Gig Harbor Schools (Seattle, Tacoma, Redmond: 2009, houses, neighborhoods)

[Noodle2U]

Hello All,

DH and I will be returning to Seattle after an 8 yr. work relo in Texas.

We are trying to decide between Gig Harbor and Bainbridge Island. The price of houses seems to be better in Gig Harbor, but we honestly dont know much about their schools. Does anyone have any experience with them? Aside from scores - what kind of reputation do the schools carry, etc?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[OsborneCox]

Trying to make the same decision. Two Kindergarten children; Want great schools that are not too large. "Nice" downtown area for walking, coffee, pubs, food, etc. No strip mall main streets with Burger King, Midas Muffler, type stuff. More pavers & streetlight kinda feel (think Dunedin FL, Old Town Alexandria VA, Sausalito CA, Edgartown on the vineyard, etc.) Love to get into seattle once in awhile for a night out sans kids, but no need to be super close. One telecommutes from home, the other needs to get to/from SeaTac once, maybe twice a week. Quality of life & schools are biggest concerns. Looking to spend about 700-800K. Outside of Gig & Bainbridge, any other "small towns"/areas come to mind? Thanks.

[mthomson]

I wrote a blog on the Gig Harbor schools last week and got some good comments from folks in the system. You can read it here.

[cabocurtis]

I too have been contemplating a move to Gig Harbor and have a middle school aged boy. We chose not to put him in Seattle public schools. For the post looking for other smaller towns outside of Gig and Bainbridge perhaps looks at Vashon Island(really small and reliant on Ferry) and at $700-800 in todays market can likely get into a decent Mercer Island home and their excellent school system. Another community I like if you do not have to commute is Redmond although is sprawled a bit. Bainbridge and Mercer have some of the best testing scores but have heard the students can be stressed with excessive homework and emphasis on WASL scores. Unlike the above schools Gig Harbor teachers can actually afford to live in the community they teach. Gig Harbor high has a larger student count but my nieces go there and have been to other school districts and have had a favorable experience with my graduating niece getting accepted at some great colleges. Gig Harbor doesnt give me the island feel isolation like Bainbridge or Vashon and with non commute trips to Seattle and Tacoma are pretty easy and also there is train service from Tacoma. Another perk is ease of travel to Portland by car or train from Gig Harbor and to Ocean beaches. You miss the traffic crawl from Seattle to Tacoma.

[OsborneCox]

Cabo,
Thanks for the reply! Still looking at Gig, Bainbridge, and may look a little harder at Vashon. Not going to do Mercer...not a value, imo...Then again, after the winter the Seattle area is having, I think I may pass on the whole place!!

[cabocurtis]

We did have a good amount of snow then rain but the remaining 3 weeks of January and through this first week of February the weather has dried up(ytd rain back to normal) and last few days have been partly sunny in low 50s. As you know we get rewarded for some short term pain days with a generally ideal summer. Vashon is a good option if you are okay with the ferry system. They like most state institutions the ferry system is struggling financially so service and or prices will likely get worse. That is why I keep coming back to Gig Harbor versus Bainbridge and Vashon. I think there are some housing values to be found. Prices are finally dropping. If working in Seattle they have the train from Tacoma Dome and also Sound transit express buses which I have seen and look pretty comfortable. Good luck on whatever way you go!