Possible Relocation to Cincy / NKY. Your knowledge is MORE than appreciated! (Cincinnati: 2015, HOA)

[OhWell...]

Sarah Perry,
This is an outstanding point. I was unaware in KY you could live in one district yet have your children attend a different one. How does this work? Is it by qualifications? Is it based on an upcharge? It is definitely something I had no clue and which does not exist where I live. A while back they had talked about a tax credit for people who sent kids to private schools, but that's it.

Cincy Dave,
I don't doubt the quality of one set of schools over another, but if there was a possibility to offer the best yet have the house we want... that may be the best of both worlds.

Motorman,
NKU is an outstanding institution indeed. But the consideration is for employment, not studies. And her line of work aligns best with the other institutions.

New Dawn,
Villa Madonna is about 1k per month. In your opinion, is this a better or worse option than going out of district to Ft. Thomas (for example)?

JLawrence,
Thank you. I guess I wanted validation that KY was a better financial option than OH

[New Dawn]

Originally Posted by OhWell...

New Dawn,
Villa Madonna is about 1k per month. In your opinion, is this a better or worse option than going out of district to Ft. Thomas (for example)?

That's a good question. Perhaps some other people can provide a more detailed answer, if they have some direct experience with those districts. All I can say is that several of my neighbors in Covington sent their children to Villa Madonna and were very pleased with the results.

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by OhWell...

Sarah Perry,
This is an outstanding point. I was unaware in KY you could live in one district yet have your children attend a different one. How does this work? Is it by qualifications? Is it based on an upcharge? It is definitely something I had no clue and which does not exist where I live. A while back they had talked about a tax credit for people who sent kids to private schools, but that's it.

Beyond the information in the link I posted I don't know anything. But I'm sure the individual school districts could tell you more. Beechwood's qualifications looked pretty stringent--including testing in and paying tuition--but other districts might not be as difficult to qualify for. In any case, you'd have to pay for your child to attend.

[OhWell...]

New Dawn and Sarah Perry,

Thank you. I think at this point the question may be for someone who has had experience with this, and particularly what the cost of going to a different district may be (or if it is even needed). As some have stated, in an area like Hebron, they do not think so. That said, this may be a great solution if the cost was (let's say) 500 per month, but if it was 1000, then one would have to take a hard look at private schooling instead (obviously just my two cents).

[SWOH]

Originally Posted by OhWell...

SWOH,
Thank you for the response. It sounds like Union / Hebron may be a possibility. I must say I had not heard of the hillbilly elegy term until you posted about it. Obviously there will be some adjustments, but my children are small. On the other hand, it may be a good idea to consider private schools (if better) and we can afford them. I may have to start looking at that too as part of the equation. As every parent, I simply want what's best for my kids.

Happy to help, if you're still out there take 4-5 hours and read Hillbilly Elegy. It's 100% worth it!

[OhWell...]

Already requested it from the library. I am hoping the read doesn't scare me away :P

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by OhWell...

Already requested it from the library. I am hoping the read doesn't scare me away :P

As a second-generation product of some of the aspects of the Appalachian subculture chronicled in the book , I thought it was well-written and interesting. That said, I'm not going to look back through the thread to see in what context exactly it came up. I'm just going to say that it doesn't have much, if any, relevance to anything you've talked about regarding your own move or the areas you're looking at buying a home in. If you'll take a look at a county map of Kentucky, the nearest Appalachian counties to Cincinnati are generally considered to be around Carter, Rowan or Menifee. In southeastern Ohio, Adams County is more or less on the western edge of Appalachia.


That said, the entire Cincinnati area has been affected to some extent historically by Appalachian out-migration, and there are still clusters in some places, although, again, not where you're talking about going. Hillbilly Elegy deals specifically with the author's years growing up in Middletown, Ohio, an old industrial town still with a major Appalachian influence, where the jobs are gone and not much is left except heroin and poverty.

[ms12345]

I've not read the book but it sounds like the author's entire premise is flawed. He is from an admitted dysfunctional family second generation out of poverty. Whether from Appalachia, East New York, or the central valley of California, you will find similar circumstances and people in any city USA.

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by ms12345

I've not read the book but it sounds like the author's entire premise is flawed. He is from an admitted dysfunctional family second generation out of poverty. Whether from Appalachia, East New York, or the central valley of California, you will find similar circumstances and people in any city USA.

Your point is well-taken about similarities, although I'm not sure I understand the part about a flawed premise. The book is an autobiography, plain and simple, describing the author's direct (not second-generation) experience growing up in poverty. From my standpoint it does a pretty good job explaining how many of the specifics of the traditional Appalachian subculture still affect the lives of people in this region in the 21st Century. Although my Appalachian parents came from the more affluent and educated slice of society, were part of the post-war diaspora, and raised me in a fully functional home environment, I still found a great deal in the book which resonated from a cultural standpoint.


I recommend the book to you to read also.

[SWOH]

Originally Posted by ms12345

I've not read the book but it sounds like the author's entire premise is flawed. He is from an admitted dysfunctional family second generation out of poverty. Whether from Appalachia, East New York, or the central valley of California, you will find similar circumstances and people in any city USA.

I grew up in that culture, to an extent.
I personally was not ( I was fortunate, my parents are both highly-educated professionals and have their roots in the culture of old-order Baptist and Dutch) but a lot of my friends were, as I grew up in a predominantly Appalachian neighborhood of Monroe.
For reference I grew up three miles south of Armco, the Middletown steel mill discussed in Hillbilly Elegy.

So let me speak from firsthand experience.

The author's premise is not flawed.
What he says is spot-on.
Even though I went to a "rich school" a large portion of the students were Appalachian.
As in...

• Their family was from some county in eastern KY
• They were raised by their first generation-Ohioan grandparents who moved here to work at the mill or something similar
• They smoked pot as third graders, or younger. Drank and cursed too.
• There was no dad in sight
• Their parents screamed and beat each other regularly
• Somebody close to them was on permanent disability
• Water was not considered a beverage
• And if there was trouble in school, their parents would go give the teacher a verbal beating. Complete with hill curses (yes, that is a thing... kinda like modern-day witchcraft).

Also, the skin tone is different, depending on the clan and region. There is a very distinct dark brown for a Caucasian person skin tone that is common. It's not a 100% indicator, and it's a bit hard to describe without a good picture, but it's almost like Italian with many more freckles and without the green/olive cast. JD Vance does not have the tone, exactly, but his grandma in the background does:



People like Rowan Co. Clerk Kim Davis also have the tone to a lesser extent. Even Maysville native George Clooney has it to an extent. "National Politicians" of KY like Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell do not share this trait, probably because they are from other parts of the state.


It's an... interesting subculture. From my experience, it's one I'd avoid if at all possible, and observe from an arm's length. Again, there's a lot of great people in Appalachia, but if you get on the wrong side of them... say goodbye to your pets, your car, maybe even your house. They'll operate within the law if and when it works for them, and they will get 10x the justice they deserve. They don't forget wrongs against them or their family, the hate passes from generation to generation. They have a lot of pride too, so you have to be extremely careful what you say unless you like being the victim of their wrath.

From the above comments, I'm guessing most here have not have exposure to this subculture, so consider yourselves fortunate.

These are tough people, the Appalachians of dirt-poor places like Eastern KY. And this is an accurate assessment, I did not surmise. I've seen it first-hand from growing up in it.




So to the OP, in general the worst a school is around the Cincy area, the more of this subculture is going to be present in it. It's not a perfect correlation, but it's an easy one to use. That's why I'd hesitate to send your kids to Campbell Co. schools as an outsider, that influence is bound to be there. Even if your kids are segregated off into "advanced learning" classes like I was, that culture will still be there on the bus home, or in the regular classroom, or at the playground. My parents knew it well and taught me the lessons of it from a very young age. Your kids won't have that luxury, even after they (or you) have read that book.