Newton County Haven't heard much??? (Beaumont, Orange: low crime, how much, home)

[SweetPea23]

Ok so my husband and I decided on Newton county for our relocation in August. We're pretty set on Newton. I haven't seen many threads on this area usually people want the info on the bigger cities and towns. Does anyone have opinions on this area?? With what I've seen online and talking to a realtor it seems like a nice quiet town small, and friendly. Perfect for us... Is it a nice quiet area? Is it a safe place for kids, we have a 10 year old, and the schools? How are the schools..when we spoke to the realtor she sounded a little hesitant about talking about the school system.

Thanks for any help!!

[BobTex]

I live west of Newton County about 40 miles but work with people from there (In Beaumont). Newton schools are going to be out of my range of expertise. Personally I think the land is pretty flat and wet (holds water and we get lots of rain). Much of the land is encompassed in the Sabine River bottoms. There is much forest in the area which also sustained a lot of damage during Hurricane Rita.


I have questions, like why Newton Co.? (Is DH tied to some of the industries in the Orange area?) Do you have family in the area? Have you ever been to the area? To Texas? The South. The reasons I ask these questions is to better help prepare you for the culture change. I lived in the NE (Me.)for a couple of years and it took me time to adjust. Just need to know how much info you need.

I love East Texas and a lot of Texans don't care too much for it ... especially SE Texas ... a lot of Texans tear it down because of a PAST history of race issues, the huge amount of industry and the associated problems that come with that. If you are not tied exactly to this area because of job considerations I might have a few suggestions if a small town quiet environment is your #1 concern.


I do think you'd get that quiet, country atmosphere there though ... I just think there are better choices! BTW ... the schools in Buna are good and one could live in Newton COUNTY and still be in the Buna Independant School District (I think ... I'm not really sure where the boundaries are). But , then, your child can attend a school even out of their/your home district. Write back and I'll keep more info coming!

[destin04]

As a realtor we have to be very careful about talking about neighborhoods and schools due to the fact that some people might say that we are "steering" people away from certain neighborhoods and such. When a client ask me ...I tell them to refer to public web -sites about school information.....that way we don't get accused of something we didn't do.

[southeasttexas]

Originally Posted by SweetPea23

.....How are the schools..when we spoke to the realtor she sounded a little hesitant about talking about the school system.

I would take a HARD look, first, if I had a 10 year old going into a new school...

[SweetPea23]

Most of our research has been online. It seemed like a nice area according to websites I've checked out and such..I really don't know much a bout any of Texas. We definitley want a nice town.. especially where we have a 10 year old. So schools and crime are definitely a big deal. Also we just want less people that's why we want a small town (under 6,000 we'd even go up to 10,000 pop) We are aware of the culture shock thing..although I don't know if we'll be prepared..how do you really prepare for that?? We can go pretty much any where, we're not tied to family, or jobs or anything in any particular area, we're not tied to the east coast at all..Again we just want small and benefits for the 10 year old, such as decent schools and low crime. I hope I answered all your questions..It would be great to get as much info on better areas as we could.

Thanks so much for your input and suggestions.

Dawn

[FarNorthDallas]

Did you check the Just 4 Kids website that compares your schools to schools with similar demographics and then tells how far behind (-) or ahead (+) the school is compared to the other schools?District Profile - Newton ISD - School Data - Texas - NCEA/Just for the Kids
Based on that the 3 schools in Newton County are Bad.

Also according to the state of Texas the schools are all Academically Acceptable (the lowest rating you can get and still be passing). Looks like they have math and science issues in particular.2007 Accountability: List by District