue though with student/teacher ratio.

Argh! I have no idea what to do.

[aragx6]

Which schools in St. Charles county did you find problems with? Take care not to lump them all together. Almost all of the schools in the Fort Zumwalt and Francis Howell districts rank better than state averages. St. Charles has a few iffy schools, and those you should look out for, as well as several in Wentzville.

Unless I am mistaken and things have changed, once kids in Francis Howell are out of elementary school they are no longer on year-round, so if one is in middle school and the other high school they would both be on the same schedule.

[WestCoDude]

[quote=mollytn75;2936748]
WestCoDude what do you think about Chesterfield Farms? It only caught my attention because of its proximity to 40 and short drive to my family off of K. plus rockwood schools. But...I can really only afford a really small house in there. I get much more house for my money in O'Fallon/St. Charles.

quote]

Chesterfield Farms is wonderful. It's a great area and, yeah, Rockwood schools are top-notch.

But....you're right. You can buy a whole lot more home for your buck in St. Charles Co. The schools are better in Chesterfield and the area is, in my opinion, nicer. But it will cost you more.

I think St. Charles Co. is awesome and I don't think it would be a bad choice at all. A small home in Chesterfield or a larger home in O'Fallon would both be fine choices and I think you'll be happy no matter what you choose.