fort lee area, which school? where to buy a house? suggestions? (Chester: apartments, middle school)

[kids_are_great]

than you, this link is great, good information. how far a drive is it from the schools you mentioned to fort lee. yahoo map said 40 min. is that about right?

right now we have one acre land with our house, we live very rual, we have a well and phone/tv/internet is by satellite since we have no cables running out here. are there any rual houses in chesterfield for sale? is it easier to find a house in a rural area or will i have less stress finding one in a town/city. i looked at houses online and i noticed that houses do not have attached garages, it that normal?


what is the weather like in chesterfield? we have a lot of tonados warning and had a neighbour town chapman distroyed by a tornado last year. do you have hurricanes? how are the winters, is there enough snow for the kids to go sledding? we usually have a lot of ice storms and some snow.


i decided to involve my son`s school councelor and his school phsychiatrist to help me find the right school. i feel overwelmed with all the information on all the websites and some websites give different score numbers, i guess it helps to have the right person ask the school directly with the right questions.

i tought preschool for 2 years then had my own home daycare for another 2 years. is there a big demand on childcare in chesterfiel? would it be easy to find a job in the school system?


is the shopping at the commissary cheaper than any other store? what kind of stores are in the local area. are there nice parks with playgrounds? what is there to do as a family on the weekends?

we have a little boat, 16 feet long with outside motor. is there any lake around we could be using it?

and again i really appreciate all your answers and all the help i am getting, i feel so much better now and i am very certain we will be moving to the chesterfield community. thank you so much.

[onevthoki]

Question for you... I know you mentioned you have one child that will be in the gifted program and another that may need autism services. Which grade will each child be in, i.e. is it the high schooler, middle schooler or elementary child that will be in the gifted program. And then same for the child needing the autism services?

Now, you asked a question on the location of Enon, Chester Middle and TDHS. Yes, they are all located on Route 10, in addition to Curtis Elementary. Now, on the amount of students, I can give you my experience as a mom and what my children will be experiencing. Because of budget cuts, class size IS going up in Chesterfield County. My children had maybe 18-22 students in their class, but each grade is losing a teacher (at my child's school), so I am guessing the size may be anywhere from 25-30 this year. It seems about the only area school district that did not have significant budget cuts is Henrico County, which is a bit further from Fort Lee.

Has your husband contacted Fort Lee to see what the housing wait would be for you and your family? Since you provide day-care services it may make it easier for you. Our family loved my son's first FCC provider!

Keep the questions coming as you do more research!

[kids_are_great]

my almost 14 year (8th grade) old son has the autism and he is the one i am focusing on. my first priority is a good high school. then i will look for a middle school for my knows too much for her own good daughter, last year she set herself the goal to go to yale one day. she wants to be a therapist so she can help kids like her brother. she turned 11 (6th grade) in may. my little one will most likely go to that middle school too if we stay 4 years. he will turn 7 august 31st (2nd grade) so i also need an elementary school for him.

in our 15 year military life we only lived on post once. we do not like to live on post. we both agreed we would like to buy a house. and who knows maybe we like it so much that we will sell the kansas house in 4 years and stay to retire in virgina. a lot of people told me i would really love virginia. that it is so pretty there and it would remind me so much of germany. i am german and i miss germany - my family, the food and to speak german - i just miss it. my oldest never really learned german, it was just too much for him to process 2 language when he was younger. daughter understands a lot but she does not want to speak it. little just started to try to repeat me when i speak german.


i also have 2 big dogs, 2 cats, and we used to have a rabbit, 4 birds and fish too. i rather have my own house with so many pets and kids (mine and daycare kids).


is there a hospital for family members on post fort lee? do they offer all kind off different doctors or do you have to go to richmond for certain doctors?


are you allowed to fire fireworks during 4th july celebrations?


how far is it to the ocean?

how far is it to washington dc?

(my kids are asking me to write down their questions)

can you get fresh fish/shrimps - do they taste better than the ones you get at the store in kansas?



wow, we still have so many questions. we are starting to go from shocked that we have to move to being excited and looking forward to move.

[onevthoki]

Okay, for some reason I did not see the post you had earlier today, not to mention the one above, so let me do what I can...

I would say the price point you are looking at for homes is going to determine whether or not the home has a garage. Now, I will also say that most of the homes in Chesterfield are on smaller lots than you are used to. If you want to continue to live in a more rural area, you may want to look at Prince George or Dinwiddie Counties.

On the weather, these days there is rarely any snow in our area. We did get about 4-6 inches once this winter, and schools were out for 3 days. But the year before we didn't get anything. So your kids may end up being a bit bummed about the lack of snow.

On the autism issue, one of the ladies I volunteer with in the Spouses' Club has a middle school with a mild case, and I believe she is sending her to one of the (county) schools that has a program for her. I will email her to see if she is okay with me passing along her email to you through a direct message. She will probably be a great resource to you.

On child care, I would say the centers are hurting for business right now, There have been a lot of layoffs in our area and since they are not working many parents are pulling the kids out of care. Not sure on providers in the home. And unfortunately the schools aren't doing much hiring either with the budget cutbacks I mentioned earlier. You may want to check with the CDC at Fort Lee. They recently opened (or opening soon) another center, so that might be an option for you.

You asked about the commissary... I save tons of money shopping at the commissary. One day I had over $26 in coupons - yippee! Some of the weekly specials will be cheaper at the other stores, but often for me, it's worth it to pay a bit more and only go to one place. Your other major options are Wal-Mart, Food Lion, Krogers, and Ukrops (local chain). As far as other shopping, it just depends what you are looking for and how far you want to drive. You can have almost any store you want within a 45-minute radius.

For the boat, there are plenty of places. You have two rivers close by, the James and the Appomatox. There are also several lakes (Anna, Chesdin)nearby that you can use.

At Fort Lee there is Kenner Army Health Clinic. It is not a hospital. There are the normal clinics and of course pediatrics. It used to be that they would not refer many people out for primary care, but I now have a private doctor as my PCM and am getting ready to have my husband and the kids referred out. I will say that if you cannot get an appointment, they are pretty good about referring you out to Patient First for urgent care. The problem is that there are not many doctors taking Prime right now, however I do expect/hope that will be changing with the BRAC changes taking place.

Fireworks... each locality has there own regulations, but for the most part, they are not allowed. Ft. Lee does a pretty large celebration called Fourth at the Fort that seems to be well attended. We always seem to be out-of-town though, so no personal experience.

The beach... you can get to VA Beach within about two hours and the Outer Banks in NC in about 3 hours. Fort Story is at VA Beach and they have The Cape Henry Inn (The Cape Henry Inn and Beach Club is an Armed Forces Recreation Center (AFRC) located on historic Ft. Story, less than 3 miles from Virginia Beach.) which has rooms and cottages at reasonable rates.

Washington, DC... well, you are about 120 miles to DC. I won't tell you how long it takes you to drive there, because with I95, you never know! But there is tons to do and you should definitely take advantage to get up there while you are so close.

And let the kids know they can catch their own fish here! Plus the commissary has an awesome seafood department. For Christmas I preordered stuffed salmon and it was delicious!

Hope this helps...

[kids_are_great]

wow, so much information, so much more than i had hoped for. thank you very much. now i just have to wait 5 more months till my husband goes to virginia. i feel comfortable now that i am choosing the right school district, i just hope their class sizes do not go up too high. since it is "only" for 4 years i can live with a smaller lot and a smaller house.

thanks again for all the answers to my many many questions.

[princess82399]

Hello, we were stationed at Ft. Lee and have since PCS'd, we did our research and bought a house in The Meadows at Prince George. A very nice and safe neighborhood that is close to post.

We will be renting out our 5Bdrm/3Bath house Mar 1 2010. Below is the listing. We are also listed with the Army Housing Referral Network, I recommend you look there to see all your options and you can do a BAH search.

MUST SEE! New 2-Story home. 5/3, $1,650 p/mo., 2,500 sq. ft.

1 bedroom & bath on 1st floor; 4 bedrooms, & 2 baths on 2nd floor. Open floor plan -family room w/fireplace, kitchen/dining, formal dining & living rooms, laundry rm. Covered front porch & large rear deck 16' x 12'. Yard backs up to a forest wood line, great for privacy.

Carpet throughout with hard wood floors in foyer & formal dining room. Linoleum tiles in kitchen, dining area, laundry & bathrooms. Kitchen has ample countertop space, cabinets and all new appliances to include: Stainless steel fridge w/water and ice dispenser, dishwasher, microwave, flat top range, oven and garbage disposal.

Master suite includes a luxurious garden tub w/window, 2 sinks and a separate shower. It has 2 closets, 1 large walk in. Split hidden staircase and small balcony above foyer entrance. Dual air conditioning/heating units, one upstairs and one on main level. 2-car automatic garage and paved driveway.

Home is located in a new neighborhood community with very little traffic. Only 5.1 miles from Ft. Lee, 1.2 miles from Food Lion/gas station and 15 minutes to South Park mall/restaurants.

Formal Living Rm 11' 7" x 10' 10"
Formal Dining Rm 11' 6" x 10' 7"
Family Room 16' 11" x 12' 6"
Kitchen 10' 9" x 10' 2"
Eat in Kitchen 10' 9" x 9' 4"
Mstr Bedroom 16' 10" x 12' 6"
Bedroom 2 = 11' 7" x 10' 10"
Bedroom 3 = 11' 6"
Bedroom 4 = 18' 4" x 14' 1"
Bedroom 5 = 11' 8" x 10' 2"
2 Car Garage 23' 9" x 20'

Will allow early lease termination if renter has orders to relocate. Military personnel can opt for discounted deposit or pay in installments. Pictures and floor plan upon request.

Low rent price for a 5 Bdrm/3 Bath home and very close to post so don't wait! Home has been keep in emaculate condition.

If interested, please email Christina.vargas1@us.army.mil.

Thank you and God bless.

[BrianLMA]

Another vote for Chesterfield County! It wouldn't be too bad of a commute if you can stay around the Chester area. I grew up in that area and have since moved to the Hampton Roads area. Here's a site from the Va Department of Education I find helpful:
https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/reportcard/

Enjoy your time at Fort Lee(isure)!

[pgdisney]

Prince George County has a great middle school program as they offer the IB program to grades 6 to 10. ([url=http://www.ibo.org]International Baccalaureate (IB)[/url]) I am a Prince George graduate and my children will be as well. We have been very pleased with the school system.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by kids_are_great

is there a hospital for family members on post fort lee? do they offer all kind off different doctors or do you have to go to richmond for certain doctors?

how far is it to the ocean?

how far is it to washington dc?

(my kids are asking me to write down their questions)

can you get fresh fish/shrimps - do they taste better than the ones you get at the store in kansas?.

My first assignment after college was supposed to be Washington DC but I ended up in Petersburg, VA. In the three years that I lived in the area, I lived in Hopewell and Petersburg, the towns adjacent to Ft. Lee.

The schools in the area are NOT good as compared with the schools in the midwest. A high school diploma in the area is no guarantee of being able to read and write. (Sorry, but that is my experience as a hiring manager).

When you do get to the area, I would HIGHLY recommend that you pay a visit to schools prior to committing to a particular area.

You will be about two hours from a real beach, 3-5 hours from Washington DC (where the traffic is legendary), and 2-3 hours from the mountains.

Most of the shrimp in VA is NOT local and is sourced elsewhere. You can get VERY FRESH oysters, clams, and blue crabs from the Chesapeake Bay and tributaries. There are a lot of fish locally caught and many people have boats that they will take you out on. And if you are into fishing, there are a number of good bait shops.


You may take my post as negative. I want to make one point clear. Of all the places that I have ever lived, Petersburg was of the friendliest. My position at the old Petersburg General Hospital (now Southside Virginia Regional Medical Center), I had the opportunity to meet hundreds of retired military people as well as all of the local pastors. There was NEVER a holiday where I did not receive SEVERAL invites to join their family. Many weekends, Some of the retired guys would invite me over for a grill out - and I had NO connection at all with the military. To this day, I have friends who stay in touch with me.

One thing that you DID not mention is that the Petersburg area is one of the most significant Civil War sites. Crater National Military Park is right next to Fort Lee and is worth several days of exploration. There are at least 3-4 historical sites in the downtown area. You are within 90 minutes of many Revolutionary War sites. Richmond is 30 miles up the road.

Petersburg National Battlefield - The Crater (U.S. National Park Service)



Petersburg itself is not the "hell hole" that a lot of Virginians like to make it out to be. It was an old tobacco town that has had most of its business stripped from it.

As I post this from Chicagoland, I am looking at my prized poster - a framed poster of the twelve Louis Tiffany windows in the Old Blandford Church.

City of Petersburg "BLANDFORD CHURCH" (http://www.petersburg-va.org/tourism/blandford.htm - broken link)


As for snow, pray that you DON'T get a storm. When the flurries start, people start to panic. If there is more than three inches, the hospital calls out the 4WD volunteers to pick up the staff. The cities do not have snow plows. Fort Lee will send out people to plow the main roads. However, since they do not plow out the secondary streets, the plowed snow can block your way into the side streets. Now there are some advantages. It is a GREAT TIME to go shopping, to the movies as you will be by yourself.

[kdubowik]

Stay out of Hopewell. Live on Post if you can. The wait list moves very fast. We were number 40 and had a place within three weeks of being put on the list. (We wanted out of Hopewell) The school district for Fort Lee is the Prince George county school district and I have had excelent support for bothe my gifted daughter and my autistic son. I realize you are probably already here, but I wanted to leave this reply incase you have not settled in anywhere yet. You can emailme at [email]kelly_dubowik@yahoo.com[/email] if you would like.