Thinkin of moving to VA (Richmond, Fairfax: for sale, real estate, homes)

[findingourhome]

Hi...I am a single mother of 5 boys (Soon to be 14, 12, 10, 8, & 2) and am thinking of relocating to VA for the 2012 school year. I currently live in NY and am certified in NYS to teach 7-12 math. I am wondering what the outlook on teacher hiring/employment looks like in VA. I definitely do not want to move my kids down there and then lose my job and need to move them again.
My kids currently attend a public school with about 100 kids/grade level. They enjoy playing football or soccer, basketball, & baseball and make all our local teams but are not outstanding athletes. They do Cub and Boy Scouts and serve at our local church. I would like them to continue these activities and am looking for a small school and a small town with a recreation department or some way to get the boys signed up for things like this. Education is also very important to me and I would like a good small public school. I know most southern schools are larger. Are there quality rural/suburban small schools my boys would be accepted at? My last question has to do with the fact that we are Catholic. I know many activities revolve around the church. Would there be things my kids could not sign up for (like baseball teams etc) that are only sponsored by local churches? Would being Catholic be difficult for them?
Thank you so much for your help. This move would be challenging to say the least and I'd like to do as much research as possible now and then head down to check some places out this summer. I really appreciate any advice you can give me. Thanks so much. God Bless...

[tgbwc]

Originally Posted by findingourhome

Hi...I am a single mother of 5 boys (Soon to be 14, 12, 10, 8, & 2) and am thinking of relocating to VA for the 2012 school year. I currently live in NY and am certified in NYS to teach 7-12 math. I am wondering what the outlook on teacher hiring/employment looks like in VA. I definitely do not want to move my kids down there and then lose my job and need to move them again.
My kids currently attend a public school with about 100 kids/grade level. They enjoy playing football or soccer, basketball, & baseball and make all our local teams but are not outstanding athletes. They do Cub and Boy Scouts and serve at our local church. I would like them to continue these activities and am looking for a small school and a small town with a recreation department or some way to get the boys signed up for things like this. Education is also very important to me and I would like a good small public school. I know most southern schools are larger. Are there quality rural/suburban small schools my boys would be accepted at? My last question has to do with the fact that we are Catholic. I know many activities revolve around the church. Would there be things my kids could not sign up for (like baseball teams etc) that are only sponsored by local churches? Would being Catholic be difficult for them?
Thank you so much for your help. This move would be challenging to say the least and I'd like to do as much research as possible now and then head down to check some places out this summer. I really appreciate any advice you can give me. Thanks so much. God Bless...

Hi,
Virginia has county-wide school districts and some city districts. I am familiar with the districts in the northern part of the state so I'll speak to that.

Meets your criteria: The hiring outlook in this part of the state is relatively good compared to other parts of the country. The counties of Fairfax (which we are in), Prince William, Loudoun, and Stafford would be on your list for districts that will be hiring largely due to population growth. Since you are looking at 2012 you have time to explore and if you have someone who can watch the kids for a couple of days you could go to job fairs that the districts hold/attend. I think 7-12 is a good certification to hold. Here in Fairfax, as well as the other counties I mentioned, there are plenty of little leagues and youth clubs. My 10 year old son is doing swimming and baseball right now. Everybody plays. Everybody gets on a team in little league. The schools are good, but being a county district with a high population, the district itself is large. Individual buildings may be large or small. There are elementary schools (k-6) that have 400-500 students with 2 or 3 classes per grade level and there are a few elem. schools that have 1,200+ students. The others fall between that range. All of the middle and high schools are large. I don't know why being Catholic would "hurt them" in any part of the state. I think most of the activities you are speaking of are sponsored by leagues and the county. You mentioned rural/suburban. The suburban part you can easily find in the counties I mentioned. Where we live is an older, suburban neighborhood where everyone is very friendly and the kids are outside playing all the time.

Does not meet your criteria: You mentioned rural/suburban. The rural part will be harder to find in the counties I mentioned, especially Loudoun, Prince William, and definitely Fairfax. Overall, the districts are not small, but then again they are county-wide districts. I don't know how many years experience you have, or what other financial support you might have, but the cost of living is high in these counties. That may be prohibitive to you. All of the counties have payscale information on their websites.

Feel free to PM me if you need to.
Good luck.

[nikkayx333]

Hey there

If you're looking around the Richmond area here's some suggestions-

Chesterfield County- This isn't gonna meet your requirements of 100 children per grade in school but our area is known for having some of the best schools. There's a lot of schools but the best ones are in the Midlothian area.

County of Chesterfield, VA | Home
Chesterfield County Public Schools
Chesterfield Homes for Sale & Chesterfield Real Estate - VA | Homes.com

Powhatan- Small town, still near Richmond. I have family living here and they love it. Smaller schools but still awesome from what I know.

Welcome to Powhatan County, Virginia
Powhatan County Public Schools - PCPS Home
Powhatan Homes for Sale & Powhatan Real Estate - VA | Homes.com

Amelia- Pretty much the same as Powhatan, but Powhatan has a few more schools. Amelia only has 1 ES, MS, & HS. It's a tight community, everybody knows everybody. & They have fun activites for kids and adults alike. Amelia day is coming up!

Welcome to Amelia County, Virginia! Your Community Website ...
Home
Amelia Homes for Sale & Amelia Real Estate - VA | Homes.com


I'm Southern Baptist so I don't know how many Catholics are in the area, sorry! However I don't think you'll have a problem. I'd like to think we're pretty accepting around here. There's so many activites for kids to do around the Richmond area, there really isn't ever a religion problem. Here's some local Catholic churches.

Church of the Epiphany, Richmond, Virginia
St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church - Richmond, Virginia
St Gabriel Home
St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church | Welcome!
St. Michael Roman Catholic Church, Glen Allen, Virginia, Richmond Diocese
Welcome to Saint Benedict Catholic Church