Where do kids attending Walnut Hills High School live? (Cincinnati: houses, neighborhoods)

[DavisRivers]

We will be relocating from Northern California to Cincinnati this fall. I have a job at one of the uptown hospitals and our son will be attending Walnut Hills High School. We would like to live in a neighborhood where our son will meet other Walnut Hills students. We like Clifton for its short commute, but are there many teens in the Clifton neighborhood? What about Mount Washington? Any other neighborhoods with houses in the low 200's that folks would recommend for meeting other Walnut Hills students?

[Hartwell Girl]

Wow, they are pretty much everywhere. I know we have 3 students on my street and 3 on the street over. They all car pool together but I also know quite a few 8th grade students tested in from Hartwell and got in too. I would just suggest to find a neighborhood that works for you best and the rest will fall together. My son attended a Catholic school that no other kid in the neighborhood attended, but he had his school friends and his neighborhood friends...it works out just fine. That is just my 2 cents but really those Walnut Hills kids are all over the City.

[Ohiogirl81]

They're scattered everywhere. And wouldn't your son meet his classmates in school?

[SonnyDaze]

I'd guess that a good number come from neighborhoods like College Hill, Clifton, Oakley, Hyde Park and Pleasant Ridge.

[Briolat21]

Its a magnet school - so anywhere really. My brother/sister-in-law live in Northside right now, and they eventually plan that my nephew will go to Walnut Hills (he's 3 right now - its a while away!)

[mimi in cinci]

You son will meet kids from all over Cincinnati going to Walnut Hills. In the price range you mentioned you should check out Pleasant Ridge, Oakley, Clifton, East Walnut Hills, North Avondale as far as east side neighborhoods go.

Congrats ... it's a great school!

[Hartwell Girl]

Well if we are recommending neighborhoods I have to throw Hartwell in there too. I know there is a big multi family that just went on the market and it would need some work but it is a beautiful old house and would be a great investment in my opinion. Just check Hartwell out if you are looking for places...I live here and love it.

[goyguy]

Important clarification: Walnut Hills is not a "magnet" school. From the very beginning it was the creme de la creme of the Cincinnati public schools. Only those who do well enough on the tough entrance exam can get in. This still largely holds true, but "activist" neighbors from Walnut Hills and Avondale and Evanston threw fits in the '60s about all the outsiders attending there while few of the local youth (by that time) could. With each passing decade, the dichotomy in quality between Walnut Hills and the "district" high schools only widens more. Arguably, the second wave of "flight" from Roselawn and Golf Manor (in particular) was exacerbated by this: "Call the realtor, David didn't pass the exam." The district high school for those areas is Woodward, infested with wannabe and "real" gangs and in perpetual "academic emergency." Few parents of any color or class hope that their offspring end up there.

I echo the comments that it really doesn't matter where you set up housekeeping. So much the better for kids if they form friendships with some schoolmates from different parts of town than where you are. That enhances the making of a "life smart" person. Clifton and northern Avondale (North Avondale, if you must) are logical choices not only for their proximity to "everything" but also for their many fantastic houses and the feeling of community. The "lower 200's" won't fetch much in those areas, however, save for maybe the less-affluent but still "nice" portion of Avondale along and between Mitchell and Clinton Springs Ave's. You might also luck out on a bargain buy in Paddock Hills, an enclave of stately Colonials and English Tudors wedged between Paddock and Reading Rd's and the public Avon Fields golf course. I said, "might," lol. As somebody who can't stand the thought of a commute lasting much more than half an hour, I'm heavily biased in favor of those three sections of town. But there are myriad other decent sectors all over the 'nati, many of which have already been mentioned.

I harped on the "magnet school" label for Walnut Hills because of its connotations. That was a term coined about 35 years ago when major cities were scrambling to find ways to slow down the stampede to suburbia going on at the time. The idea was to take a few schools (often with theretofore bad reputations) and heavily allocate resources to create the highest-quality educational experience possible. The goal was to attract students from throughout the district who themselves, or thanks to parental pressure, wanted the very best. The School for Creative and Performing Arts is a shining, and probably the only, example of that concept working - and working well. My opinion is that Walnut Hills shouldn't be characterized in that way because its existence and status reflect how the education of children was approached at the time it was created. It was assumed, and made into a self-fulfilling prophecy, that the offspring of monied and well-educated parents would follow the same path given the proper guidance. Since manufacturing loomed large in the local economy, the district high schools with their emphasis on "practical" pedagogy played the role of imparting the basics to future factory workers. Walnut Hills is there for a reason, but not for the reasons which drove the formation of magnet schools. End of rant.

[Briolat21]

Sorry if I misspoke - from my expereriences in other urban areas (Chicago, most notably) - "magnet" was the term used to apply to a PUBLIC school that accepted children from anywhere in the system - with passage of a test or other specific criteria.

I can see what you mean regarding the fact that Walnut predates this concept.

[goyguy]

Originally Posted by Briolat21

Sorry if I misspoke - from my expereriences in other urban areas (Chicago, most notably) - "magnet" was the term used to apply to a PUBLIC school that accepted children from anywhere in the system - with passage of a test or other specific criteria.

I can see what you mean regarding the fact that Walnut predates this concept.

No worries, we're all friends here To argue needlessly would be "so high school!"

My Chicago BIL's eldest child graduated from a magnet high school in the Windy City, and his second and third kids now attend one. The same is in the cards for his youngest, the daughter of him and my sister. (His company does business with the city, so he's required by law to live within the city limits.) That's why I jumped on the usage of the terminology to define WHHS, but an apology is warranted on my part for perhaps overreacting.

Walnut Hills High does serve as a "magnet," in effect. The City of Cincinnati covers a great deal of territory. For every family that packs up and leaves after "David didn't pass the exam," there may be another one that stays put because David or Davida did. This is a boon for "at risk" parts of town like Kennedy Hts and Westwood. It's no lie that Walnut Hills' students hail from all over. Two sisters I once knew during my high school days lived "three houses to the right" of the city line in Western Hills. Every school day started before dawn for them, because they had to commute via three Metro bus routes For a school that stays right in the top ranks alongside Indian Hill, Sycamore, Madeira, and Wyoming, people are willing to do what it takes - or their parent(s) MAKE(S) them do what it takes.

So, thread originator, cast your house-hunting net as far and wide as you like. But concentrate on Clifton, northern Avondale, and Paddock Hills if yours is a family of night owls. For affordability without too much less proximity, also take a look in Northside (preferably) and Winton Place (possibly trending toward sketchy, and being "rebranded" as Spring Grove Village to lessen association with the notorious Winton Terrace housing project on its northern flank.) No matter where in Cincy you end up hanging your hats, you'll be hit with a good kind of sticker shock.