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Old 11-23-2014, 06:30 PM
 
5 posts, read 6,083 times
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Greetings!

My husband and I are moving to the Kansas City Area in the fall of 15. We are looking for advice on schools for our children. We have two boys, 3.5 and 6 months, and are interested in schools on the Kansas side with pre-K options. Unfortunately, we won't be able to relocate to the Missouri side (something with cheaper malpractice for those living on the Kansas side compared to Missouri...Missouri, you should take a look at that! You are losing a lot of physicians to the other side of the state line!)

So far, I've researched both the Blue Valley School District and Shawnee Mission. My primary concerns are finding an elementary school with excellent educational opportunities for my children in a diverse classroom. I know the diversity might be a bit difficult to find, but even a little bit would be nice! So far, the demographics online for various schools are ranging from 0.5%-2% for African American, 2% for Hispanic, and 10% or higher for Asian. Ideally, I'd like a school approaching closer to 5% or above for African American and Hispanic, since it seems most of the schools have 5% or higher in regards to Asian students. Your suggestions are much appreciated!

*The post is not meant to offend. My husband and I simply believe that ethnic diversity in a classroom while help prepare our children for the changing landscape of American.*
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Old 11-23-2014, 09:58 PM
 
Location: Washington, DC area
11,108 posts, read 23,895,906 times
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Good luck. If you want to live on the Kansas side you pretty much have one county to choose from and it's not very diverse. You might look at parts of the Olathe district, but the KS side districts that everybody raves about are about as white as you can get.
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Old 11-24-2014, 12:55 AM
 
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Thanks for the reply.

Which school systems on the Missouri side would be more inline for what we are looking for? I can always check and see what the additional malpractice cost would be if we were to live in Missouri....I've pretty much only have received recommendations for Johnson County.
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Old 11-24-2014, 05:24 AM
 
Location: Washington, DC area
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Lee's Summit. It's one of the best school districts in the metro yet many of its schools are far more diverse than most outer suburban districts.

Chapel Lakes Elementary School - Lee's Summit, Missouri - MO - School overview

Here is the first elem school I looked at. Rated 10 out of 10

White 76%
Black 14%
Hispanic 5%
Asian 3%

There are several others with similar stats.

The Park Hill district in the Northland is also VERY good and a very nice area and more diverse, for example:

http://www.greatschools.org/missouri...entary-School/

White 58%
Black 20%
Hispanic 15%
Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander 4%

The MO side suburbs are simply more diverse. Racially and economically. You will have kids of all races in backgrounds in most schools and even though there are many very affluent areas, there are more modest areas mixed in as well. The school districts are still very good. The Johnson County Kansas schools are going to be more white and affluent overall. Mainly because that is the only county in the state that people seem to want to move to. You might read up on Kansas political issues that will eventually affect public schools there, if they have not already.

I do know about the malpractice insurance thing in MO, but don't know much about it or how many people it drives to KS. I think a lot of people live in places like Lee's Summit even though they have a practice in KS. It's a bistate area and if you are affiliated with hospitals, you will likely be in both states anyway. Regardless of the insurance issues, medical care on the MO side is just as good. Actually, the MO side has more modern hospitals, than the KS side, but the KS side tends to have more of the private hospitals and medical buildings (even though it's the smaller half of the metro) probably for the insurance reasons.

Last edited by kcmo; 11-24-2014 at 05:45 AM..
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Old 11-24-2014, 12:14 PM
 
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Thank you for your input. This gives us a lot more to think about and work with!

One last question. I did a bit more research and also found the Piper School System (Piper Elementary, Middle School, and High School). It is on the Kansas side, but is listed as Kansas City, KS and not Johnson County. This district appeared ethnically diverse as well with numbers similar to the ones posted above. If anyone has any thoughts on that area as well, I would appreciate it.

We will look into Lee Summit as well. Quite a bit to think about!

Regarding hospitals, I'm signed on at KUMC, but it is nice to know that there are so many great facilities in the area. It helps maintain a great level of patient care and medical advancement.

Thank you again!
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Old 11-24-2014, 12:28 PM
 
Location: Washington, DC area
11,108 posts, read 23,895,906 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Spartan04 View Post
Thank you for your input. This gives us a lot more to think about and work with!

One last question. I did a bit more research and also found the Piper School System (Piper Elementary, Middle School, and High School). It is on the Kansas side, but is listed as Kansas City, KS and not Johnson County. This district appeared ethnically diverse as well with numbers similar to the ones posted above. If anyone has any thoughts on that area as well, I would appreciate it.

We will look into Lee Summit as well. Quite a bit to think about!

Regarding hospitals, I'm signed on at KUMC, but it is nice to know that there are so many great facilities in the area. It helps maintain a great level of patient care and medical advancement.

Thank you again!
I can't tell you much about the schools in western KCK. I would guess they are decent, but they won't rank as high as most others in the area. That area (Piper) is suburban but has a more rural or country feel to it vs the Johnson County and MO side suburbs which are more you typical big city burbs (fast growing, white collar). It doesn't change much and it just has a "country" feel to it aesthetically and culturally as does most of Wyandotte County "to me". That may or may not be what you want.

KU Med is a good hospital, they are always expanding. It's also centrally located, so you you might check out inner ring suburbs like Roeland Park and Mission in JoCo which will be more diverse or even Brookside in KCMO. If you are just looking at elementary, you would probably really like some of the schools in the Brookside area even though they are in the KCMOSD, I have heard great things about some of the grade schools in the area. Awesome charming homes close to the city, but family friendly. It's in Missouri though.
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Old 12-23-2014, 12:50 PM
 
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We don't have any school age children but we live in the Piper district. The school scores well in testing and is probably more diverse than what you will see in JOCO. The school is also in a 4A-I classification which means it's a little smaller, whereas most other schools in the area are 5A and 6A. We love the area because you are still close to plenty of entertainment options, but you don't feel like you are in the middle of suburbia.
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Old 12-23-2014, 07:45 PM
 
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Thanks! We've decided to rent for the first year we are here. This will give us a chance to visit schools before purchasing a home and making a final commitment. We are going to do te Kansas side, but will check out Piper along with the Foreign Language Academy in KCMO (believe you can pay an extra fee to attend their if you aren't in the district).
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Old 12-23-2014, 09:32 PM
 
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Malpractice is a LOT more in Missouri than Kansas. That's the reason a lot of doctors have moved from the Missouri to Kansas side. I'm not sure why it's so much more in Missouri, I just know it is and I have witnessed doctors moving across the state line for that reason.

The Blue Valley school district is great, and of the Shawnee Mission schools, Shawnee Mission East and the elementary and middle schools that feed into it are the best in the district. This is where many doctors choose to live because their children get as good an education as they would in a private school, without private school tuition. Shawnee Mission East is not far from KU Med, either.

Here are the stats for Briarwood Elementary


LabelValueWhite69Hispanic18Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander7Black4Two or more races2American Indian/Alaska Native0Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander0


69


This schoolState averageWhite69%67%Hispanic18%17%Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander7%3%Black4%7%Two or more races2%4%American Indian/Alaska Native0%1%Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander0%0%

Well, that didn't come out well. Here's the link - http://www.greatschools.org/kansas/s...chool/details/

Other elementary schools that feed into Shawnee Mission East are Prairie and Corinth. So does Tomahawk Elementary and there might be more diversity at Tomahawk but not sure you'd find a house you wanted in that area. Lots of doctors living in the Prairie and Briarwood areas.
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Old 12-25-2014, 12:12 AM
 
Location: Temecula, CA
9 posts, read 13,658 times
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I too am researching the same areas on the Kansas side for my 6 yr old son and found a website that give a good breakdown of diversity by schools (including percentages on free lunch programs as well).

Here is a link to Overland Trail Middle school in the Blue Valley district and it looks like it might meet some of your diversity wants...
https://k12.niche.com/overland-trail...rland-park-ks/

I think Olathe would also offer the diversity you are looking for as well and is a close commute for you as well. I hope the link helps you in your search like it has helped me! Good luck! We will be relocating ourselves by Summer 2015 after we sell our CA home!
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