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I am looking to move to Oldham county, if the schools are the best. However, the husband wants to move to Taylorsville. Any opinions either way?
Are the Oldham schools everything that is said about them? I've been told that they are getting overcrowded and can't quite keep up.
I'm moving next summer, after the kids get out of school. I want to find a great school system for them. Most of the data on the schools is based on 2002-2004 information. A lot can change in a couple of years. Are there any other school districts that are close or surpass Oldham county?
What are the tornados like? Do you get them often? Are they really bad? I live in California so we don't get those, and to be honest, tornados scare the crap out of me. One website said tornados (for Taylorsville and Crestwood) are very few, but city-data lists a catagory 4 and a catagory 5 within 20 or so years. How many do you typically see in a year? Where do they hit most often? How big are they?
Also, a few dumb non-Kentuckian questions....
Why do the houses not have fences? Doesn't anyone own dogs? Worry about wild animals, or wild people for that fact, coming on their home space?
Why are there almost no in-ground swimming pools? Are they really expensive to put in? Where I am every other house has an in-ground pool.
Why are the yards mostly empty, without trees or a lot of plants, just a giant green lawn? Is gardening difficult because of the climate?
Oldham County is a county located the state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 46,178. Its county seat is La Grange. Oldham County was a prohibition or completely dry county until January 2005 as the result of a 2004 'moist' vote, permitting sales of alcohol in restaurants where 70%+ of total revenue is derived from sales of food. Oldham County is the wealthest county in Kentucky and 48th wealthiest county in the U.S. and ranks second highest in Kentucky for percent of college educated residences. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, it is the 13th smallest county in Kentucky.
During the late 1800’s and continuing on, the county basically became a suburb for the city of Louisville, with the railroad allowing for easy commuting. Eventually the railroad ceased operating as a form of public transportation, but the more rural nature of the county continued to draw residents away from the metropolitan areas in Jefferson County.
Currently the population of Oldham County is rapidly expanding as adjacent urban Jefferson County is running out of space for new development. Currently the population is increasing at about 4% per year. At current rates of growth, the number of residents will double every 21 years. Over the period from 1960 to 2000, the population increased 245% (in the same period, Jefferson County only increased 13.5%). At the current rate, Oldham County will have a population of 60,641 by 2010.
Oldham County High School (OCHS) in Buckner, Kentucky was founded in 1953and has a student body of approximately 1250 students in 9th through 12th grades. The school mascot is the colonel, and the colors are blue and white.
However, due to Oldham County's decades-long transition from a rural area to a bedroom community for Louisville, Oldham County split into two high school attendance zones in 1989. That fall, the new South Oldham High School was opened in Crestwood. In order to further alleviate overcrowding, North Oldham High School was opened in 2003. OCHS was given the National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence award in 1987 and 2002. OCHS is perhaps most well known on a national level as being the school that has represented the state of Kentucky in the national finals of the United States Academic Decathlon (USAD) in 1993, 1997-2001, and 2003-2004.
Spencer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2005, the estimated population is 15,766. Its county seat is Taylorsville. It is home to Taylorsville Lake, which serves as a major economic resource for the area, as well as a popular fishing area. Spencer is a dry county, where the sale of alcoholic beverages is prohibited. From 2000 to 2005 Spencer County ranked 19th out of all U.S. counties in pertcent growth with a 33% increase.
As of 2005, there are four public schools in Spencer County.
Spencer County High School, located at 520 Taylorsville Road, has an estimated 38 teachers and 639 students. The school building was built in 1982-83. The current principal is Robert DeHoag.
Spencer County Middle School, located at 1263 Mount Washington Road right behind Spencer County Elementary School, has an estimated 45 teachers and 620 students. The school building was built in 2004-05. The current principal is Dena Kent.
Spencer County Elementary School, located at 1265 Mount Washington Road, has an estimated 52 teachers and 1088 students. The school building was built in 2004. The current principal is Norma Thurman.
Taylorsville Elementary School, located at 206 Reasor Avenue, has an estimated 52 teachers and 1088 students. The school building is the oldest in the district, having been since 1938. The current principal is Chuck Abell.
Until the early 2000s, there were only two public schools in the district, the elementary school (educating grades K-6) and the high school (educating grades 7-12). In 2000, a new elementary school was built, and the district split into a three-school system. Due to the fast growth of the county, a new middle school was built in 2004-05, and a second elementary school took residence in what had been the middle school.
Okay, now that we got the basics out of the way, on to the real meat of the issue:
Quote:
Are the Oldham schools everything that is said about them? I've been told that they are getting overcrowded and can't quite keep up.
I'm moving next summer, after the kids get out of school. I want to find a great school system for them. Most of the data on the schools is based on 2002-2004 information. A lot can change in a couple of years. Are there any other school districts that are close or surpass Oldham county?
Yes and maybe to the first part of your question. Oldham County School system provides an excellent education and is one of the finest public schools systems in the state. As far as public schools go, they are probably a bit better than the school system in Spencer county (Taylorsville).
Is overcrowding an issue? Well it depends. Oldham county and Spencer are both expanding at a tremendous rate (if you notice in the census data, Lexington is outgrowing Louisville by a few thousand residents...however if you compare metro areas, Louisville is growing by more than 41,000+ per census more than lexington's metro). With all the growing around Louisville, school districts will be a little squished. So overcrowding may be somewhat of an issue in both school systems. However, I think that both are working very hard to alleviate these problems (the 2000s have seen a number of new schools built in both Oldham and Spencer Counties).
For your second question...yes and no as well. In terms of rural County schools districts...no. Oldham will be your best bet. It terms of all school districts, I think that Jefferson County School District would come close (not all the schools in the district, but some would be on par with oldham). Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) is a school system located in Jefferson County, Kentucky, which is contiguous with present-day Louisville. The Jefferson County school system has over 98,000 students attending 130 schools and more than 20 other educational facilities in its system, making it the nation's 28th-largest school district. It is still one of the most widely recognized school systems in the United States. Schools in particular that would be as good as Oldham county include:
Ballard
duPont Manual
Male
The others I don't know about, but to be honest, most (not all) of jefferson county schools are not as bad as people think (Louisville's education system, though in a larger city is not crime/drug infested....pretty mild compare to something like NYC or Chicago, etc...).
Louisville also has an enormous number of private schools (honestly, it is kind of ridiculous how many private schools there are here).
I am assuming though that since you listed Oldham/Spencer, you are looking to move to a rural area. Assuming that is the case, Oldham wins out in my mind.
What are the tornados like? Do you get them often? Are they really bad? I live in California so we don't get those, and to be honest, tornados scare the crap out of me. One website said tornados (for Taylorsville and Crestwood) are very few, but city-data lists a catagory 4 and a catagory 5 within 20 or so years. How many do you typically see in a year? Where do they hit most often? How big are they?
City-data is an okay source for info (they don't update a whole lot...they still have lexington-fayette as the largest city in the state....WRONG). Tornado Alley is the area of the country that runs north from Texas through eastern Nebraska and northeast to Indiana. Kentucky is immediately adjacent to Tornado Alley. Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas may see more of these unpredictable and dangerous storms than other states, but you are still vulnerable to tornadoes. One problem the Louisville area has is that the region is located right at a junction of weather fronts. As a result, we do get a lot of storms (especially in the spring and summer...which, btw, is tornado season). In 1974 a major (F4) tornado hit Louisville as part of the Super Outbreak of tornadoes that struck 13 states. It covered 21 miles (34 km) and destroyed several hundred homes in the Louisville area but was only responsible for two deaths.
Now that I have probably scared the living daylights out of you, let me tell you that this area is not Kansas or North Texas. We don't have torandos touch down every other week here so don't be frightened off. In fact, since I have been living here (2003), I can only remember one touch down (it hit a small county way out in the country somwhere. The Nations Weather Service interupts TV/radio programs in the event of a storm that could potentially form a torando (my experience has been they usually don't). If that isn't enough, cities in KY are equipped with an Early Warning System (sirens) that will go off in case of a torando.
So, can we get them: yes. Do they happen all the time: no, they are fairly rare. What is more common are severe thunderstorms. We do get several of those a year (which is good or bad...bad if you hate storms...good if you are a gardener...we seem to get a rain once every two weeks).
Another point to note...anything you have seen from hollywood, pitch out the window (especially the movie Twister). They are bogus. Compared to other natural disasters (mudslides, tsunamis, hurricanes, etc), torandos cause a relatively narrow path of destruction. While that is never comforting to a victim, the odds of your house/property being hit by one are very low.
One thing you might consider if buying a home with a basement (unlike the movies, torandos don't such up cement basements with the house). You probably won't ever have to use it (other than for storing junk) but you will probably feel a lot safer knowing that you have one.
Since you haven't lived in a tornado area, here are a few terms that you'll need to know (they'll use these on any warnings etc):
Tornado Watch: Stay tuned to radio or television weather sources as weather conditions are favorable for tornado development.
Tornado Warning: Take shelter immediately because a tornado has been sighted or a tornadic storm has been indicated on radar.
Severe Thunderstorm Watch: Conditions are favorable for Severe Thunderstorm development.
Severe Thunderstorm Warning: A Severe Thunderstorms is occurring or is imminent.
Here is a website run by University of Louisville about Severe Weather in the Louisville area. It has some helpful tips and advice concerning the topic:
[quote]Also, a few dumb non-Kentuckian questions....[\QUOTE]
Haha, the only dumb question is the question that should have been asked, but wasn't. Anyway, on to answer your questions.
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Why do the houses not have fences? Doesn't anyone own dogs? Worry about wild animals, or wild people for that fact, coming on their home space?
To tell the turth, this one kind of made me laugh a bit when I read it. I guess people don't have fences because they either don't want to put them up, they think that they are unwelcoming (southern thing), or they just really aren't needed. This is more of a rural occurance (since pet laws, etc are generally a little more flexible). Most people don't mind wildlife in their yard (my mom doesn't like the deer but that is because they munch on here flowers). Oldham county and Louisville area may have some Coyotes and foxes, but nothing like wolves/cougars/bears/etc...So honestly, your odds of being drug of into the woods by a wild animal are probably .00000000000000000000000001%. People own dogs although most roam around free (cities like louisville or its surrounding neighborhoods, you have to fence or tie up, but in the country it is less of an issue).
As for Wild people, the blue skinned mountain folk generally keep to themselves (joking here). Honestly, this really isn't much of a problem either. People here are pretty friendly and open and mostly will respect your property and leave it alone (not saying theft isn't an issue...just it isn't huge like in some other cities).
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Why are there almost no in-ground swimming pools? Are they really expensive to put in? Where I am every other house has an in-ground pool.
Honestly, I really don't have a clue on this. Part of the reason may be because it some areas of the state, people simply swin in the rivers/lakes (it really isn't bad in some parts...the ohio though, stay outta that). The more populated places, it is just more popular to go to the local pool or YMCA. Cost could be an issue for a lot of people although I think it probably just has more to do with the culture (pools just really aren't that big around here...people spend their money elsewhere I guess). For people that own pools, above ground ppols are more popular (they are less expenses), although there really aren't that many of those either.
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Why are the yards mostly empty, without trees or a lot of plants, just a giant green lawn? Is gardening difficult because of the climate?
Louisville is a pretty green city (120+ parks) and a lot of neighbors hood are very nicely lanscaped or have a lot of trees (Old Louisville, Lake forest, etc). I am assuming this question hasd to do with the country though so I'll answer it from that standpoint. Landscaping really isn't that big of a deal in the country (not a lot of people so you don't have to show off your lot I guess). I personally like a landscaped yard with a lot of trees. Another reason may be that a lot of communities (especially on the outskirts of cities) are reclaiming farmland which was already cleared. So trees haven't been planted yet, etc... (probably more around the cities than out in the country). It may also be a southern thing (big green welcoming lawn for family things) or people just don't want to take the time to do it. Don't really know.
Gardening can be "difficult" if you don't know what you are doing. I say that because a lot of KY is made up of very dense clay. Impatients, roses, etc...generally don't seem to like the very hard soil. However, you can easily remedy that by mixing in some top soil (gardening store) and breaking up huge chunks of clay. My mother is a very accomplished gardener...really, you just have to get to use to the conditions and figure out what works. Summers can be a bit dry so you may have to water your plants.
Hope this helps...if you have any more questions, feel free to post!
My husband and I live about 100 yards from the Oldham County line, in Louisville. Is there a program to where we can send our kids to Oldham county schools and still live in Jefferson county?
I can't imagine why anyone would or could desire to live in Trailersville-oops I mean Taylorsville, Ky. Its rundown, dirty, small and isolated. Oldham County beats it on every level, for real issues such as public education quality, employment, municipal services, or housing.
Currently, unless a member of the Oldham County Schools staff, I do not believe it is possible to attend Oldham County in part due to the lack of space available. I would contact the school board office on KY 146 between Crestwood and Buckner.
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Great Info RPPIP01
highliner
