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Maybe I am too late to help with this question, but I wanted to chime in because I went to Centennial High for 4 years and graduated in the late 1990s.
I am not LDS. Personally, I felt comfortable at Centennial and had plenty of friends who were not LDS, and one very good friend who is LDS. I didn't feel like I was excluded from anything due to not being LDS. There is a "seminary" building right off campus so it is clear to the kids who is LDS and who isn't based on who goes to the seminary building for one period per day.
I live right down the street from Centennial and the neighborhoods around the school are very Mormon. You can't go more than about a half mile without running into a Mormon church and in fact they are building another new church at Five Mile and Chinden. Our neighborhood seems like it was built with Mormons in mind, lots of houses with 4-5 bedrooms and our house has more pantry space than I know what to do with.
We have two elementary aged kids and have noticed that the Mormon kids tend to hang out with each other and the non-Mormon kids all hang out together. Our Mormon neighbors are very friendly, their kids are nice and respectful, but other than waving at you when you drive your car by they all tend to stick together. Found out that our family is the first non-Mormon family to ever live in our house, so the first week all of our Mormon neighbors were over to say hello and to investigate, since then only the Mormon "block captain" comes over 3-4 times a year to invite us to community events put on by his ward.
It is pretty much a non-issue, there is no discrimination just be aware that the Mormons seem to be very clannish and don't have much to do with non-Mormons.
Most of west Boise, Eagle and Meridian are thick with Mormons, however I think in Eagle they are only 20% of the population. Eagle always strikes me as a little slice of California, I'd rather deal with the Mormons in west Boise than trying to keep up with the Jones in Eagle.
If you want to stay away from prdominately LDS. Don't even consider KUNA. The area around Centennial is thick with LDS. Went to school there for a few years, didn't really make a difference to me or my friends but did to the parents (I'm of a Non-Christian belief). Your kids will find that there are two types of LDS. Those that are true followers and don't really associate with others who have no intention of becoming a member and those that only follow on Sunday and don't care what faith you are as long as you click with them. Same with most of the adults as well. The communities don't really interact alot outside of church. My wife lived in an LDS community and her family was extremely active in the church but still didn't do much with other LDS members unless it was a church function.
Your realtor or any realtor isn't going to offer you this information because it's a violation of the Fair Housing Act. I can tell you that Cameron Park is a nice neighborhood
With all respect, I highly doubt that sharing that information would violate the provisions of any binding law.
This can be an important issue for people with school-age children. I knew non-LDS students from Boise when I was a student at U of I and I remember the bitterness in their voices as they described the unfriendly treatment they received in high school because they didn't follow the LDS religion. If parents want to spare their childen that kind of treatment, who could blame them?
Of course, shallow judgements of others are common among adolescents of many different religious backgrounds and also among those with no religion. Seems like a lot of people don't learn until they enter young adulthood that there's a lot more to everyone than what church he or she goes to--or not.
I don't have kids of my own, but if I ever do, I'll want them to be happy. And that could mean I'll have to be selective to a point about where we live and about the schools they go to.
anonymoose - thank you for considering this issue from a parental perspective which is exactly where I was coming from in my original post when making this extremely important decision. Children these days have so many trials to deal with that I didn't when growing up, so if I can spare them one trial I will do whatever I can.
most of west boise, meridian, and eagle have a large mormon influence.. I don't think there's anywhere they are a majority per say...
I grew up mormon, and I will say that mormon kids are some of the cliqueiest bunch around... I say that because it's true, BUT its not necessarily because they look down on anyone.. it's more because their social lives revolve around the church and church functions, so by not being a part of it all, non-lds kids tend to feel left out, or not part of the group... Granted, they'll be welcomed into the group if they're willing to go to church, and start taking religious lessons from missionaries...
I don't think you should choose to live someplace because you're worried about Mormons, it really isn't as big of an issue as you would think...sometimes you can learn valuable lessons in life from being a minority...
I was part of all that mormon clique when I was younger.... and interestingly enough, I'm also gay and have come out of the closet back then, and those same people wanted nothing to do with me after that...needless to say... it's been a very big eye opener in my life... would I have wished to be around a more religiously diverse group as a child? perhaps, but do i wish to take it all back and do it over again? absolutely not...
the mistreatment, and wrongs of a majority can aid in anyone knowing what not to do, and how NOT to be when dealing with your fellow human beings...
I do not see why it matters.. if you are secure in your faith then who cares what everyone else is. To me this sounds like someone who wants only the people who believe what they believe around. I am not trying to be mean to the original poster but just because the public school isnt full of LDS kids you don't want to send your kids there... sounds like you are shelting them way to much or afraid they will be influenced by others which means you have more of a problem than which school to choose. Judge a school by the grades it gets in relation to other schools and the crime rate/llivability of the community you want to live in not if the school is all LDS or not.
In my position I can't help being sympathetic to people concerned about their children's well-being during their formative years. Even at 42, the mistreatment to which I was subjected in school still affects me. When I lived in Billings, Montana I knew a man whose son was overweight. The boy was teased mercilessly at the public high school where he was a student. This kind of bullying happens all too often in public schools, where administrators seem to be under the impression that it would violate some "rights" that bullies have to discipline them. The man finally withdrew his son from the public school and enrolled him at the local Catholic high school, where teachers don't put up with bullying. I only wish my parents had been so considerate.
Some of the most likeable people I've ever known are Mormons. But they are adults, and they are conscientious about how they treat everyone they meet, not just other Mormons.
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