Anyone Teach In The Vancouver/Camas/Battle Ground Areas? (Salmon Creek: rental car, apartments)

[carengm]

I'm looking at relocating to the greater Vancouver area. I'm hoping teachers might shed some light on what's great, as well as what places I should avoid. I have an elementary credential in CA and an expired one from NV. As I understand it, it isn't difficult to qualify for a WA license as long as I've taken a test or two and have a current license from another state. Also wondering what the need for teachers is like in the area. I know that here, jobs are scarce and very hard to come by (in fact, I currently work as a temp at a large company in San Francisco and am dying to go back to teaching).

I have a young daughter who will eventually attend school; ideally, we'd be at the same school (so I'd like to avoid the less-than-ideal locations).

I have family looking at moving to the Battle Ground area and I've read mixed reviews about the schools there. Does anyone have any first hand experience? I've driven through it and I liked the area, but aside from that, I know nothing about it.

I've read that the east side of Vancouver is better...but east of what? City center? A river? (Where I live it's better to live west of the railroad tracks, so no idea what the basis is for east vs. west in Vancouver.) I'm not interested in living in the heart of a city.

Any suggestions/experiences/hints would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[StealthRabbit]

I have friends who are teaching in each of your listed districts. I have volunteered in each.

East in Vancouver, as far as good schools is concerned would be generally east of I-205 (evergreen district).

Battleground schools is a bit of a mixed bag. CAM and Homelink (including river campus Camas) are homeschool options with the district, as well as fun teaching options.
http://www.bgsd.k12.wa.us/
Hockinson district (near Battleground) would probably be considered best for community support, disciplined kids, and high scholastics.
http://www.hock.k12.wa.us/
Camas district a close second, and probably preferred in extra curricular activities (larger district with MONEY... a school foundation pumped up by the 'upper' crust in Camas)
http://www.camas.wednet.edu/

I would chose Camas if you need suburbia / options / proximity to services. Definitely is swimming is a potential sport of choice (Pools are practically non-existent in Clark County)

Hockinson if you want rigorous edu, but a bit more remote (must drive 15 min for most services)

nice and inexpensive areas to live in each area, tho Hockinson is short on surburbia / apartments. It is generally rural in demographics (1-5 acre plots with High Tech families + some farms and woodlots) Brushprairie, WA is nearby and may have housing options.

Local Newspaper sites (for a taste of each community)
Camas-Washougal Post-Record (http://www.camaspostrecord.com/index.cfm - broken link)
(Reflector) http://www.thereflector.com/

or if you are really hard up for news
The Columbian - Serving Clark County, Washington | The Columbian (Vancouver paper)

For Vancouver district, I would look to North Side (Hazel Dell, Lakeshore, Salmon Creek, Carter Park, Minnehaha)

Thx for the great vacation last week in SF. I stayed at Ft Mason for the first time, was pretty fun, nice view and accessibility. We did the city tours (tho have been going to SF 2x / yr for 30+ yrs). I got a $39 flight to SMF, and a $12 / day rental car. SF / OAK is usually $79 - $89 one-way, but that is affordable as well. SF is a great place to enjoy during our long winter.