Elementary Schools in c'ville (military family) (Charlottesville: construction, private school tuition, living in)

[NicePanda1]

Military family moving to c'ville for one year stay. We need recommendations on elementary schools for a 1st & 4th grader. They are current in a christian private school overseas. We would like to keep them in a christian environment but the cost of the private schools there are too expensive. Where would you send your kids for a well-rounded education and teachers that care for your children? Thank you in advance for any information.

[KatieNK]

We are new here, but from what I have read, you will want to make sure that your kids attend Albemarle County schools rather than the City of Charlottesville schools.

[KSzakos]

I may be biased (I'm on City Council), but I'd hold up the Charlottesville city schools to any in the county. The elementary schools are small and supportive, and the higher grades offer a strong arts and academic foundation. The City also offers the advantage that children can walk to school, as we have worked hard to make pedestrian connections from every school. I urge you to visit some local schools - city and county - and decide for yourself.

[NicePanda1]

KSzakos: Thank you for your input. I have done a lot of research on the schools since my first posting and found that city schools rank among the top elementary schools in the area. Thanks for reiterating what I have found.

[TN Lily]

How long will you be here? If you will be here long enough for your eldest to attend middle school, you may want to reconsider living in the city unless you can afford private school tuition a few years from now.

From reading posts here and having friends in C-ville, the weak link in the City schools is Buford. This is the city school for 7th & 8th graders. Do a search for Buford Middle School in this forum and on an Internet search engine.

There was a recent incident at Buford with a group of Buford students assaulting a visiting sports team.

[GeorgiaTransplant]

Originally Posted by TN Lily

How long will you be here?

Originally Posted by NicePanda1

Military family moving to c'ville for one year stay.

Probably the JAG advanced course. Charlottesville doesn't have a very large permanent military presence.

[TinaTurnstone]

I may also be biased, since I have lived in Charlottesville for over 15 years, but I also believe the City Schools could indeed “hold up” to County schools - just as one would hope a spare tire holds up until the car can make it to a garage. The City of Charlottesville schools are losing air and running flat! The fact that classrooms in the City are small should be of concern not a bragging point by our City Council member. The City schools are small because of declining enrollment – adding up the number of empty seats from all of the six of the elementary schools would fill one entire school. The City Schools enrollment decline is not going to improve by adding crosswalks. I admit the notion of walking to school with your child does sound picturesque. From my experience thought, it would be a risky walk if they needed to cross a street to get to the school. On several occasions while waiting at crosswalks, impatient drivers behind me have passed my car, narrowly missing the pedestrians. The main roads are crowded and cut-thru speeding traffic in residential areas is a big issue in the City. I appreciated that our city leaders found outside funding to fix some of the cracks in our sidewalks. Sadly, these measures simply cannot fix the overcrowded congestion of our older narrow streets that carry 10x the traffic as originally designed. After 30 years of delaying and stonewalling, the City Council recently agreed to allow the construction of a new Parkway, but only after the road design was reduced from 4-lanes to 2-lanes. Whenever the Parkway is finally completed, it will be just another two-lane road to match our congested two lane-residential streets. As a City driver, the idea of encouraging elementary school age child to walk to school in the City of Charlottesville is a frightening thought.