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So I know these topics have been done to death, but am hoping to get some advice. I've been reading through all the forums, looking at so many school and city websites, that I just keep going around and around, getting nowhere other than more flustered! We are moving to the cities soon and need some advice on where we should concentrate our moving focus based on our needs. We've been looking at Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, Edina, Shoreview, Eagan, White Bear Lake, Mahtomedi, Eagan...among many, many others, lol. We just want to find the "right" place for us from the start so we don't have to keep moving our kids around different cities.
Our background, I'm a nurse and am going to be focusing on looking for work at Abbott, St Johns or St Joseph's, possibly HCMC or Methodist. My husband is a building contractor and is going to find work close to where we live (hopefully!). We have three young kids, so good schools are important. For me a good school is one that is well rounded, not necessarily highest test scores (for example, one that has had to cut out music and art because of budget cuts wouldn't be my ideal), treats all children as individuals and encourages their strengths, small class sizes, open and friendly among students, teachers, and parents. My eldest has been earmarked for gifted and extension work, he especially loves science, math and reading. He also loves tennis. My middle son is very musical and into singing and piano, as well as loves gymnastics (so would need to have a good boys gymnastics or trampolining program nearby). My youngest isn't in school yet but we'd like to have access to a montessori or a great preschool program, as well as access to ECFE and community programs. We have put our kids names down at Glacier Hills Magnet School in Eagan (in case we decided on Eagan!) as they seem to have an arts and science focus, would that be a good fit? Or would any other public schools in particular suit?
For us to live, our ideal would be somewhere with a great community feeling. We love treed backyards (big or small yards as long as they feel private and have some nature), lots of cul de sac type areas where kids run back and forth to their friends houses and can ride bikes on the sidewalk or street, with friendly neighbors, safe streets, quiet at night. Close access to bike paths, nature, lakes, parks, but also close enough to cities to access all the wonderful things there (pref no more than a 20-25 min drive to work for me as post night shift drives can be pretty brutal). Great library system (especially for kids), and yoga or Lifetime Fitness available, access to more wholesome foods important too (like Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Farmers Markets). My husband would love to buy a place that he could fix up and add value to, for either keeping or selling so we aren't afraid of older areas as long as they have potential. My brother lives in Hopkins so we would like to be near him if possible. All of this for under $2000/month in rent (3-4 bed) or mortgage (pref greater than 4 bedrooms)!
I know that all is a big ask, but if we can even narrow it down to just a few areas to concentrate on looking (I know it depends a bit more on where I end up working), it would help so much!
The beauty of the Twin Cities Metro area is that outside of a handful of districts, you can have all of that in many places in the metro. Some areas are better than others but you won't find many larger districts here that don't have extensive music programs or have cut art, etc. Budget is going to be your biggest factor, but it's reasonable enough that you can find what you want pretty easily.
Keep in mind that MN does have open enrollment so if you pick Eagan, for example, and the kids decide later they want to go to Rosemount for their music program, you can apply to sent them to that school without moving. You just have to get them there but there is no cost or tuition fees.
One thing about magent schools, most of them just are not very good. The public schools are very strong here and you will not lack for science and math opportunities for your kids throughout their school career.
Why have you settled on just those hospitals? You may be missing out on job opportunities if you do that.
In general West Metro is the most expensive area in the TC, followed by Woodbury/Mahtomedi area. North and South metro are more reasonably priced but with a $2000/month budget, I think you will be fine finding a place to rent but buying a home in that price range might be tricky for the size house you want.
I know Rosemount has what you want, meets all of your requirements. There isn't a boys gymnastics team (not sure any high school has one) but there are a couple gymnastics schools very close by. Music program here is the largest in the state and the best. Outstanding theater, dance and art department as well. It has a small town feel where kids are riding their bikes/walking everywhere. There are sidewalks/bike paths all over the town. The community celebration, Leprechaun Days, kicked off this week and runs for 10 days. We don't have a Whole Foods or dedicated organic store but there is one not too far away in Burnsville. The local Cub Foods has a large selection though. We have a farmer's market as do all the towns around here. Many of the vendors at the farmers market here grow their produce just outside of town so you want the process too.
There is a very large development in the works just east of town as well as other construction in the area (assuming he is in home building construction). Most of the larger hospitals are within 30-35 minutes, most less than that. You are also close to some of the smaller hospitals in the metro, Hastings, Northfield and even not a bad drive to the Mayo clinic hospitals in Rochester.
There is a HUGE lifetime fittness a few miles away in Lakeville. Not sure about Yoga but I know of one larger place in Eagan.
Nearly every suburb is a good choice. I'd say right now that some have better transit service than others. But in terms of liveability, you could go anywhere. Well, I don't know about Brooklyn Park. That might be a place to avoid. Or Columbia Heights. Of course, I've never lived either place, so it is just things I hear. I would expect long time residents in both places to contradict me on this.
About open enrollment, it sounds good in theory but in practice, the school one chooses still has to accept you. The one we chose didn't have any open spots for all three years of high school so we never got to go to the school we chose.
That's probably the way it is supposed to work. The most successful schools are in demand and many aspirants have to settle for second or third choice.
Okay, so I'm think open enrolment is a good idea, but I would much prefer to find the right school and live close to it from the start. Golf Gal, what in particular isn't good about magnet schools? I've heard the opposite from other reports (depending on the school of course). If you are close to Eagan, have you heard anything in particular about Glacier Hills? Also, the reason I am limiting myself to those hospitals is because of the specialty I'm in, they are just the best options for me. I think most likely I will end up at Abbott.
From looking more online, I think Minnetonka and Eagan seem to have the most options avail for us in terms of what we're looking for (tennis, gymnastics, nice libraries, etc.). But I'm not sure about the cost of Minnetonka, and am concerned about the plane noise in Eagan. I love the woody feel of the north east suburbs and the smaller town feel, but then they don't seem to have many of the other things we were looking for.
I guess it's just going to be a lot of driving around and hoping for the best when we get there!
My question: If you're choosing to live close to some school, what else do you have to get to. We have a thread in the Minneapolis-St Paul forum about the agony of rush hour commuting. What are all your destinations? Are you independently wealthy so school can be your sole concern? I think people have this nice thought about "putting my child in the best school" Seems obvious, but how much gas are you now forced to burn to work and shop?
Beenhere4ever, I understand what you are saying, but I never mentioned going to the "best" school. That's actually what i was trying to get across in the original post, that I want a school that is the right fit for my family (good music programs, extension programs, etc), not necessarily the one ranked the best on paper. But one that is also close to all the other things we are looking for in a community, as well as easy access to work, as like you said, I don't want to be in my car the whole day. From what we've experienced, living near the school your kids go to is important, as that is where you are going to spend the majority of your time, for school events, pick ups and drop offs, seeing friends from school, and such, and goes a long way towards having that community feeling that I want to raise my family in. And finding the right fit for them is also important for their well being, as we have been to a bad fit school before, and it was pretty tough on the whole family. I suppose that's why I'm so stressed about moving to a new place and school as we really don't want to go through that again! We are hoping this will be our "for good" move!
Most families love the magnet schools because they are touchy feely schools...until they have to produce some real learning. There are a few magnet schools that are good but most are not. If you want good music programs is would cross Minnetonka off your list. For a school that size they should be much better than they are but they are a more sports focused school and the music program just isnt up to par.
Beenhere4ever, I understand what you are saying, but I never mentioned going to the "best" school. That's actually what i was trying to get across in the original post, that I want a school that is the right fit for my family (good music programs, extension programs, etc), not necessarily the one ranked the best on paper. But one that is also close to all the other things we are looking for in a community, as well as easy access to work, as like you said, I don't want to be in my car the whole day. From what we've experienced, living near the school your kids go to is important, as that is where you are going to spend the majority of your time, for school events, pick ups and drop offs, seeing friends from school, and such, and goes a long way towards having that community feeling that I want to raise my family in. And finding the right fit for them is also important for their well being, as we have been to a bad fit school before, and it was pretty tough on the whole family. I suppose that's why I'm so stressed about moving to a new place and school as we really don't want to go through that again! We are hoping this will be our "for good" move!
Just one thing: You kids' success in school is more dependent on you than the teachers and administrators. Not once in my life did my parents choose a house in search of a school that would make me a scholar even though they both had fulltime (or my mother had a more than fulltime) jobs. But in our home, pop culture meant almost nothing at all. My parents both had advanced degrees. So obviously it told us that consumption was not primary in life. Today, kids suffer from the obsession of business to rake in more money from families without concern as to what damage is done. Only in the family home can that be offset. If it is, an average school can do miracles. If it is not, then all the energy put into finding "a quality school" is a waste. Kids are really good at detecting what really matters. They will become star consumers if that is what they think counts. I have a niece whose father was a PhD candidate who now is a doctor and teaching in a university with a big name. She had a brain with promise that got enriched.
I think a lot of parents figure they found a dream school and now the school can take over and produce a genius. But that isn't really where the world's geniuses have come from.
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That's actually what i was trying to get across in the original post, that I want a school that is the right fit for my family (good music programs, extension programs, etc), not necessarily the one ranked the best on paper. But one that is also close to all the other things we are looking for in a community, as well as easy access to work, as like you said, I don't want to be in my car the whole day. From what we've experienced, living near the school your kids go to is important, as that is where you are going to spend the majority of your time, for school events, pick ups and drop offs, seeing friends from school, and such, and goes a long way towards having that community feeling that I want to raise my family in. And finding the right fit for them is also important for their well being, as we have been to a bad fit school before, and it was pretty tough on the whole family. I suppose that's why I'm so stressed about moving to a new place and school as we really don't want to go through that again! We are hoping this will be our "for good" move!
