Quote:
Originally Posted by j-cellis
My husband is in the navy and will be stationed at the Bremerton naval hospital next year. I am beginning my research of the area and would like some input on where we should live. My primary concern is schools. I have 5 kids ranging from high school to newborn and I want the best schools available. Can anyone give me some input? So far, towns I am looking at include Port Orchard, Silverdale, Kingston, and Poulsbo. I would also be interested to know some about the traffic situation in the area.
Thanks!
Christy
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Well, let's see:
I am from Silverdale; went to Silverdale Elementary, then Central Kitsap Junior High, then graduated from Central Kitsap High in 1998 and have fond memories and received a fine education. Back then CKHS was a great school; my best friend's mom still works there. Laid-back students with many enrolled in AP classes, great faculty, etc. Not sure how it is these days.
Silverdale as a town has grown exponentially; there is SO MUCH traffic, strip malls, etc. We're shocked every time we go home to visit. I miss the quiet, friendly old Silverdale. Now everyone's a stranger and there are 10 million cars everywhere and miles of parking lots outside of big box stores. Yick.
My husband is from Port Orchard and we still own a house there (currently rented). There is just one high school that is GINORMOUS. Something like 3,000+ students. If your husband works at the NH, the traffic getting from Bremerton to South Kitsap (where Port Orchard is) can be problematic, as there's only one little stretch of road around the inlet that gets VERY backed up at certain times of the day. I personally like Port Orchard, but the South Kitsap school district hasn't always had the best reputation (my SIL who still lives there homeschools her kids) and the traffic can be a pain if you're commuting to/from Bremerton.
Poulsbo, up in North Kitsap, used to be an incredibly lovely quaint little town (founded by Norwegian immigrants, adorable little downtown on the water, Lutheran church with headstones in Norwegian) but its outskirts have become pretty sprawly, complete with a Super Walmart. If you live fairly close to Highway 3 (the freeway) the commute shouldn't be bad for your husband, and there's the added bonus of being pretty close to Subase Bangor, so you could go there for their commissary/NEX instead of trekking down to Bremerton. I'm not sure about the North Kitsap school district; back in my day it had a reputation for racial issues and funding problems (back then there were a lot of senior citizens who would always vote no on school levies to avoid increasing their property taxes) but hopefully you could find more up-to-date information on that.
Kingston is nice, but it's a bit of a haul for your husband to commute, as it's north of Poulsbo.
Sounds like you've figured this out, but Bremerton itself is to be avoided. There are parts of Bremerton that have pleasant old houses, but Bremerton schools are no good. Central Kitsap has long been the desirable school district.
I think you'll love living on the Kitsap Peninsula. We've been here at Naval Base Guam for five years, but we go home to visit periodically and always remember how much we love that place!
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05-14-2008, 07:46 PM
Military Family trying to decide where to live.
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