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So I have a choice of buying a house which is amazing and reasonably priced in a neighborhood with 7/7/7 schools and another one which is relatively safe but ****ty house [same price ] in a 8/9/9 neighborhood
Naturally I want to do whats best for the kids but I just wanted to know how great is the difference between a 7 and a 9 school and how can I find that out ? sometimes it seems like the difference is not all based on academics
but what is the best and most objective way to determine this thanks
There's a reason the neighborhood is "reasonably priced" -- the bad schools. Given the current climate, I wouldn't expect bad schools to improve. As fewer people have kids, those parents that care will segregate themselves to the better schools. Good schools will stay good or get better. Poor or middling schools will get worse.
Get the crappy house with good schools and renovate it. The property will appreciate more and you'll come out a winner in the long run.
Location. Location. Location.
If you're talking about greatschools, A "7" is pretty bad, by the way. A 9 is pretty good. Check the actual test scores and compare that way. Greatschools skews ratings a little with "equity" scoring, and that can sometimes make a 1 or 2 point difference.
If you can find a "9" middle school, that's amazing. Elementary is not so important, but you definitely want a "9" or above high school, if you can find one.
So I have a choice of buying a house which is amazing and reasonably priced in a neighborhood with 7/7/7 schools and another one which is relatively safe but ****ty house [same price ] in a 8/9/9 neighborhood
You’re going to feel like a low man on the totem pole if you live in a cheap house in a wealthy neighborhood.
There's a reason the neighborhood is "reasonably priced" -- the bad schools. Given the current climate, I wouldn't expect bad schools to improve. As fewer people have kids, those parents that care will segregate themselves to the better schools. Good schools will stay good or get better. Poor or middling schools will get worse.
Get the crappy house with good schools and renovate it. The property will appreciate more and you'll come out a winner in the long run.
Location. Location. Location.
If you're talking about greatschools, A "7" is pretty bad, by the way. A 9 is pretty good. Check the actual test scores and compare that way. Greatschools skews ratings a little with "equity" scoring, and that can sometimes make a 1 or 2 point difference.
If you can find a "9" middle school, that's amazing. Elementary is not so important, but you definitely want a "9" or above high school, if you can find one.
There's a reason the neighborhood is "reasonably priced" -- the bad schools. Given the current climate, I wouldn't expect bad schools to improve. As fewer people have kids, those parents that care will segregate themselves to the better schools. Good schools will stay good or get better. Poor or middling schools will get worse.
Get the crappy house with good schools and renovate it. The property will appreciate more and you'll come out a winner in the long run.
Location. Location. Location.
If you're talking about greatschools, A "7" is pretty bad, by the way. A 9 is pretty good. Check the actual test scores and compare that way. Greatschools skews ratings a little with "equity" scoring, and that can sometimes make a 1 or 2 point difference.
If you can find a "9" middle school, that's amazing. Elementary is not so important, but you definitely want a "9" or above high school, if you can find one.
There's a reason the neighborhood is "reasonably priced" -- the bad schools. Given the current climate, I wouldn't expect bad schools to improve. As fewer people have kids, those parents that care will segregate themselves to the better schools. Good schools will stay good or get better. Poor or middling schools will get worse.
Get the crappy house with good schools and renovate it. The property will appreciate more and you'll come out a winner in the long run.
Location. Location. Location.
If you're talking about greatschools, A "7" is pretty bad, by the way. A 9 is pretty good. Check the actual test scores and compare that way. Greatschools skews ratings a little with "equity" scoring, and that can sometimes make a 1 or 2 point difference.
If you can find a "9" middle school, that's amazing. Elementary is not so important, but you definitely want a "9" or above high school, if you can find one.
I am curious as to why you say a 7 is pretty bad when the ratings folks say a 7 is "above average."
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I would consider 7-9 close enough to be a wash, but school rankings/scores are only part of the picture. The schools here are rated 10 today, and when we moved here in 1993 they did not have the extensive website ratings they do now. We did much more research, attending school board and PTSA meetings before deciding where to live. AT the time we had 3 kids ages 5-12. Now that they are grown adults we still consider schools important for resale value, and lower crime.
I am curious as to why you say a 7 is pretty bad when the ratings folks say a 7 is "above average."
As I mentioned, I don’t think it matters so much for Elementary and Middle school, but high schoolers are so volatile that you need to make sure it is a 9-10. IMO 7 indicates that the staff are not motivated to keep on top of their students, and are okay with "good enough".
With high-schoolers, teachers/admin giving an inch is a death knell. Our local HS went from a 7 to a 4 in the span of as many years (3). It developed major bullying/gang/drug problems along with a severe slide in academics.
Meanwhile, the local magnet school (10) stayed a 10. Seeing the other schools decline kept parents, teachers, and admins motivated to keep the rot from spreading to the good school.
Looking at the Great Schools website, they don't explain their methodology very well. Looks to be mostly some general scoring with a heavy emphasis on word salad. If someone can point to their actual methodology, I'd appreciate it.
I did look at our local schools that I have knowledge of and it seems most correlated with SES. For example, the local high school scores above average in student progress and college readiness but is overall brought down by the equity score.
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