Need help from people who are well-versed in Tampa Bay areas and good schools! (Clearwater: townhouse, best schools)

[dendrobium]

Funny I should see this post as I was just perusing some info on elementary schools. I found out that the second best school in Florida is Bevis elementary in Lithia. It's a great kid friendly area but getting out of there to go anywhere or do anything is difficult because of the driving and traffic. Maybe renting a single family home would be a good way to go till you either save up or find the right house to buy. The info on elementary schools comes from the state and here is the link I found.. info for this past year is available and is not on here but it probably hasn't changed drastically. Who Tops Florida’s School Rankings? | StateImpact Florida
These ratings come from Fcat scores, which I think aren't a really good measure but it's really the only objective thing there is that I could find. Also, "A" schools can vary a lot. I guess they test the kids starting in 3rd grade and get a number somewhere under 800 which is the maximum. I assume the number a school gets comes from an average of the students taking the test at that school. So Bevis is an A and is ranked as #2 in the state, tied with a school in Brevard county; the number is 722. Westchase 699 and ranked #17 in the state. We are in Clark school district which is 609 and rated as #428, and Hunter's Green which is nearby is ranked #806 with a number of 578. So these are all "A" schools but the performance at least on this test varies quite a bit. I guess a lot of how a student does has to do with the emphasis placed on school in the home and all sorts of other factors, but I still want my kids to be in the best school. I would love some feedback from teachers in Hillsborough county schools on this subject.

[PhotoProIP]

Originally Posted by sllah

Basically, we're looking to buy in the next year and we still aren't sure where we'd like to settle. We have a toddler so schools are very important and being a teacher and a product of northeastern schools, it's a top priority; "decent" won't cut it.

Go back up north.

[bigal777]

Originally Posted by floridagirl777

I completely understand where you are coming from. My parents gave me a private education because the public schools in our area in Florida were not that great. A school is only as strong as the area from which it draws, so if you can't afford private school then moving to a great area should be a top priority if you want your kids in the best schools.



I'd stay away from there if I were you.



Oldsmar is a great little community. You would probably have better luck finding decent housing there for your price range than in Palm Harbor, though that's starting to change. Oldsmar Elementary is a great school, by the way. I know some teachers there and they are really top-notch.



You definitely need to spend more time in Palm Harbor then. When I think of Palm Harbor, "dumpy" is definitely not how I would describe it!

Here's what I suggest:

Look into condos or townhomes or even apartments in Palm Harbor if you want excellent schools. Spend some time really exploring the area. Palm Harbor is far nicer than what you have seen so far.

Look into Oldsmar, too. You may be able to find a home there in your price range. Oldsmar Elementary is wonderful. I don't know where the kids in Oldsmar attend middle or high school though.

Also check out Safety Harbor. You will not find a decent house there for 150K, but you may be able to buy a decent condo. Safety Harbor has an excellent elementary school and middle school … probably the best elementary and middle schools in Pinellas County. I believe the high school is Countryside High, which is good, but it is not nearly as good as Palm Harbor University.

Good luck!

What is the reason to stay away from Land O' Lakes? My uncle lives in the 34639 zip code there and it seems like a nice area.

[NHborn]

Originally Posted by bigal777

What is the reason to stay away from Land O' Lakes? My uncle lives in the 34639 zip code there and it seems like a nice area.

It is and LOL High is one of the better schools in the entire area. That poster probably has images of rednecks in their head or something.

[DUNNDFRNT]

Originally Posted by floridagirl777

Also check out Safety Harbor. You will not find a decent house there for 150K, but you may be able to buy a decent condo. Safety Harbor has an excellent elementary school and middle school … probably the best elementary and middle schools in Pinellas County. I believe the high school is Countryside High, which is good, but it is not nearly as good as Palm Harbor University.

Good luck!

I always hear you say this, I have some coworkers that live in SH and love the area but are not very happy with the schools, using greatschools.net as a reference you have an elementary school that's rated a 6 and a middle school is a 7. I don't mean this as a personal jab, I am sure Safety harbor is great and has a lot of qualities, but best schools is not one of them.

[DUNNDFRNT]

Originally Posted by sllah

Honestly, the 150k is totally a guess. The realtor we spoke to seemed to imply we could afford much more, but our credit is not very good right now as we try to pay off medical bills. Depending on what we can get approved for now, we may want to jump on something if we can get a decent deal or decide if it's best to wait a year when our credit is back up and qualify for a larger loan.

I know absolutely nothing about Valrico/Lithia except that it's south and "nothing's there"? You're right - in researching the schools, they are good. Fishhawk definitely looks like a place I'd want to be and I did search where some may be in our price range; obviously if we end up being able to afford more then that'll be great. We'll have to make a trip out that way soon to investigate, but is there anything you can tell me about that place now? Thanks!

Lithia/Valrico is on the Southshore, which would be the area east of I75 and south of I-4, I am not sure where your commutes are so its hard to say whats best overall. I have/had (they pcs'd) a couple of army buddies that lived in Fishawk and commuted to Mcdill, that takes anywhere from 35 min to 45 min in rush hour. Its worth exploring, if you do a search you will find a lot of threads about Fishhawk/Lithia, I know a lot of them talk about talk about the kids being cliquish and spoiled. I think you will find that in all schools, the highly rated one are in upscale areas, and with that comes a lot of those attitudes. I always have the same conversation with my wife about how hard it is to keep my daughter in line with the spoil factor and the sense of entitlement now that she is in middle school, and its hard because her peers do get everything they want , thankfully we can afford to give her most things but its just the balancing of making her earn things and keeping her happy, that is challenging.

[springmac]

I live in Fishhawk, and the schools are top rated. That being said, you won't find a house for $150K. The inventory here is really low. You may be able to find a small home rental for $1500-$1600/month. Yes, we are kind of out in the boonies, but I like it like that. We are still not too far from Walmart, Target & malls. Great family friendly area.

[floridagirl777]

Originally Posted by bigal777

What is the reason to stay away from Land O' Lakes? My uncle lives in the 34639 zip code there and it seems like a nice area.

It is a nice area, but the OP was looking at the quality of schools. Land O' Lakes does not have the best schools.

[floridagirl777]

Originally Posted by DUNNDFRNT

I always hear you say this, I have some coworkers that live in SH and love the area but are not very happy with the schools, using greatschools.net as a reference you have an elementary school that's rated a 6 and a middle school is a 7. I don't mean this as a personal jab, I am sure Safety harbor is great and has a lot of qualities, but best schools is not one of them.

Great Schools is not the best indicator of how good the schools are. I know several schools that are not all that great that have very high ratings on that site. Great Schools looks at schools through the eyes of parents. No offense to parents, but most parents don't know how to truly judge the quality of a school. If the teachers are nice and the principal is friendly, most parents will give the school a top rating. I look at schools through the eyes of an educator, so my perspective is a bit different. I look at the school's population, whether or not the teachers are using best practices, how focused they are on test scores, what curricula they are using, how motivated are the teachers regarding professional development, etc.

[Pragmaticus]

Originally Posted by floridagirl777

Great Schools is not the best indicator of how good the schools are. I know several schools that are not all that great that have very high ratings on that site. Great Schools looks at schools through the eyes of parents. No offense to parents, but most parents don't know how to truly judge the quality of a school. If the teachers are nice and the principal is friendly, most parents will give the school a top rating. I look at schools through the eyes of an educator, so my perspective is a bit different. I look at the school's population, whether or not the teachers are using best practices, how focused they are on test scores, what curricula they are using, how motivated are the teachers regarding professional development, etc.

You are completely wrong! Not that I care what greatschool ratings are but they are NOT using parents to rate the schools. They are using standardized test. Whether one agree on that or not is a different thing but it is not based on parents subjective opinion as you put it. It is based on objective test scores.

I go to the source of those scores and other relevant data to look at school performance. They get the data from state education sites, which anyone can also access and see the data to decide themselves too.