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We are relocating to the Pacific Northwest in the next few months. We are a family of 5, one child in Preschool, one in 3rd grade and one in 5th grade currently. My husband works remotely so we can live anywhere there is reasonably fast internet as long as he can travel to Seattle a couple times a month. I don't work currently, but will be looking for a job in the medical field when our youngest son starts either kindergarten or 1st grade.
We have narrowed down our search to a few communities in Washington that are driving distance to Seattle. One of them is Port Townsend. We have not visited any of them yet, but are trying to get everything in order so we know where to visit and where not to before a trip there in late March.
Port Townsend is at the top of my list because it seems like a really small town (I don't like cities), the pictures of it look really nice, and a friend of mine who has visited there before said she really liked it a lot. But I have questions and I need some answers so please help if you can.
1. Schools - it seems that there are possibly two public school choices for K-8 or 1-8, either Grant Street or Blue Heron? Is this correct? Which school is better? Thinking mostly of my 3rd and 5th grader, we will put the younger one in the same school as the one we choose for them. (not very common to have 1st - 8th in one school but I wasn't sure if this was accurate info..) What extracurricular activities does the school offer? What is the teaching atmosphere? Any feedback is appreciated. I know there are a few private schools, but that won't be possible at this time, we need to stick with the public school system.
2. Out of school activities for children, dance classes, library activities, karate classes, swimming, clubs?
3. According to online data, Port Townsend is pretty safe town, any thoughts on that?
4. Any cool things, groups, clubs for stay-at-home moms to get involved with so I can meet others?
5. Local shopping, can you get most of what you need in town or do you have to travel?
6. Is the high speed internet reasonably fast in town? Concerned due to the remoteness of the town.
THANK YOU!! Any and all input will be much appreciated!
Julie
We are relocating to the Pacific Northwest in the next few months. We are a family of 5, one child in Preschool, one in 3rd grade and one in 5th grade currently. My husband works remotely so we can live anywhere there is reasonably fast internet as long as he can travel to Seattle a couple times a month. I don't work currently, but will be looking for a job in the medical field when our youngest son starts either kindergarten or 1st grade.
We have narrowed down our search to a few communities in Washington that are driving distance to Seattle. One of them is Port Townsend. We have not visited any of them yet, but are trying to get everything in order so we know where to visit and where not to before a trip there in late March.
Port Townsend is at the top of my list because it seems like a really small town (I don't like cities), the pictures of it look really nice, and a friend of mine who has visited there before said she really liked it a lot. But I have questions and I need some answers so please help if you can.
1. Schools - it seems that there are possibly two public school choices for K-8 or 1-8, either Grant Street or Blue Heron? Is this correct? Which school is better? Thinking mostly of my 3rd and 5th grader, we will put the younger one in the same school as the one we choose for them. (not very common to have 1st - 8th in one school but I wasn't sure if this was accurate info..) What extracurricular activities does the school offer? What is the teaching atmosphere? Any feedback is appreciated. I know there are a few private schools, but that won't be possible at this time, we need to stick with the public school system.
2. Out of school activities for children, dance classes, library activities, karate classes, swimming, clubs?
3. According to online data, Port Townsend is pretty safe town, any thoughts on that?
4. Any cool things, groups, clubs for stay-at-home moms to get involved with so I can meet others?
5. Local shopping, can you get most of what you need in town or do you have to travel?
6. Is the high speed internet reasonably fast in town? Concerned due to the remoteness of the town.
THANK YOU!! Any and all input will be much appreciated!
Julie
1. We have a fourth and 6th grader. Its their first full year here. They love it. (Mind you this is the big city for us, we came from very rural. . Grant street is K through 3rd and Blue Heron is 4th through 8th. Music starts in 5th grade, most sports are through county rec for the younger ages. (Great programs, no shortage of stuff for kids to get involved in.)
2. Yes all of the above.
3. We leave our keys in the car and sometimes.lock the door. (Mind you we are country folks, and don't know better..lol). It is safe, no worry about kids being downtown trick or treating. Older kids are respectful, say hi to adults, look you in the eye and so forth.
4.yes yoga classes, bike clubs rowing clubs,book clubs. Maybe not just for moms, plenty of retired folks too.
5. Shopping.. What do need? Groceries yes. The vibe here is to keep it local, no big boxes. It is a anti shopping, anti materialistic community. We celebrate a good find at Goodwill.
6. I seems good at the coffee shop.
Visit, first though.. Either you like the very unique vib or you don't.
We are not like the majority of towns in America, and want to keep it that way!
Can't have strip malls and sprawl, and be a.quaint 1800's Victorian seaport town.
We kept our old buildings, because the community values them over convienence.
School choices are limited but you have the choice of Grant St K-3 and then on to Blue Heron 4-8. There are private schools like Swan K-6 and then Jefferson Community School 7-12. There is a robust home school program as well through the school district. Our kids are 13 and 15. The activities that they do and have done in the past include Little League softball, Soccer, Voice lessons, Guitar lessons and Dance. There is ample opportunity for Theater roles both at the Key City Public Theater and the High School. The school community and adults is/are welcome to try out for parts.
It is safe and civil and get used to shopping local. If not it is a 50 minute drive to Silverdale and 40 minutes to Sequim for other options.
The average age here is 54 years and that should present some options in the medical field. We also have Jefferson Hospital.
It is hilly and often windy so our internet sometimes glitches but we are happy with it overall.
There are often festivals of some sort going on in PT. It seems they know how to make their own fun. It is a quirky place but the quality of life here is good.
Thank you so much TrueTimbers and Mev for your quick replies. I guess the school info websites I looked at were all wrong, strange. I like the small-town thing and I'm OK to drive for shopping more than food, just curious about it since kids seem to be constantly growing out of clothes and shoes.
Port Townsend sounds like a safe and nice place with a lot of things to do for a small city. I have read about some of the festivals and they all sound pretty nice too.
It looks like my younger child would start in Grant Street and the older two would both be at Blue Heron next year - does this pose a problem for picking up, dropping off kids? I like that they start music program in 5th grade, that's unusual. How is the art instruction at the school? How are the teachers in the public schools? I was looking at test scores and it looks like they didn't do so well in some areas.
I'm sure I'll think of more questions, but it is looking like a strong (I want to!) possibility that we will put Port Townsend on our list to visit.
Thank you so much TrueTimbers and Mev for your quick replies. I guess the school info websites I looked at were all wrong, strange. I like the small-town thing and I'm OK to drive for shopping more than food, just curious about it since kids seem to be constantly growing out of clothes and shoes.
Port Townsend sounds like a safe and nice place with a lot of things to do for a small city. I have read about some of the festivals and they all sound pretty nice too.
It looks like my younger child would start in Grant Street and the older two would both be at Blue Heron next year - does this pose a problem for picking up, dropping off kids? I like that they start music program in 5th grade, that's unusual. How is the art instruction at the school? How are the teachers in the public schools? I was looking at test scores and it looks like they didn't do so well in some areas.
I'm sure I'll think of more questions, but it is looking like a strong (I want to!) possibility that we will put Port Townsend on our list to visit.
The school releases are staggered. (Same busses pick up all grades.)
Performance. We are a poor rural school district. This is the Olympic peninsula.. Loggers, mill workers, shop keepers. (We do pretty good considering how poor and rural we are!) Teachers are caring and nurturing.. No it is not a wealthy ivy league prep school district.
I strongly suggest visiting the school and getting concerns addressed directly.
You don't mention the type of lifestyle you are leaving, so just want to be sure that you realize there are some downsides to living in such an isolated small community. PT is indeed lovely, but it may not be a great fit for everyone.
Given that you have school-aged children, how close would you like to be to large museums, zoos, amusement parks, etc.? Driving to Seattle (plus ferry) or Tacoma to visit the types of attractions listed will be 2+ hours in one direction.
When your children are middle and high school age, they (and you) will have to travel quite a distance if they choose to participate in school sports. PTHS's nearest by distance school rival is Chimicum HS (20 minutes away). Klahowya SS is about one hour away, and Coupeville HS on Whidbey Island involves a ferry so scheduling becomes a concern.
Retail in PT does not always cater to children. There was one adorable children's store on the waterfront, but I'm not sure it is there anymore (and my kiddos are too old for it now, so I don't keep up). I love Completely Puzzled (store), but you may have to venture out of town if your kiddos are into Minecraft or whatever new "fad" game pops up. Apparel can be found in PA and Sequim, but chances are you will have to venture to Silverdale to the mall (Macy's, Penney's, etc.) or Internet shop.
Hi NWbound,
Curious where you're moving from? First off, I've lived here for over 10 years. Everything the previous people have said is true, this is small town and PT has it's own ways of doing things. It's a very local orientated, organic, small town, which is nice, but very far from big city life (and 2 hrs from the big city to). Most people I know do shopping trips to Sequim which is 45 min drive, to go to Costco, Walmart, Home Depot, and the other stuff you can't get in PT. There are two grocery stores and the local Food Co-Op here in PT which cover most food shopping needs. But with kids, I find myself in Sequim alot and occasionally in Silverdale (the mall is there, about 1 hr drive).
We have a couple of movie theaters and a drive in theater in the summer, a community center in uptown where kids can go to play games like basketball, table hockey, with a playground outside for smaller kids. There are a few nice other playgrounds in town. The Marine Science center is nice, in Fort Worden, and there is allways exploring the Fort and going to the beach. There are clubs, classes, some small museaums, but Seattle has alot more like that to offer.
The schools - the good, the bad, the ugly ;
1. Grant Street (K to 3) really nice, super teachers, super classes, nice extras like music, art, PE, feels like a family there, I wish my kids never grew up enough to leave Grant Street.
2. Blue Heron - bigger school, a little hard on the smaller kids being mixed in with the bigger ones, but the school does a good job of keeping the middle school kids apart from the 4th & 5th graders. Teachers - some really good ones, some who have been there a long time. Lately, alot of changes in teachers, some retired, some took jobs other places. The administration, not good. Teachers are not happy, the new principal (3 years since they hired her) isn't a good manager, the teachers are really unhappy and frustrated and some have quit because of her. I know alot of the teachers and they're really frustrated and wonder how long they'll need to put up with the current admin, some are looking for other jobs. This is really sad because they are good teachers and it didn't used to be like this with the last 2 principals. Sometimes the feeling of anxiety is so high in the school you can cut it with a knife. It's too bad, other than that it's a pretty good small town school. I am only telling you about this because as a parent, I am concerned about how the teacher's frustration with the admin. effects my children, and it seems like it takes them a long time to hire new teachers when one leaves, so I'm not sure how all this will play out. Just FYI
3. High School - some teachers who are really great and inspiring, some who are so-so, but that's probably everywhere. There are a good number of clubs and other activities for kids to be involved in. They have a great drama club and put on really good plays. The HS principal has been there a long time, she's pretty easy to deal with, the feeling there is different than Blue Heron, it's more relaxed.
The kids - PT is full of really great kids. Of course there is a "bad" element, but the bad here is nothing like the bad in some places. Most of the kids here are really polite, thoughtful, kind and good. I wouldn't trade the kids here, and the friends that your kids will make, with anything in the world, they are really some of the best.
I hope this isn't TMI, but I thought you should know about the school politics here since I think all this has an effect on the kids.
Overall, PT is a really great town for kids. When you come visit make sure you take time to visit the schools, meet the principals and some teachers, and see what you think. GOOD LUCK
Hi suzieQ1970,
thank you for your reply. Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to this discussion, my kids got sick one after the other. Finally we are all on the mend.
You have an interesting perspective on the school politics, it sounds like you are very frustrated with the situation. I have done some reading on other places and found some frustration there as well. I hope the school district can work out it's problems. I don't think any school anywhere is perfect. One thing I did find is state standardized test scores at Blue Heron seem to have gone down the last few years in quite a few grades and subjects, overall it doesn't show improvement, so that concerns me. Perhaps the unhappiness in the school has played a part. We are definitely going to visit the schools too while we are here. Children spend a huge amount of their lives in school, it's really important that the school is a place that fosters successful learning (and teaching). A couple of other towns I am looking at seem to have had improved test scores, not worse, so...
Anyway, so busy here, packing, getting rid of stuff, and still looking. It looks like we will be coming to Washington (and Port Townsend too) around the second week of April during our spring break.
Thank you everyone for your input, it does really help.
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. Grant street is K through 3rd and Blue Heron is 4th through 8th. Music starts in 5th grade, most sports are through county rec for the younger ages. (Great programs, no shortage of stuff for kids to get involved in.)
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