School Districts (Detroit, Troy, Southfield: rental market, house, neighborhoods) - Michigan (MI) - City-Data Forum

brandytab · 06-24-2010, 06:46 AM

I've read all of the threads... but I'd love an overall summary LOL. Schools are our number one priority but it's something that's so hard to really nail down. Test scores aren't the entire picture.

Is there a district out there that's kind of "cozy"? Even if it's a large district, maybe it's possible? High parental involvement also. Any thoughts? The commute will be to Southfield.

I just keep looking and looking online and I'm so overwhelmed. There are so many schools there! Is it really a matter of them all being very similar (the better districts, that is..)? Even when it comes to test scores, there are many 8 or 9 or 10 rated districts. A 10 district for scores, I think, doesn't necessarily tell me that the kids are going to have an overall better experience. We have been lucky to be part of a great school district here in NY and would like to feel that way again. We're moving to Michigan to stay put, hopefully until the kids are done with school (all are in elementary school now) and would like to get this one right!

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Our move is a FAST one and there are so many factors that I think I'm going to pass out!

Also - to save me the research, when do schools start there? August or September?

Thank you, thank you!!

Brandy

Coldjensens · 06-24-2010, 09:06 AM

THere are loads of good and great school districts. Most of the better ones are large but not all.

Grosse Ile where we live has an execellent school district and it is small. However that is too far away for you.

You may want to look at Troy, Birmingham, maybe Farmington, Berkley.

Northville is not too far out from Southfiled, but it is starting to push a lengthy commute. Outstanding schools in Northville. Rochester also may appeal to you, but again you are getting into a bit of a drive. I am sure others will give you more to look at. You can get stats for schools on Citydata and on Great Schools.com. there are several other sites, but do not rely on stats or even on this site. One site will rank a school in the top ten and another site will have it ranked int he middle thrities. You need to go to the school, get a feel for what it is like. Talk with some teachers, students and parents. Find out what is going on withthe district. Some schools are great reight now but are facing massive budget shortfalls.

Good luck. It is a lot fo work. The nice thing is that you have a lot of really great towns with really great schools right int hat area.

brandytab · 06-24-2010, 09:42 AM

Thanks for the direction. I think I'll have to figure out how to find parents who have children in these schools. It's so very hard coming from a distance! We're in a district with about 1400 students right now K-12, so the idea of 12,000 students is quite scary.

Do you happen to know which schools are facing major budget shortfalls?

Rochester does appeal to me, especially it's closeness to the college, but I'm concerned about the commute for him.

Coldjensens · 06-24-2010, 01:33 PM

Rochester is probably your best bet. It is very close to Aurbun HIlls. Rochester Hills is nice too if oyu like subdivisions and strip malls.

Northville is not too bad of a commute. About 1/2 hour I think. They have really great schools and a quaint small town atmosphere even though they are no longer a small town.

I left out Novi becuase I do not like it. It has great schools and it is very clean and safe. It is just a bunch of malls and subdivisions with no neighborhoods and no downtown, so it does nto appeal to me at all, btu a lot of people like Novi a lot.

There are some parts of West Bloomfield that are very nice too and their schools were really good, but they seem to be sliding a bit.

I do nto know much about Oxford, but it is not too far away either. Oxford has a really nice high school building, but they may be hainv money problems. Everyone is having money problems, but Oxford may be in a bigger pickle than some becuase they anticipated constinuing growth.

Sweetpea1107 · 06-24-2010, 02:57 PM

What about Birmingham? Schools are really good, and the commute to Southfield wouldn't be bad.

Also, in case you haven't got this question answered alreardy, public schools start in September, righ after the Labor Day holiday.

luciannaregini · 06-24-2010, 07:28 PM

everybody keeps on saying Rochester is a great area... We are also trying to find a place there.
Are all areas of Rochester great or should I be looking at some and avoiding others? School districts are also important to me, but my kids are not in school yet.

UKUKUK · 06-24-2010, 10:28 PM

The Grosse Pointes are fabulous.

Also look into Birmingham and Berkley school districts, some of the best in America! Also, Berkley borders Southfield, has amazing housing for a great price, and is in general one of the safest, most quaint, best schooled areas in metro Detroit!

brandytab · 06-25-2010, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Rochester is probably your best bet. It is very close to Aurbun HIlls. Rochester Hills is nice too if oyu like subdivisions and strip malls.

Northville is not too bad of a commute. About 1/2 hour I think. They have really great schools and a quaint small town atmosphere even though they are no longer a small town.

I left out Novi becuase I do not like it. It has great schools and it is very clean and safe. It is just a bunch of malls and subdivisions with no neighborhoods and no downtown, so it does nto appeal to me at all, btu a lot of people like Novi a lot.

There are some parts of West Bloomfield that are very nice too and their schools were really good, but they seem to be sliding a bit.

I do nto know much about Oxford, but it is not too far away either. Oxford has a really nice high school building, but they may be hainv money problems. Everyone is having money problems, but Oxford may be in a bigger pickle than some becuase they anticipated constinuing growth.

I'm concerned about the commute to Rochester, since he will be working in Southfield.

brandytab · 06-25-2010, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UKUKUK

The Grosse Pointes are fabulous.

Also look into Birmingham and Berkley school districts, some of the best in America! Also, Berkley borders Southfield, has amazing housing for a great price, and is in general one of the safest, most quaint, best schooled areas in metro Detroit!

I've done my homework, and thanks to your direction from the previous thread, Berkley is on the top of the list. The problem is that it seems to not be so easy to find a rental. I come across one, they line up folks for showings that same day. Seems as if the rental market is huge there! And frankly, what you can get for 1400 bucks isn't terribly exciting. I mean, it's still up there as our top choice... I'm just concerned about finding a house that fits for us there.

brandytab · 06-25-2010, 05:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweetpea1107

What about Birmingham? Schools are really good, and the commute to Southfield wouldn't be bad.

Also, in case you haven't got this question answered alreardy, public schools start in September, righ after the Labor Day holiday.

Thank you! I was hoping to hear that... gives us some more time to get things settled. I was worried that they might have started in mid-August.