comparing Pullman, Richland and Prosser (Kennewick, West Richland: houses, neighborhood, school district)

[Reddirtmama]

Hello,

My family and I are moving to the TC area from Pullman. We've absolutely loved Pullman and I am feeling a bit hesitant about the move. My main concern is for my children, as they are incredibly happy and healthy here in Pullman. I've read a lot of posts about how family friendly the TC area is, but have also noticed that most of the comparisons are between large metropolitan areas and the TC. So, for someone moving from a small town to the "big" city of Richland, here are my questions:

1. Which of the Middle schools and HS are best in Richland? Coming from Pullman, they are 2x as large and other stats show Pullman schools with higher academic ranking (although not by much). Anyone out there with pre-teens/teens care to comment?

3. Do any of the Middle schools have a good jazz band program?

2. Can anyone compare Prosser schools with Richland School District? We're considering land in Prosser, but my main concern is, again, schools. I believe Prosser and Pullman are in the same state ranking (2A), but I also know that for the size it's size, Pullman is unique in it's quality of schools. Prosser sounds appealing due to it's similar school sizes to Pullman, but does Richland have better (i.e. more academically rigorous; more engaged teachers) than Prosser?

3. I've seen on the posts that there is a large LDS population. By LDS standards, are there any "liberal" pockets of LDS wards?

4. What are the differences between Richland and West Richland (I recognize they have separate local governments, but share the same school district)?

and finally,

5. Any Roots & Shoots organizations or the like?

Thank you all in advance!

[heymikey]

I know both areas pretty well, having grown up in Richland, spent 10 yr in Pullman (the last 5 with 1+ kids), and another 20+ yr back in the old neighborhood. My wife is from Colton and had many of your same concerns about moving to the "big city".

1. Our kids are all in or past college, but we know a number of the area teachers quite well, and I think my impressions are still pretty current. Honestly, all the middle and high schools are pretty good—new or rebuilt in the last few years and well placed academically. While not quite the rarefied atmosphere of a university town, Richland is reasonably well educated; years ago it was said (thanks to Hanford) we had the highest percentage of PhDs of any non-college town in the country. The schools are well supported by the community, and most parents have high expectations for their children.

3. As recently as a couple of years ago, Enterprise (West Richland) had an amazing jazz band; though the teacher has moved to Hanford High, I would expect it to be quite good even now. Chief Joe has some excellent music teachers, and I know they have a Jazz Band, I just haven't heard them in a while.

2. I can't comment on Prosser schools, except that most of the small towns, though good, seem to be necessarily more limited in scope in terms of classes offered. For example, many of the small districts offer only Spanish for foreign language. Richland has varied over the years, but has offered French, German, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, and Latin (if you count that ). I would be surprised if Prosser offered calculus, which I was able to take in Richland.

3. Of course YMMV, but I have found the Tri-Cities LDS to be very much like those in Pullman: friendly and eager but respectful, and quite uniform in demeanor/outlook no matter what side of town you're on (easier to take than LFF ). Aside from the missionaries, no one has ever tried to convert me, including my very dear LDS piano teacher. In fact, she considered it a bit disrespectful to try to push one's religion on another unasked; of course it could have been somewhat different had I asked…

I'd suspect the only "issue" you'd have with LDS families at school would be trying to schedule any extracurriculars on a Monday night.

4. Richland is like a big suburb without the "urb" (or even suburb level shopping—on par with Pullman); West Richland is a little country town that got overtaken (in part) by suburban sprawl. I don't mean that to sound bad. In fact, if/when we move out of N Richland, that's probably where we'll go. The feel is still somewhat rural, except areas like "Bird Hill" (S of Paradise Dr/W of Bombing Range Rd, so-called for the area street names). Otherwise, there's not too much difference—either way you'll go to Kennewick to shop .

5. Sorry—'fraid I'll have to defer to more knowledgeable colleagues on that one.

One last thought: have you considered Kennewick? The schools are very nearly as good (in fact, one family I know moved out of Hanford district to put their kids in Kamiakin High) and houses seem to be just a bit cheaper, though when we moved in, that difference in monthly payment would have been largely eaten up in gas driving to my job at Hanford. Yes, it is bigger, but doesn't really "feel" that much bigger: it just has more people and takes up more space . You'd also avoid the "Richland Attitude" (my home town—I can say it ) As I said, just a thought…

Thanks for bearing with the loquacious missive.
HeyMikey

[ehickerson]

I would echo the sentiments of heymikey. Even though I reside in Prosser, they do have a limited scope of class offerings simply do to the size of the community.

[Reddirtmama]

Thank you for the replies! This helps a lot and as I'm researching more and watching people's posts on here, my concerns are being alleviated.

As far as Kennewick goes, we haven't really considered it because my husbands not interested in much of a commute (unless there was a great piece of land farther out). But, it can't hurt to look a bit!

have a good one,
reddirtmama

[tcres]

You're aware that Kennewick is right next to Richland? In some areas of the cities you can't tell which city you are even in.