[just_being_myself]

I get my facts from actually being a Forest High School graduate. Like I said its a better choice than most Marion County schools but not much better. I have lived in various states and found all were superior to Marion County school systems. I found lots of the faulty and staff at Forest uncasring and more concerned with placing labels on children than advancing their education. The school seemed to play favoriets based on income,status,and even race. One thing you notice is that the lower income student body are not given equal chances as more affluent students.

Also why should Patterson,NJ or any other place be a meter for how outstanding a school system is? Let's take Forest High School against and see how it stacks up against a worthy school district.


Understand, I went to Forest about seven years ago when it was located at the old campus. Perhaps the school has improved for the better which I commend. Maybe your children were fortunate enough to have caring teachers or the fact you are more affluent to warrant good treatment from staff.

The dope dealers in Forest are not out in the open like most places but they definately exist. If I wanted I could just go to the bathroom and get whatever narcotics of choice from cocaine to marijuana. The fact that such conditions exist shows a great weakness that you should not make excuses for.

[Strel]

It depends on the county and how much they care about education.

In counties full of elderly (read: everywhere but North Florida) the schools just aren't funded as well, and get less attention. In communities more controlled by families, the schools are better.

For example, the schools in Tallahassee are overall (with a couple of notable exceptions) much better than the schools I attended as a youngster in Tampa - and still are, from what I understand. Several of the schools in the area have won various national awards, but of course this is all drowned out in the popular Snowbird refrain that schools down here are just all bad.

Well they aren't.

[just_being_myself]

Strel, I agree with you about North Florida schools. I actually lived a great portion of my early life in a small town in North Florida that was more family oriented. Most of my teachers,with the exception of a few, seemed to care about my well being. The family oriented atmosphere unforunately was severly lacking in Forest High where the student was more a number than a person.


Why do you think places with high concentraition of elderly in Florida have such poor school districts? Is it because seniors refuse to pay taxes for education? The responce I always get is that seniors donot want to pay taxes for education.

[momix5]

What about Port Saint Lucie?

[backtofla]

psl = nice town

[leavinFL]

i'd recommend tallahassee............does get a little cold but not that bad.......if it is too cold then go to gainesville

[riveree]

Originally Posted by jsta_grl22

I grew up California and moved to a COLD state. Big mistake. I am miserable here. So I am trying to find a nice place to live that is warm year-round. Florida sounds nice: oceans, beaches, close to attractions. But I hear so many negatives about Florida that I don't know what to do!

For the past year I have been saying "yes i'm moving there" then "oh wait no I'm not". I am going absolutely insane in my head going back and forth on the issue. I need to make a decision, maybe you guys can help?

I am open to moving anywhere in Florida besides big cities like Miami. Are there any places (maybe small/medium towns) that are truly a nice place to live? Places where there are no gangs, drugs, and little crime? The biggest issue is the schools- I keep hearing how bad they are and yet I can't imgaine that there aren't any good schools in the smaller towns. I just wish there was a nice place to raise a family. Thanks for any suggestions.

First I'll say that Florida has never been known for it's good schools.....not much has changed.

Schools aside for a moment, I think there are a lot of places you could relocate to in FL that are family-friendly and would be a good place to raise your children.

I'm in NE FL (Jax), and we do not have any gang activity here. We have crime, but not gangs. The crime in Jax is very localized - avoid the North West Quadrant of the city and you avoid much of the crime.

Drugs are everywhere in the US....I imagine we have more of an issue with it here than what you might see where you live, but stay away from the drugs and you stay away from much of the drug issues.

So I think you're on to something - you don't like living in a cold climate, you want the ocean, beaches, attractions to visit....this is Florida in a nutshell.

[stargazer]

We were in Seminole county and would tell you that Florida is not for everyone. For us, housing was extremely expensive. I know that the market has gone down and only know this because of the realtor we had. We are friends and she called to catch up with us the other day. Compared to some areas in the country, it is expensive to just live in a centex or fox and jacob neighborhood. Wages where we were, were not the best in many careers around there. As far as schooling goes, overall we had a tough time and tried both private and public. I believe that Seminole had the best education plan grade by grade. The public school course work for each grade level was age appropriate and challenging which is good. We chose to live in the wrong place and wish we would have moved to Tuskawilla area of Orlando. I think we would have been a better fit for the area. Loved our house and land, just felt like we didn't fit in, which is just the opposite of how I feel now.

[JACKIEINFLORIDA]

I've been in Melbourne, Florida for 28 years and it is in Brevard county. We are 1 hour East of Orlando. The school system is good and the area is family friendly and conservative. You can go on the GreatSchools.net website and research schools that way. My son goes to West Melbourne School for Science and it's rated 4th in the state. My daughters go to MEadowlane elementary and it's an "A" school. good luck

[Lisa_from_Debary]

I love living in Florida but I have to be frank and tell you that I would have my daughter in private school if I had the money...not because I'm a christian either, just because I think the people at the school have the intellect of rejects from the gutter...sorry I'm still annoyed about the other day...

Its bad enough I am considering home schooling her next year.

I have looked and I can't find a charter school close to here.

I have always heard that the Florida school system rated pretty low on the scale but I feel I have proof that is true.