Elementary school with after school clubs and plenty of outdoor time (Minneapolis: to rent, townhouse)

[lacelyna]

We are moving to the area soon and are on the lookout for an elementary school within a 20 minute drive (and 45 minute bike ride) to west Bloomington (job location). I'd love to hear about first hand experience with a great school that goes above and beyond for the kids in activities, creativity, outdoor time and decent parent involvement. I'm not as concerned about test scores at this age, but obviously want to make sure my child is getting what she needs. From my research thus far, I don't expect that to be too challenging to find in the twin cities and surrounding areas. If you have a suggestion, please tell me why you love your school.

If you're inclined to throw out some neighborhood suggestions for us to live in, that would be much appreciated. Other interests for our family include areas with lots of trees, easy access to trails and a short driving distance to a walkable downtown (we don't necessarily need to be able to walk there from our house, but I do like to park and then run errands without having to get in the car after each store). Additional perks would be a nearby farmers market, locally owned restaurants/shops, and a really awesome coffee shop.

Thanks!

[Mason3001]

Originally Posted by lacelyna

We are moving to the area soon and are on the lookout for an elementary school within a 20 minute drive (and 45 minute bike ride) to west Bloomington (job location). I'd love to hear about first hand experience with a great school that goes above and beyond for the kids in activities, creativity, outdoor time and decent parent involvement. I'm not as concerned about test scores at this age, but obviously want to make sure my child is getting what she needs. From my research thus far, I don't expect that to be too challenging to find in the twin cities and surrounding areas. If you have a suggestion, please tell me why you love your school.

If you're inclined to throw out some neighborhood suggestions for us to live in, that would be much appreciated. Other interests for our family include areas with lots of trees, easy access to trails and a short driving distance to a walkable downtown (we don't necessarily need to be able to walk there from our house, but I do like to park and then run errands without having to get in the car after each store). Additional perks would be a nearby farmers market, locally owned restaurants/shops, and a really awesome coffee shop.

Thanks!

What's your situation? Are you looking to buy or rent? What is your budget, what kind of house are you looking for in terms of square footage/beds/baths/style? West Bloomington itself is pretty amazing and that's where I'd probably live if I were working at the area. Schools are good, parks are amazing, close to the moa, close to the airport, hop the light rail to DT or Twins games. Why not just live close to work if you can?

Ridgeview Elementary is a 9 of 10 on the Greatschools.org rating scale, Hillcrest Elementary is a very solid 8 of 10, Olson Middle School also an 8 of 10 and the HS they funnel into Bllomington Jefferson HS (West Bloomington) is rated a perfect 10 of 10.
Bloomington Schools, 1-25 - Bloomington, MN | GreatSchools

It seems like inevitably newbies are directed further West towards Edina/Minnetonka/Eden Prairie regardless of where they're looking, but there's no discernible difference in my experience. I would start my search in West Bloomington.

[southminneapolitan]

South/west Minneapolis might be a place to look too (Hale/Page/Diamond Lake neighborhoods). Hale Elementary (K-4) is a 9/10 on Greatschools and is sister schools with Field School (5-8), which is a 10. Close to Lake Nokomis, tons of bike trails, and should be within a 20min commute to W. Bloomington. I will warn you that there is flight traffic over that area of south Minneapolis (you can look it up here). We've been in the neighborhood ~2 months and you do get used to it - the perks of the area far outweigh that single con. Many homes in that area have been soundproofed.

[erin2882]

I would look in West Bloomington too - though I can't speak for the outside time, Bloomington has a great park system, Hyland Park and Bush Lake are wonderful. We just moved from South Minneapolis and Southwest Minneapolis, the planes got to us too much, but those are nice areas too if you want to be closer to the lakes and the city fun. That said, we contemplated the bike ride (in the opposite direction, we work downtown) and biking to West Bloomington from South Minneapolis kind of sucks. Lots of highways to cross, not great trails, etc. If I worked in Bloomington, I'd just live in Bloomington. Hillcrest, with it's arts focus and buddy / looping features looks really nice.

I would just caution you that the greatschools rating is based on test scores alone, so you'll have to do independent research about actual offerings at these schools.

[lacelyna]

Thank you for the suggestions and comments! Bloomington does sound nice and it would be great to be close to work. We would eventually want to buy but would be open to renting temporarily - if it were in the same area where we intend to buy for the purpose of staying in the school district we choose. Although I read somewhere on here that you can choose where you send your children to school regardless of where you live? Is that true?

Pet friendly places with a dog park close-ish would be nice. 2 bed 1 bath min. $200k - townhouse likely best for us with direct access to outside for the dog. I'm more drawn to a smaller place, closer neighbors, community feel vs spread out and larger lots of land per home.

We are coming from the Washington DC area. I'm sure most places will seem quiet compared to here, but we definitely don't want to be near a loud bus station or highway. I'm not sure if the flight noise would be an issue. I've never lived that close to an airport. But from my research so far, Bloomington, Southwest Mpls, and maybe St. Louis Park seem like places we would like. But we haven't been to any of them so it's challenging to know. I'm hoping we will get to visit at least a month before we move.