Parkway v. Rockwood (Chesterfield, Eureka, Craig: house, buying, school districts)

[tripletmom]

Which school district is "better" Parkway v. Rockwood?

I originally thought Parkway was stronger, but a former neighbor from our home state loves Rockwood.

I have elementary school age kids.

[wustu87]

Frankly, both Parkway and Rockwood districts are so large, there is more variation within each district than there is between them. In general, though, both are considered excellent school districts, with the top individual Rockwood schools being of the same high caliber as the top Parkway schools. It is rather like comparing the Lexus line of cars to the Infiniti line, they are all very different and have their own strengths and weaknesses, but they are all of high quality. At the elementary level you cannot go wrong either way.

[TGS]

Both are well-regarded districts.

Parkway has a longer history of being a strong district, but it is basically in an area that was built out 10-20 years ago. Rockwood was more of a rural district, but has been growing by leaps and bounds as the suburban sprawl spreads.

When we were looking at the schools a few years ago, the educational programs at the schools appeared indistinguishable. Rockwood appeared to have more of the lower to middle class white families that were interested in buying a lot of house for the money in exchange for a longer drive to work. Parkway appeared to have more professionals, and a lot more professional immigrant families, especially Indian and Chinese. Parkway also had a significant Jewish population, and were more apt to schedule school functions around Jewish holidays.

[tripletmom]

I appreciate both of your responses.

Based simply on test scores (and I fully realize that this is NOT the only way to evaulate a district or school), Rockwood seems to currently outshine Parkway.

I have elementary age boys so I focused more on those schools when comparing.

Did either one of you attend or have children currently attend either district?

Any other information would be useful.

Thanks.

[wustu87]

We used to live just east of the Parkway boundaries so many of our friends and neighbors actually went to Parkway Schools (we knew several families who attended Craig or Ross elementaries), even though our children attended another district. Since you had another post about Chesterfield and are considering Rockwood that means you are probably looking further west than my area of familiarity. Every family that we ever talked to had a very high opinion of the Parkway district and thought they served their children well. Since we live further east we do not know very many Rockwood families to hear their opinions on those schools. Most of the praise I hear about Rockwood is secondhand or from educators or the media.

[DeBaliviere]

I don't think you can go wrong with either one, although parts of each district are much more desirable than others.

[johnamus]

Originally Posted by DeBaliviere

I don't think you can go wrong with either one, although parts of each district are much more desirable than others.

Which parts are most and least desirable in each district?

I've been house shopping for a while now and this info would help. I'm currently liking what I see out in the Rockwood town of Eureka.

[Inoxkeeper]

Rah Rah Rockwood!!!

As in Rockwood Summit...

Go Falcons!!

RS is a great school, my kids loved it and they got great grades (daughter had a 4.2 GPA at RS and is now at Mizzou with a 4.0 GPA.) It's also in a great community and location.