Utah Valley (Provo, Orem, American Fork: fit in, real estate, rentals)

[sjmom]

I'm married to a Provo man, but we have lived in the Bay Area, CA for 25 years. Our family is pretty much raised, but I have a 14 year old daughter that needs a better public education. We would like to find a good community college for my older son to attend as well. The schools here are beyond belief. It is SO awful. We still have family in Utah Valley and the Kaysville area and they are somewhat helpful, but any info you can send our way would help us with this big decision. I've heard Lone Peak High School is the best (Alpine, Highland areas), but I don't think my daughter could adjust to a bunch of rich kids (adjusting to Utah will be hard enough). Are there any middle of the road GREAT schools in Utah Valley? Good Community Colleges in the area?

[Calibelle]

There aren't any community colleges I know of in Utah county. There is Salt Lake community college in Salt Lake. Not all the kids at Lone Peak High School are rich. There is a good mix of middle class folk there as well. There are some older neighborhoods that fall within the Lone Peak boundries. As far as any high school in Utah county being exceptional, I really couldn't tell you. I am not sure of that. I have a friend who graduated from Timpview, and they said it was really good there. Another friend graduated from MountainView, and really liked it. But that was 8 years ago, so I don't know about how the schools are now. I know that I would stay away from Orem, High, and Provo High. People I know who went there, did not have a good experience. But then again, that was someone's personal opinion.

[coolcats]

Originally Posted by sjmom

Good Community Colleges in the area?

There is Utah Valley State College in Utah County. However in a few months it will be converted to Utah Valley University. Still it might be worth checking into. It's got a lot of students, and from what I hear is reasonably priced. Otherwise up in Salt Lake you do have SLCC and LDS Business College.

[Calibelle]

UVSC may not as expensive as some Universities, but it's not a community college for sure. The prices are through the roof compared to Salt Lake Community College.

[chazcrew]

Lone Peak is a very good school, and it does have a lot of rich kids. But there are also lots of families like mine, just middle-of-the-road, normal folks. The only thing is, there aren't many low-income students, so it's definitely skewed toward the wealthier end. But all the teenagers in my neighborhood go there, and they are really good kids. I worry a bit about the influence of all the money at the school, but in general people seem very happy with it. And it's very good in both academics and sports.

Timpanogos in Orem, and Timpview in Provo are both very good high schools as well. American Fork High School is pretty good, too, and has a more varied mix of students.

[Agoraphobic]

I went to Timpview and graduated in 2000, I've got a brother there right now and he seems to get along well with everyone at the school. Of course with any high school you'll have clicks - jocks, band, skater, etc. I liked Timpview because of the diversity and the education was pretty good, I felt like I was challenged but it wasn't out of my reach either.

I had some friends from Lone Peak as well. It's the "new school" in the area so it has some of the nicest facilities in the state. My friends really like it, had a good time and didn't seem to complain about feeling "left out". My friends and I didn't really fit into a click, we just got along with a few people from each click and things worked out well. Are there any classes your daugher enjoys taking that may be hard to find? (I took Russian at Timpview and not all the schools in the valley had that)

As far as community colleges go, I hear Salt Lake Community College is very good. UVSC, in Orem, feels somewhat like going to High School again, but tuition isn't real expensive (at least it wasn't the last time I looked at it, 2 years ago).

Happy to help if you have other questions.

[bsgjunkie]

I'm from Foster City, living in Provo currently. While my highschool in California (Aragon) was nicer then most - I still know exactly where you're coming from.

Orem is turning into a very nice place to live. There are a few highschools within Orem and most of them come highly rated.

You could also look into somewhere like Mapleton, which is south of Provo about 20 mins. Its much smaller then anything in the Bay and would be a big change of pace - their highschool is nice.

Utah Valley is a great college. I'd suggest you put it at the top of your list.

[sjmom]

Wow! You all have helped so much. We are considering keeping our home here and renting for awhile to make sure we have made the right decision and also to give ourself some time to look around at real estate in Utah. Are there any homes in the Lone Peak High School area for rent? If we rented a home, would it be on the "wrong side of the tracks" so to speak? I had no idea that Timpview and Timpanogps were also good schools. I will check into that as a possibility.

[chazcrew]

Lone peak has students from Alpine, part of Highland, part of American Fork, and part of Cedar Hills. Check for rentals in those cities, and then look to see if they're in the boundaries of the school. There are a couple of families in my neighborhood who are renting, and this is a nice neighborhood. Not the wrong side of the tracks. Only problem is, rentals might be pricey because of the cities they're in.

[sjmom]

Originally Posted by chazcrew

Only problem is, rentals might be pricey because of the cities they're in.

Thanks Chazcrew! Coming from the Bay Area, I'm curious what pricey is . . . Here, an 1800 sq. ft. home with 4 bedrooms and 2 baths would go for over $2000 a month, easy. I will check it out.