How far do you go of factoring schools when you decide on where to live? (Sugar Land: selling a house, neighborhoods)

[kcatheart]

I know that schools and school district is a major factor when deciding where to settle down but how far do you go?

I'm not talking about different end of the spectrum schools. I'm talking about let's say one school is a 9/10 while the other is a 8/10. Would you move just so that your child can go to the 9/10 school.

The reason I'm asking cause I was going through some old posts and it caught me strange when I saw a post where the poster said he used to live in a great neighborhood. Everything was great and he would have stayed there but he decided to move cause he wanted to his kids(good for him) to go to a different school not to far from where he presently lived that I would consider marginally better if at all. Now the neighborhoods around the area were basically very similar. Just it was zoned to a different school.

So would you move just because you were zoned to an 8/10 school for a 9/10 school?

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by kcatheart

So would you move just because you were zoned to an 8/10 school for a 9/10 school?

Absolutely not.

[jfre81]

IMO the difference between "exemplary" and "recognized" is a matter of splitting hairs. The ratings are about how a school does collectively on a standardized test that anyone with a functioning brain and a reasonable command of the English language should pass. Every one of them rams literally years of review work into every kid for this test which is supposed to cover what they should have already learned by then.

I think of it as choosing between which McDonald's to eat at. You may know one's really bad/dirty, but even the best and cleanest one is still a McDonald's and you're still getting the same thing in the end.

[kcatheart]

Originally Posted by Topaz

Absolutely not.

So you wouldn't move just so your kids can go to Clements seeing that you're in Sugarland. Unless you're already in Clements, ooops.

[jfre81]

Why would anyone go through the trouble of selling a house and buying just to get into a different school in the same district, when new schools within that district are getting built and the lines redrawn all the time? Things change.

[Txgal33]

Originally Posted by kcatheart

I know that schools and school district is a major factor when deciding where to settle down but how far do you go?

I'm not talking about different end of the spectrum schools. I'm talking about let's say one school is a 9/10 while the other is a 8/10. Would you move just so that your child can go to the 9/10 school.

The reason I'm asking cause I was going through some old posts and it caught me strange when I saw a post where the poster said he used to live in a great neighborhood. Everything was great and he would have stayed there but he decided to move cause he wanted to his kids(good for him) to go to a different school not to far from where he presently lived that I would consider marginally better if at all. Now the neighborhoods around the area were basically very similar. Just it was zoned to a different school.

So would you move just because you were zoned to an 8/10 school for a 9/10 school?

We are grappling with that issue as well. The one neighborhood is mixed from 80s homes to recent builds. Some run down in my opinion but then there are streets that have wonderful homes and everybody takes pride in their home. Homes values a bit lower. Our old neighborhood rocks but we may have to take a few things off our wish list to live there. Older neighborhood scored better on testing. All in the 90s. Our old hood 90s and 80s. Both recognized. Then there is the other neighborhood where houses are similar to our old hood but further away from everything. They are only accountable whatever that means.
So our debate is wether to send our kid to the more seasoned school....been around longer...that has higher scores but settle for a neighborhood with really little amenities but a house that has everything we want almost or go with our old hood and take a few things off our list. Or the third choice if a house pops up but it would have to have everything.
It all is very draining and in the end I know we are the only ones who can answer the question so thanx for letting me ramble!
I for one would NOT sell my home if I already had one to just move to a better school if the school we already attended was overall a good school. To me does not seem worth the trouble and to uproot the kids when they are use to a school would seem really hard.

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by kcatheart

So you wouldn't move just so your kids can go to Clements seeing that you're in Sugarland. Unless you're already in Clements, ooops.

No. From what I've heard about Clements, I might move to get away from it.

[Sampaguita]

This is a great topic & one I've been thinking about although DH & I wonder if it's really necessary at this stage because it does seem like schools and the district lines are always in flux here.

As our children are only 13 months old, we don't really know whether school districts should play as big a part in our decision-making. We have some neighborhoods in mind but they don't currently come with "exemplary" schools but do we make such decisions when things may be drastically different 6 yrs from now or 14 yrs down the road? They may be better or worse. Hard to tell especially in transitional neighborhoods.

[HereItIs]

Since our kids are not in school yet, I am considering only Elementary and middle school now and I want both of them a least 'recognized'. Average family moves in every 7 years (for -n- number of reasons) so it does not make much sense to worry about high school at this point for us.

[AK123]

Originally Posted by kcatheart

So you wouldn't move just so your kids can go to Clements seeing that you're in Sugarland. Unless you're already in Clements, ooops.

No. Why?
There are 3-4 other high schools in the Sugar Land area that are good schools. Unless your kid is a genius, I think trying to be in the zone of one like Clements is actually something to avoid.