Teacher Looking to move to West Virginia (Charleston, Huntington: low crime, loan)

[mistermurphy]

Hi I am considering moving my family from California. According to the national data bases West Virginia has a much better ed system than ours. How do you feel about the education system for both elementary and high school? We are looking at Charleston or Hunnington. I have read different reports...some say high crime and others say low crime, clean or dirty, so I really don't know what to think. Any feed back about being a teacher in this state? Also... we are wiccan. Is this an issue in this state? Being shunned is a definite no moving signal! LOL

[tbailey1138]

You would be welcome here in Huntington. Huntington would be a good area for you to live in as there are plenty of options here from an education standpoint. There is a variety of both public and private schools here and for the most part, I feel that the school systems here provide kids with a quality education and many oportunities. The area is also currently in the process of rebuilding many of the elementary and middle schools and the high schools are only about 10-15 years old. Having Marshall University close provides even more opportunity as they have a program to allow high school students to take college classes by working this into their class schedule. GottaHerdOn(another member on the forum) will be able to give you more info from this standpoint as I believe he is actually in school at Marshall for a teaching degree.

From the clean/dirty standpoint, there are a few different factors that one has to take into place. I feel that overall, Huntington is a clean city and that most areas are well cared for. But like all places, there are a few areas that could use a little more clean up. These tend to be isolated areas though such as Fraternaty Row after they've had a big party etc. One must also consider that if you come from a more temperate climate where everything is green all of the time it's sometimes a shock to come to an area like WV where the plants become dormant in the winter. This makes for a beautiful autumn but for a bleak/colorless winter/early spring. Add to this the salt that often ends up on the roads in the winter and things often appear dirty when in fact they aren't.

In terms of crime, compared to other WV towns that have a few hundred or a couple of thousand people, crime in Huntington and Charleston is higher. But when you compare the two cities to others across the country, as others have pointed out, the crime is pretty low.

Overall Huntington is a great city with lots to do in terms of culture, entertainment, parks etc. and there is plenty of opportunity here. To get a preview of Huntington, go watch "We Are Marshall" and there are some pretty good shots of the town as the movie was actually filmed here. I've also included some links to give you a better feel of what Huntington has to offer. Let me know if you need anything else.
Tim

Huntington, WV Online
City of Huntington, West Virginia
The Greater Huntington Community Web Portal
Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District
Welcome to Marshall University

[David Kennedy]

If I were wiccan I would honestly look elsewhere. To be safe in almost any community, you would need to keep this personal issue secret. West Virginian's are deeply routed in their Christian beliefs and any hint at witchcraft is viewed very negatively. You could get by in the larger metropolitan areas but the rural areas are a different matter. This state is definitely rural with a rural mindset everywhere. Some communities where violent secret groups still exist would take this as a confrontation to the well being of their community and take action.
My people were Irish and practiced the ancient Celtic religions prior to their invasion by the english...its just not well known enough here...this is West Virginia, we are about 30 years behind the culture of the USA. You are moving into a culture that is foriegn to that of mainstream USA. It's like a country unto itself...good luck

[tbailey1138]

One of my co-workers is wiccan and she seems to like it here in Huntington(can't speak for the Morgantown area when it comes to this). She doesn't really talk about it much but she doesn't complain about it either.

[creemarie]

I also agree that Huntington would be a great place to live. From what I have observed, the school systems seem to be great. In addition, the city itself offers something for just about everyone. You might be interested in some of these websites for fun things to do in the area:

Pullman Square - Restaurants Shopping Entertainment
Under Construction
Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV
Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center, Inc. | 924 Fourth Avenue Huntington, WV 25701 (304) 696-3529
Huntington Outdoor Theatre
Big Sandy Superstore Arena - Huntington, WV

In reagards to your religion, I don't forsee that being an issue in Huntington. True, some secluded/remote parts of WV may be unaccepting of someone with different beliefs than them, but being in a more populated area people are open to our differences. In addition, since Huntington is home to Marshall University,there is a wide variety of peolpe in the area. In fact, just a few months ago, Marshall institued a new policy allowing pagan holidays as excused absenses. University adds Pagan holidays to absence list - News
So, I would say Huntington is pretty open minded.

Hope this helps!

[awakenthesun22]

Since you're wiccan, you'd probably love Asheville, NC. It's like the wiccan hotspot of America.

[SteelersFan09]

Originally Posted by David Kennedy

If I were wiccan I would honestly look elsewhere. To be safe in almost any community, you would need to keep this personal issue secret. West Virginian's are deeply routed in their Christian beliefs and any hint at witchcraft is viewed very negatively. You could get by in the larger metropolitan areas but the rural areas are a different matter. This state is definitely rural with a rural mindset everywhere. Some communities where violent secret groups still exist would take this as a confrontation to the well being of their community and take action.
My people were Irish and practiced the ancient Celtic religions prior to their invasion by the english...its just not well known enough here...this is West Virginia, we are about 30 years behind the culture of the USA. You are moving into a culture that is foriegn to that of mainstream USA. It's like a country unto itself...good luck

Agreed. I caught lots of gruff from a LOT of people for not putting Christianity in my list of important things in life. I'm not bashing anyone from WV, but the morals of the people here are very important to them and for that matter, pretty heterogeneous. Your spiritual views will likely be looked down upon when you meet most people. In addition to this, if you're a teacher, I can't recommend WV in general. I moved out of the state after I got out of MU because of terrible pay and some pretty rough public education systems in general.

[tbailey1138]

Originally Posted by SteelersFan09

Agreed. I caught lots of gruff from a LOT of people for not putting Christianity in my list of important things in life. I'm not bashing anyone from WV, but the morals of the people here are very important to them and for that matter, pretty heterogeneous. Your spiritual views will likely be looked down upon when you meet most people. In addition to this, if you're a teacher, I can't recommend WV in general. I moved out of the state after I got out of MU because of terrible pay and some pretty rough public education systems in general.

You may get a few people who will give you a rough time but I think by and large, in Huntington at least, not too many will make a huge deal out of it. As far as teacher pay, that's the nice thing about Huntington because if you don't like the pay in WV then Ohio and Kentucky are 15-20 minutes away. I have a friend who teaches in Kentucky but lives in Huntington and it works out fine for her.

[Katie1]

Forget the Religous stuff...the pay for teachers in WV is LOW...good luck!

[GottaHerdOn]

The cost of living in WV is also LOW as well Katie.

I'm currently in my Junior year of teacher education here at Marshall University in Huntington, WV. The teaching market in West Virginia is a little ify, mostly due to pay being low. However, all teachers will be getting roughly a $5,000 raise across the board next fiscal year. There are some areas of the state, mostly areas of growth that are in grave need of teachers, especially foreign language, science (chemistry), mathematics, and special education. I read an article in my hometown's (Elkins, WV - North Central WV) newspaper about how many positions went unfilled this year, especially chemistry and Spanish positions. The same can be said all across the state. The eastern panhandle's population has exploded and they are opening 3-4 new high schools I believe in or around Martinsburg (Berkeley County)and Jefferson County. Lawmakers in that part of the state are fighting to gain more control of teachers pay over there because they really are in need of hundreds if not a few thousand teachers. The state is also looking at ways to get current teachers who are not currently certified in those high demand areas, to get them certified in those areas, in some possible cases "loan forgiveness" In the past 15-20 years since the teachers strike when wages went up to a more national level, people have this stigma that teaching pays nothing in WV! It does a little better than that, also the cost to live here isn't as high as in neighboring states. Teaching should be a better paid position than what it is, we go through the same if not MORE education and schooling than nurses, but make considerably less! Thats bull! WV is making the right decisions though, and giving the teachers raises, mostly because they are facing a huge shortage in the coming years due to the babyboomers leaving their jobs. So I say, Welcome to Wild & Wonderful West Virginia! We're open for EDUCATION!

Any questions, feel free to PM me

-GottaHerdon