Need help with Wilmington area schools please! (house, school districts)

[3xmommy]

So at a yearly income of around $100,000 I wonder if we'd be better off in PA or DE considering tax and schools. Not sure if we could afford private schools or not in DE. Then again after paying private school tuition probably may as well live in PA. I've heard good things about a North Star Elementary, any thoughts of nice neighborhoods in that district? We may want to rent as this may just be an 18month move.

[whitmansmith]

The problems with Schools in DE are probably too long to list on this forum. The property taxes are very low, but it is reflected in the quality of the schools. While taxes have been increasing, it is not due to a reassessment. A revaluation have not occured since the mid-80's and possibly the 70's for sussex. This has skewed the taxes to favor many of the formerly rural areas which have been developed in the 90's. No politician will touch the revalue issue, so the new housing areas pay much less that the older established areas and keeps new home buyers happy.

I was a public school graduate (MTP) and can remember the protests at the school when busing began and I never thought it was too big of a deal. The stupid parents that thought it was right to throw rocks and trash at all the buses regardless of where the came from. The only problems and fights were outside the schools. Many kids that came from the city schools were so far behind, we just had two different programs in the first few years. There was the "college prep" and then everything else. The typical rotation was Geo9th, Alg10th, calc11th AP math12th. The kids that were bused still did division, multiplication and averages in high school. We never had anything like in school suspension before busing. No real violence or anything else like that, in fact the cliques in high school just disapeared the first year for all the kids that had already been attending. I can remember one city kid ever being in any class of mine except homeroom, gym and study hall. I always felt this was the school administrators and teachers just holding on to the two schools in one concept that was never going to work.

The whole "choice" concept is such an amazing mess that I can't even begin to fathom. Just try and figure out where you kids will be going to school four years from now. I opted for Tower Hill and could not be more pleased whith this school. Yes it is $20,000 a year, but is the best investment I will ever make. Why spend the extra $$$ on a big house. Buy something more affordable and then you will have the ulimate choice in schools and for me, that decision was to opt out of public schools for my kids.

Why are there so many great private schools in DE?

---cause public is so bad.

Some day there will be a candidate that has an answer to fix our schools in Delaware. The mess we are in has been a thirty year disaster in the making and will not get fixed anytime soon. When was the last candidate to win an election without an endoresment from the teachers union.

[onmyd]

What are the issues with Public schools in DE? I am researching this issue. Also can anyone point me to Governor Markell's comments as mentioned by the post above?

[Sandee1213]

I did a lot of research and talked to a lot of people and am very excited to send my kids to Appo School District. It is not in Wilmington, but it is a public school in De. The numbers for the school district are all in the 90%. I do not want to send my children a private school, I would rather find an area that is in a good school district.

[virgode]

Originally Posted by onmyd

What are the issues with Public schools in DE? I am researching this issue. Also can anyone point me to Governor Markell's comments as mentioned by the post above?

Google works, I thought you said you had no concerns about our schools

[andrewalexmom]

3xmommy,
I am currently in the situation you were in a couple years ago. I am trying to relocate my family to the "suburbs of Philly". Schools are a priority for us and commute time is as well. My husband wants to take the train into center city. Housing seems cheaper in DE, but schools seem outstanding in PA. I assume that you have settled in an area by now. As a transplant to DE, do have any recommendations for someone who is looking now? Thank you.

[toobusytoday]

andrewalexmom, If you click on a posters name you can see a link to all of their posts. If you do that to 3xmommy, you can see that her last post was the one above in August of 2008.

There is a reason that homes are more expensive on the Pennsylvania side of the state line. My husband and I (both native Delawareans) had a choice several years ago to live in NJ, PA or Delaware since his job was just across the river in NJ. We looked closely at the school districts in all three states that were within reasonable driving distance and we chose Garnet Valley in PA. We have since moved but we did enjoy our time in that school district. Good luck with your search.

[rdlr]

I just have to add a P.S. to all of this. Each of our children graduated from Kent County Delaware School Districts - 3 children from 3 different school districts. They each went on to college for their Bachelor's, in and outside the state. Each went on to earn their Masters Degree, in and outside the state, each has reached professional status and each has a well paying position, one out of state, and two in state.

When Delaware schools are discussed, some of the posts here suggest (some gently and some not so gently) that Delaware schools are just not any good. If we had children needing more than the average attention from teachers for any reason, or if we were unhappy with the first child's educational experience in Delaware, perhaps we would consider moving outside of Delaware for their education. But thank goodness, that wasn't needed.

[queenofbavaria]

can anybody provide a link to a website, which compares school qualities nationwide ? which is of course tough, since state test scores won't give you the whole picture anyway. but maybe a rough one ?

my kids went to MOT charter school in the appo district/delaware (which is supposed to be among the best in DE) before we moved to Western NC last july. I have a feeling they are a little behind with the curriculum in DE compared to here and it took my children a couple of weeks to catch up.

and, what I have always missed (and we have now) is a good gifted program.

[doctorjef]

Queen, having said that, one should bear in mind that Asheville, NC has historically a strong intellectual and artistic tradition, something that isn't exactly prevalent in Delaware, sadly. You are probably in the most intellectual city in NC, apart from Chapel Hill.