St. Louis schools (Mehlville, Affton, Eureka: houses, new construction, school districts)

[KCLucymom]

I'm relocating to St. Louis. I'm looking at the following areas/school districts Which would you recommend? Which would you NOT recommend? Oh, and I've got elementary school aged kids. Thanks!

Eureka, Rockwood, Mehlville, Valley Park, Parkway west & south, Marquette, Lindbergh, and Afton.

I'd especially like to hear what you think of the Eureka area. I'd really like to be on the far west side of town (easier traveling to see my extended family).

[boomster]

Rockwood School District includes Marquette and Eureka. Good school district, as is anything in Parkway. My preference would be P. West over South, Marquette over Eureka. Eureka area has some very nice homes in subdivisions, also has trailer parks and some rather rundown older areas. I'd avoid Valley Park, a lot of hoosiers. It's built along the Meremac River and land on a flood plain is cheap for a good reason. Lindbergh is a good district, some nice older homes, but depending on where you settle, there may be more older peole, empty nesters, than younger people with families. Mehlville and Affton are both areas of older homes, quite a few are relatively inexpensive. A lot of senior citizens in area. I'd avoid it with kids.

Good luck.

[Kanick]

There was an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch yesterday that said Mehlville School District was facing a budget crisis and was in the hole for 6 million and were going to have a bond issue and look into cutting textbooks and other options.

It's something to think about.

[KCLucymom]

Hmmmm. That doesn't sound too good.

[albo4848]

My parents live in Eureka in the Legends. It's really nice with a nice view of the Bluffs. Easy access to Highway 44 as well (which is better than easy access to Highway 40 right now).

Also, note to Boomster, after living outside of STL for the last 3 years, I have realized that no one outside of STL knows what a hoosier is. When you say it in passing, they kind of nod their head and rarely make any contextual relation. Especially in other areas of the Midwest, they often think you are talking about people from Indiana but cannot figure out why its a bad thing. Translation: hoosier = redneck, trailer trash, whatever term you like.

That said, Eureka does have some, but also has nice areas like the legends, the houses by Eureka high school and all the way up Hwy 109 are nice. A lot of new construction going on out that way.

[anr_black]

The hoosier comment makes me smile....I have friends from here that use that word in the negative sense. I always thought a Hoosier was someone from Indiana. I guess that is a local thing.

[aragx6]

Well according to Urban Dictionary

Dates back to a strike that occurred in St. Louis in the 30's. During this strike, scab workers from Indiana were brought in to fill in for strikers. The perjorative hoosier stems from the St. Louis workers' lack of appreciation for this.

I have no idea if this is true, but it does make sense. I was probably 13 before I realized hoosier was a St. Louis-specific remark.

More info on the term can be found here: The Word Hoosier
And the single best quote ever from Elaine Viets of the Post-Dispatch:

in St. Louis a "Hoosier is a low-life redneck, somebody you can recognize because they have a car on concrete blocks in their front yard and are likely to have just shot their wife who may also be their sister."

[MasonRidgeSux]

Well, Mason Ridge does have a good academic program, but the principle there isn't very cooperative with others. Overall, the staff is very well educated, but since we got a new principle, everything has gone downhill from there. It is a very good school to go to and the test scores are very high, but I would never want my children to attend there.

[By~Tor]

Originally Posted by KCLucymom

I'm relocating to St. Louis. I'm looking at the following areas/school districts Which would you recommend? Which would you NOT recommend? Oh, and I've got elementary school aged kids. Thanks!

Eureka, Rockwood, Mehlville, Valley Park, Parkway west & south, Marquette, Lindbergh, and Afton.

I'd especially like to hear what you think of the Eureka area. I'd really like to be on the far west side of town (easier traveling to see my extended family).

Side note: If you are in the CITY of St. Louis, I CAN HIGHLY RECOMMEND the Charter Schools program the city has... I had my 2 daughters in the charter school in South City, and they excelled in a very positive environment that I would have compared to ANY private school.....